Insurances

Hi
We will be moving out to Spain early 2015 and are looking for info on all insurances that we would need, any website addresses would be very much appreciated along with recommendations and bad service companies.
Thanks in advance.

We use [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but we have never had to claim on car or cave.

Theres loads of discussion on previous threads. Give the search button a go up the top of the pageon the right.

BWI Imsurance in Mojacar is the only company that I know of that sell Buildings and contents insurance for Caves. Many Spanish and Brit brokers will sell you a policy, but there are many exclusions on caves. I can recommend BWI as I had a claim on a cave, a big one, and they paid out. Good luck

Afternoon
E mailed Ailis couple times to renew my cave insurance with no luck ! , does anyone know if she has changed her contact details ? , I have [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Has anyone seen her recently ?
regards
Nigel

This guy is good. They are about the only company I have found that will cover caves totally. Most Spanish companies say they DO, BUT DON'T. Or limit cover to the first $5000or so.
It can all be done over the phone too.

GBWI
Bryan White Insurance
Paseo del Mediterraneo 46E
Mojacar
04638
Almeria

Tel 950 472 098
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think I'd go with Ken on this one.

24253597 wrote:Hi
We will be moving out to Spain early 2015 and are looking for info on all insurances that we would need, any website addresses would be very much appreciated along with recommendations and bad service companies.
Thanks in advance.

Has anyone else had experience of trying to make a home insurance claim with Zurich?

It's been 2 weeks now since our cave had extensive water damage from a broken mains pipe ...(emergency services were fantastic though)
BUT our agent says the claim has to be dealt with through them .. (I tried calling Zurich ... they have no record of the claim.. the agent says it' because they process through Granada, not head office.).

Agent says there is an assessor coming..., but 2 weeks now??? with no comms from Zurich & no sign of the assessor..... SO, although I researched Zurich prior apparently service varies widely in different areas.
PS. If anyone has any advice on the process to follow for a home insurance claim please post ...

Exactly, who sold you the insurance?
In my experience you have to be relentless with the insurance agent and with the insurance company.
Don't give up phone them every day, better still go to the office, make a nuisance of yourself. And when they say no, which they will, don't give up continue making a nuisance of yourself.
There is a lot more you can do, but don't give up.

Ken wrote:Exactly, who sold you the insurance?
In my experience you have to be relentless with the insurance agent and with the insurance company.
Don't give up phone them every day, better still go to the office, make a nuisance of yourself. And when they say no, which they will, don't give up continue making a nuisance of yourself.
There is a lot more you can do, but don't give up.

Thanks for the advice Ken. Much appreciated. I will most definately be relentless. This total lack of acknowlegement by Zurich, a large international Company is an absoloute nightmare.
I am trying hard to be calm & maintain my own ethics, so I won't name the agent
but I WILL be sure to update here on exactly how I am treated by Zurich...

nigtrog wrote:Afternoon
E mailed Ailis couple times to renew my cave insurance with no luck ! , does anyone know if she has changed her contact details ?  , I have [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]      
Has anyone seen her recently ?
regards
Nigel

Hey Nigel
Yes, You have the correct email address for Ailis, I also have had our cave house insured with Zurich through Ailis. She can be difficult to get a response from, but that is the right email.. Be sure the address is correct on the policy when it comes through, even if the policy is mailed to you. I noticed this mistake the first time, asked Ailis to correct it at the time... all done. Until you try to phone Zurich & no-one will speak to you. Be aware that if you did need to make a claim you will be told the agent is the only one that can deal with the claim....

OzziePom wrote:

Ken wrote:Exactly, who sold you the insurance?
In my experience you have to be relentless with the insurance agent and with the insurance company.
Don't give up phone them every day, better still go to the office, make a nuisance of yourself. And when they say no, which they will, don't give up continue making a nuisance of yourself.
There is a lot more you can do, but don't give up.

Thanks for the advice Ken. Much appreciated. I will most definately be relentless. This total lack  of acknowlegement by Zurich, a large international Company is an absoloute nightmare.
I am trying hard to be calm & maintain my own ethics, so I won't name the agent  
but I WILL be sure to update here on exactly how I am treated by Zurich...

Update : 15 Dec : After numerous emails & phone calls the surveyor finally came almost 3 weeks after the event, then came back the following week with her superior assessor who took photos.  We compiled & sent our Contents list of lost & damaged items & had 2 sets of registered builders provide quotes on repairs.  Zurich made a payment into our account on 8 dec . We thought this might be the start of the payment process. Payment entitled 'shared expenses' We contacted the agent to find out what this was for as we have still had NO contact at all from Zurich or answers to any of our email questions.  The agent informed us it was a total payment! for both repairs & contents.  The payment doesn't come close, possibly less than 5% of our claim.  Repairs are urgent, but we have to still wait for Zurich to authorise the repairs. Additional damage likely to occur due to delays in repairs. I am tired of writing detailed emails requesting specific information that don't get answered. Now agent says we have to return the payment & then Zurich will send back the assessor..
It seems they do what they want to, & take no notice of anything provided. I still can only deal with the agent. Nightmare.

Sadly yes

hopes it is sorted out for you OzziePom. tried to put a complain form to the agent who sold you the policy ?

