G'day guys, this is a bit long winded but just might be well worth a read if you're considering, or already have, insurance with Western QBE................

   I thought I'd jump on here pretty much straight after having a chat (again) with Western QBE............ok, it's been about half an hour or so, I needed a chance to cool off

I rang QBE and spoke to 'Stephanie' and gave her my policy number. After she got my details up I said to her that my insurance is due to expire on Sunday and I want a quote for agreed value for $10,200 to see what the cost would be. She hacked around on the keys and told me it would be $354/year with an excess of $350.............."ok, what would it be with the excess at $400?" I asked writing it all down............"$334", she replied.

Hmmmmmm, I was looking at the figures I had from other sources and it was pretty reasonable except I wouldn't have a choice of repairer. I asked her "with your cover it states there's a lifetime guarantee on repairs", she didn't know what I was talking about, I then twigged that I was talking to a fairly new person (having been there myself I know it's hard to cram all the info into your brain). She started talking about cover for emergency repairs, hire bike if stolen.........

"no, no, no" I said, "I'm talking about where if you have a crash and it goes to the repairer to be fixed....."

She cut me off.........."If the bike is new and written off then we replace......"

I cut her off "No Stephanie, I'm not talking about a write-off, I'm talking about the bike being repaired and the lifetime guarantee on repairs, I want to know if it continues if you end the policy"

"I don't know, you'd have to talk to claims"

Bloody hell I thought to myself, this is in your advertising! This is one of your selling points! You should be able to advise me how it affects the policy!!

"Ok, I need to talk to the claims people anyway so I'll ask them", I said, "ok Stephanie, now if I decide that I want to go ahead with the quote is there a reference number I can call back with?"

"Nuh, I didn't do a quote, it's only a rough estimate"

"But I asked for a quote"

"I can't do a quote for that price (meaning $10,200), I have to talk to my supervisor"

Fine.

She comes back and told me that they can only go as high as $9500 and they would need to see photographs. I explained that my bike was at their registered repairer and has not been fixed.......how was I going to send photo's? I also said that I was getting an evaluation done on the bike when it's fixed by the repairer and I could send that in.

You won't believe their response..............They will not accept an Evaluation Certificate!!!! They want photos!

So, Western QBE will not accept an evaluation certificate from their registered repairer  (who is an Authorized HD Dealer) to confirm a bikes value for insurance

                                                    but wait.......there's MORE!!

I spoke to Lauchlin in claims and asked about the Lifetime Guarantee on Repairs and guess what?.................

It is only if you remain insured with Western QBE! ummmmmmm, I'm sorry........but I don't have my dictionary handy but I'm pretty sure that "lifetime" means "until it's dead or gotten rid of"

So I asked the next question "seeing as the repairer still has my bike and my policy expires on Sunday if anything happens to my bike I'm stuffed? If they mess up something and I take my insurance elsewhere it's just "too bad" even though my insurance was with you guys at the time of the claim?"

"Yes"

He then made a big mistake.............he asked me "When do you get your bike back?"

 "Stuffed if I know, for the last two months I've been told 'In two weeks' mate" I had said, I reckon he picked up just how shitty I was.

He made his next mistake by telling me he was going to check the assessors notes and he was reading them out aloud.

The basic scenario was "four to six weeks depending on parts", he continued to say that was dated in september so I should have got it back sometime in October.............................the phone went very quiet.

"What month is it now?", I casually asked.

"Um, December............they must be waiting for parts to come from overseas, this is the problem with Harleys, ask any repairer and they'll tell you it takes a long time"

I didn't inform him that a few repairers I had spoken to reckoned I would have had my bike back in 4 weeks no problem. I did however say "nah mate, the parts from overseas were back over a month ago, the parts they've been waiting for are from Australia".......................................silence again.

"Do you want me to ring them?"..........he had suddenly changed his tone of voice, no more cocky attitude.

"That would be nice", I replied.

Five minutes later he called me back, "They just received the front rim today and they want to make sure everything is all balanced and alligned before they give it back to you (ummmm obviously!) It should be ready on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.......if you haven't heard from them by wednesday then give them a call"

"Mate", I said, "Do you know how many times I've heard that? They've had the bike 18 weeks".

