Extremely disappointing insurance and claims experience

This has unfortunately been one of the poorest insurance and broking experiences we have had with an insurer. Moved from Discovery to Echelon, worst decision.

We pay a substantial monthly premium for private-client insurance and reasonably expected that, when we actually needed to claim, we would receive proactive assistance, clear communication and proper management of the claims process. That has not been our experience with Echelon and the broker handling our claims, Jacqueline.

Throughout the process, there was virtually no proactive communication. I repeatedly had to follow up myself for updates and answers. Even when I specifically requested a telephone call because of the number of issues arising, I received another email instead.

Material information was also not provided to me timeously. A second repair quotation was only brought to my attention after repairs had commenced, despite containing items that appeared to overlap with the first assessment. When I raised this, Jacqueline subsequently acknowledged that she had overlooked providing it.

I repeatedly asked for a proper reconciliation explaining the apparent overlap in parts, labour and paintwork between two claims. Instead of receiving the detailed breakdown requested, I received repeated explanations that these were two separate insured events — something I had never disputed.

The experience with Echelon's approved repairer, Sanrose, compounded matters. I was advised that my vehicle was ready for collection when work was still incomplete. I subsequently discovered further defects and returned the vehicle specifically for rectification. I was then called again and told that the vehicle was ready, travelled to collect it, and found that issues I had specifically identified had still not been attended to.

Despite these difficulties, communication between the broker, insurer and repairer appeared fragmented, leaving me to repeatedly follow up and coordinate matters myself.

I paid two excesses under protest and have formally requested that Echelon reconsider at least one of them given the overall circumstances and poor repair experience. The matter remains disputed.

What has been particularly disappointing is that, after this experience, we received a renewal communication advising of an increased premium while warning that our claims frequency could place the policy at risk of future cancellation.

Insurance is ultimately tested when a client needs to claim. A private-client insurer and broker should make that experience easier, not leave the client feeling that they are personally managing the insurer, assessor, repairer and broker.

We have now lost confidence in the service and are considering moving both our broker relationship and insurance portfolio elsewhere.

I hope Echelon and EnvestPro take this feedback seriously and review both their claims communication and the oversight of their approved repair network.