MSA wrote:hopes it is sorted out for you OzziePom. tried to put a complain form to the agent who sold you the policy  ?

The agents have made a complaint to Zurich ...

The agent said yesterday they have put in numerous complaints. Zurichs Complaint dept did send me a reply to the complaint I lodged, it's the only email Zurich have replied to since claim was opened.they said, 'we will try to resolve this within 2 months'

fingers crossed

OzziePom wrote:The agent said yesterday they have put in numerous complaints. Zurichs Complaint dept did send me a reply to the complaint I lodged, it's the only email Zurich have replied to since claim was opened.they said, 'we will try to resolve this within 2 months'

Feb 16 - On 3rd Feb the agent informed us there was a payment being made .. Surprisingly it didn't happen ....
So again I am writing emails. making phone calls.

Things I have learnt during this process.

Zurich have a company policy of NOT answering customer emails. REALLY!
Asking for a response, writting Urgent in the subject line etc will not make any
difference.

Zurich Customer service 24hr 'helpline' are there to answer phone calls... eventually.. but they will not give you information on what is happening with your claim they can only tell you for example.. ' a surveyor is coming... but we don't know when, it is up to the surveyor to contact you..
They are obliged however to confirm if they have recieved an email from you. You can get this information by asking them to read out the subject line of the last email recieved from you.
Tip : Every email you write must start with the correct Claim Number in the subject line. This will ensure that the email gets attached to your file. It may take some time to get the correct claim number.
When you first contact the company, or agent, be sure to get a new exercise book and begin to write every comms down with date, time, who you spoke to, what they said. Include emails you sent/ rec to create a History document.

Two months after lodging the claim you can start the complaint process. (don't be fooled like me because you think everything is finally coming to an end.) Zurich Insurance Complaints department are obliged by law to respond to this email with a Customer Protection File Number. You will get a generic response saying they are obliged by law to respond within 40 days.

It is difficult to remember when the worst happens that the first thing to grab should be....your camera. Take photos & even video if it's something like a broken pipe and flowing water... Apparently this helps, but just remember that Zurich will never actually acknowledge they have recieved anything, no matter how many times or ways you ask.. Your only proof they have recieved the info is by getting the telephone helpline staff to read the subject line on your sent emails.

Sadly I have learnt that the delay tactics used will be everything from ... the surveyor is coming.. their designated builders are coming... a payment has been authorised.... unfortunately it just can't be believed, but this will keep you waiting & off their backs for a few more days until you realise, yet again, that it isn't happening.

I hope somewhere that someone will benefit from some of this info, even if it is just to realise that you are personally not doing anything wrong, it is just Zurich Insurance company policy to treat customers this way.

28th March OzziePom wrote:

OzziePom wrote:The agent said yesterday they have put in numerous complaints. Zurichs Complaint dept did send me a reply to the complaint I lodged, it's the only email Zurich have replied to since claim was opened.they said, 'we will try to resolve this within 2 months'

Feb 16 - On 3rd Feb the agent informed us there was a payment being made .. Surprisingly  it didn't happen ....
So again I am writing emails. making phone calls.

Things I have learnt during this process.

Zurich have a company policy of NOT answering customer emails.  REALLY!
Asking for a response, writting Urgent in the subject line etc will not make any
difference.

Zurich Customer service 24hr 'helpline' are there to answer phone calls... eventually.. but they will not give you information on what is happening with your claim they can only tell you for example.. ' a surveyor is coming... but we don't know when, it is up to the surveyor to contact you..
They are obliged however to confirm if they have recieved an email from you. You can get this information by asking them to read out the subject line of the last email recieved from you.
Tip : Every email you write must start with the correct Claim Number in the subject line. This will ensure that the email gets attached to your file.  It may take some time to get the correct claim number.
When you first contact the company, or agent, be sure to get a new exercise book and begin to write every comms down with date, time, who you spoke to, what they said. Include emails you sent/ rec to create a History document.

Two months after lodging the claim you can start the complaint process. (don't be fooled like me because you think everything is finally coming to an end.) Zurich Insurance Complaints department are obliged by law to respond to this email with a Customer Protection File Number.  You will get a generic response saying they are obliged by law to respond within 40 days.

It is difficult to remember when the worst happens that the first thing to grab should be....your camera.  Take photos & even video if it's something like a broken pipe and flowing water... Apparently this helps, but just remember that Zurich will never actually acknowledge they have recieved anything, no matter how many times or ways you ask.. Your only proof they have recieved the info is by getting the telephone helpline staff to read the subject line on your sent emails.

Sadly I have learnt that the delay tactics used will be everything from ... the surveyor is coming.. their designated builders are coming... a payment has been authorised.... unfortunately it just can't be believed, but this will keep you waiting & off their backs for a few more days until you realise, yet again, that it isn't happening.

I hope somewhere that someone will benefit from some of this info, even if it is just to realise that you are personally not doing anything wrong, it is just Zurich Insurance company policy to treat customers this way.

28th March. It is now 5 months and 1 week since I opened the claim... Despite thinking last month that this might actually be coming to a solution surprise surprise, Zurich have STILL not settled...they have said they will, in fact twice... the complaints proceedure is 
a joke, and they deliberately lie to just fob you off & make you give up. Disgusting unethical behaviour of multinational company.