"Well, if you keep calling them they'll get tired of hearing from you and will fix it quicker"

"Mate, that's what I've been doing and I'm sure they're tired of the sound of my voice and seeing my face at the workshop for the last two months"

"Ha ha ha ha, have a great weekend", was the reply.

Thanks for nothing Western QBE

Megs

I feel for ya mate, I fuggin laughed, but I feel for ya

I was always of the opinion that you insured for a period ie; your policy is for 12 months so whatever happens within that 12 months is covered including any offered warranties.
I had a claim on my house insurance and some time later changed insurance companies. At least 2 years later there was a problem in the general area where they had repaired so I rang them, they sent an assessor out, he agreed that it could have been connected to or over looked while doing the previous repair and they fixed it. When I told him that I was no longer insured with his company he told me that you insure for a period so if claim arose from the previous repair then they covered it.
I think they are trying to snow you and are making up the rules as they go along to suit themselves.

I feel for you mate, I had major problems associated with my insurance and I will relate the story here if you don't mind.

I was insured with Swann (for nearly 20 years) and I made a claim after a minor disagreement between myself and the tarmac. The repairs were a nightmare and it took no less than five attempts before they got it right but the insurance paying up was no problem. For some reason after I had made the claim they never sent me a renewal notice the next time it was due.

I didn't realise until the policy had well and truly expired that I didn't have cover so I quickly called Swann for a cover note.

The thing is, the guy on the phone said they needed to eyeball the bike at one of their repairers. This was a pain in the arse but I figured it was fair enough so off I go to a different shop because I will never set foot in the shop that fixed my bike the first time (not going to mention the names of any of the shops here) and since the bike was just about due for a tune up I killed two birds with one stone.

While the bike was getting sorted the shop manager agreed on the value and we did all the paperwork, I recieved a printed covernote with a policy number and all that but I was a little surprised that the price was cheaper than before I had made a claim.

Being a bit of a tightarse I thought it was a bonus that I'd insured my bike for a couple of hundred less than previously and I handed over my cash (this was a mistake) I should have swiped the plastic but I had the cash so I used it.

Anyhoo another year flickers by and I noticed that yet again these plonkers at Swann had neglected to send me a policy renewal - so I called them.

I quoted my policy number to the kid on the phone only to be told bluntly that the number was invalid. My jaw hit the ground, I said "Look mate I paid for a years worth of cover and I've been riding all over the countryside thinking I was covered and you're telling me I wasn't."

"Thats correct" he says.

So after much swearing and cursing questioning I was put through to a manager (who sounded about 16) and I was told that if I had an original of the policy and a receipt I would in fact be covered but that they (Swann) had never received payment.

****Alarm bells were ringing**** This is the point where I decided to go and check out the bike shop and see if someone had pocketed my cash by mistake or if they had actually robbed me blind.

I rode out there (a couple of the boys came with for "emotional" support) only to find that the shop was closed and boarded up. I was filthy angry about the whole thing and wanted answers so I put the word out and started to get a sketchy report of what happened.

Someone in the bike shop (I dunno who) had themselves an expensive drug habbit and was pocketing cash (mine included) the problem was it ended up going so far that the shop went under and according to a few blokes I know some fellas lost parts from their bikes -  the shop closed and people just walked out with shit.

I'm not willing to say more about the shop or those involved but it opened my eyes to the risks of dealing with unknowns and it also convinved me that Swann didnt deserve my business because their system was all but useless -  ifs someone can do a cover note, accept your money and print your receipt yet the computer system never notified Swann then they aren't up to scratch.

I ditched Swann and a mate recommended Shannons - I called them and spoke to a great bloke that was into bikes and understood where I was coming from. Within minutes I had insured my bike for the right value and it was HALF THE PRICE of Swann. I've been insured with them ever since and although I haven't made a claim I can only heap praise on them for ease of doing business.

I have had one crash in my whole life (including cars, bikes and trucks) and it was a bitter blow but the crap that came after was a lot harder to swallow than the crash itself.