Review: Touchstone Insurance

[ExtraSlow]

Weird that everyone seems to have problems with TDMM. I've put four car and one home claims through them, and each one has gone pretty well. Maybe my expectations are low.

Still, I think I'll call Touchstone for a quote.

[Strider]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Weird that everyone seems to have problems with TDMM. I've put four car and one home claims through them, and each one has gone pretty well. Maybe my expectations are low.

Still, I think I'll call Touchstone for a quote.

I haven't had any issues with TDMM, and my wife received excellent service from them for her 2 claims on her car back in '08.

I'm interested to see how you do with Touchstone.

They got me some quotes that were pretty much even for the 2 cars (one higher, one lower), but double my current house insurance premium. Will have to see what happens to my house insurance when it's up for renewal though...

[Masked Bandit]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments.

jwslam, as for Darren, he lurks on a rare occasion but I don't think he posts at all. If he's got time to post, he's got time to be writing new clients!

We've also got a new girl in the office, Shelley. Some of you will start hearing from her as well. I'm not running away (yet), just helping out the economy.

[ExtraSlow]

pics of new girl? (sorry I had to).

[01RedDX]

.

[sneek]

Just called in because of this thread...I have never had any problems or claims through TDMM but it looks like Touchstone will be saving me $500 I couldn't be happier!

[schocker]

Darren set me up insurance on my new car super quick at the beginning of january and even shuffled me over to save more for the time I have two cars. Was super happy. Will call about my home insurance once I check tdmm's increase this year

[AndyL]

Hey Bill

I need to do some research first, but need to talk to you tomorrow...

But - as a secondary thought - you really should remind beyond.ca when september rolls around and the calgary's choice awards nominations start up anew

[Tguy87]

So im thinking about switching from TD, and got quoted for Aviva.

Anyone have any opinions of Aviva as an auto insurance company? Looking online, im seeing alot of horror stories and 1/5 star reviews ...

[schocker]

I am on aviva, previously economical, but I haven't had any claims ever so I can't help you Was way cheaper than TDMM group rate though for better coverage.

[Tguy87]

Oh yea for sure, Aviva quoted me almost 50% cheaper than my current TDMM policy with better coverage.

But you know that saying, if its too good to be true....

Just a little skeptical ha ha. Especially since I've phoned other insurance companies and their quotes are more inline with TDMM.

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by schocker
I am on aviva, previously economical, but I haven't had any claims ever so I can't help you Was way cheaper than TDMM group rate though for better coverage.

Same here. Haven't had any claims yet either, switched from TDMM as well and was significantly cheaper by $700.

When I signed up with Darren, I don't remember if he gave me different company options, I just signed up with whatever company he recommended. So far so good.

[realazy]

Switched last year from TDMM to Aviva and saved over $500 as well.

[zipdoa]

Bill is the man. I've referred half a dozen friends and family members, and they've all saved money on insurance.

[Masked Bandit]

I've found some of those reviews online regarding Aviva and they are primarily sourced from the UK. You need to keep in mind that Aviva Canada is a completely separate group from Aviva UK and even within that, Aviva Alberta runs fairly independent from Aviva Canada.

With that said, I don't think Aviva is any better or any worse than other insurance providers. This may come as a bit of a shock here but I think pretty much all insurance COMPANIES could stand to improve overall claims service. Now that's not to say that I think they should overpay every single claim, but there seems to be a large problem in the industry with claims people being...well...bad at their jobs, sort of. It's pretty common in the industry for claims staff to be severely overloaded with files. If they can handle 100 claims at a time, they probably have 200 files on their desk. And that's not much of an exaggeration. The new girl in our office (Shelley) spent a couple of years working in claims and it seems to be the same story everywhere. If you have 50 claims staff, 10 will be rock stars, 10 will be idiots and there will be 30 warm bodies in the middle. I'm sure you guys see the same things in your own industries.

There used to be companies (Economical & Intact) that were better than the average when it came to claims, but not anymore. It's all a crap shoot.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by Tguy87
Oh yea for sure, Aviva quoted me almost 50% cheaper than my current TDMM policy with better coverage.

But you know that saying, if its too good to be true....

Just a little skeptical ha ha. Especially since I've phoned other insurance companies and their quotes are more inline with TDMM.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm Darren's boss. PM me your name and I'll look through the quote for you to make sure it's up to snuff and nothing is missing.

[redsrt4]

pm'd you^^

[FiveFreshFish]

Another for Bill.

Was with TDMM since 1989 and just switched to Aviva. Saved over $900 per year for home and auto insurance. That's WITH two home hail damage claims (2011 and 2012).

[Amysicle]

.

[Phl0xed]

I too switched to Aviva through Bill after being fed up with TD. What TD had me paying for my house/full coverage auto on my commuter, I'm now paying basically the same thing for house/auto liability on my commuter AND full coverage on my new vehicle.

Nothing but fantastic experiences so far with Bill. Multiple times has he been on the phone with me for far longer than I would ever expect, answering every question and breaking things down for me when there is something I'm unclear on or don't understand. Wouldn't have it any other way.