AAMI my experience and why i wont use them

[SSBarney]

Both my SS's are / were insured with AAMI.
A little while ago my wife backed straight into mine that was parked in the driveway:vpo:

The process with AAMI requires that you dump your car off at their central depot where they "auction" it to the lowest bidder, regardless of where you live in relation to the repairer. This means a panel beater from anywhere comes in and drives your car away. Any follow up repairs require you to take it to that panel beater in whatever suburb.

However you are legally allowed to choose your own repairer. AAMI have two approved repairers local to me, which makes it convenient for me, but also supports my belief in supporting local businesses.
I have got quotes from both of these approved repairers. And both have submitted the electronic quote to AAMI along with full photos etc.

Now AAMI require that i ALSO take the car into their central depot for a booked in assessment. The earliest date IN 3 WEEKS:flipoff::flipoff:

But if i let them auction my repair off they'll look at my car in 1 day. This is so clearly an effort to force people to not choose their own repairer.

AMMI are the cheapest insurance i found at $981. But i have now renewed my policy with GIO at an additional cost of $200 because GIO treat you so much better in the case of a claim.
Whe considering your insurance dont forget to talk to your local repairer and see how you will get treated in the event of a claim.

Oh and the nice sounding girl on the phone at AAMI certainly changes her "nice tone" when you challenge her on the above.

Barney

[ignitionthunder]

i have had my last 3 utes with AAMI. And have never had a problem. Had my old ute damaged twice and got two quotes and was getting started on within the week, on both times. Maybe because i don't live in a major city. But have never had a problem.

[boyley]

Interesting Barney, I have both our vehicles with AAMI never had to make a claim yet. Living in Tassie I wonder if they have such a centralised repair scheme such as that in the Melbourne metro.

In saying that I might pop down to the local panel shop and ask them what the norm is for AAMI down here.

Cheers Boyley

[csv rulz]

FOr me AAMI were by far the dearest. I have just bought an 03 ss and they quoted $2,600pa - RACV quoted $1,600pa and i am now paying $1,100pa with Elders insurance,.

[trevorturner]

barney

i had similar experience with AAMI, my wife collected a concrete post , took it to their assseement centre, the cheek was they gave me the "life time guarantee" before even starting.

they assessed two quotes , the surprising thing was they accepted the higher quote , yet the job was not up to scratch, poor blend out and use of used parts.
the other painter who lost the job told me that as he wasnt in their supply cartel he would get disqualified ??

I took it back and complained they just said it was ok and that was it??

somethings wrong here??? the whole thing doesnt smell right.

Im going somewhere else where I can nominate repairer , and would you believe it its cheaper??

trev

I will not be re

[planetdavo]

Like it or not, most are much the same as each other. My brother has been run into twice in the last 5 years, and AAMI have been fine. If you don't have loan car cover, they pay for a taxi to take you back home/work etc.
Many people complain once they need to involve their insurance company, no matter who it is, as most people only bother with the obvious stuff when getting quotes, and can't be bothered reading all the fine print to begin with. This is where these "issues" originate.


FOr me AAMI were by far the dearest. I have just bought an 03 ss and they quoted $2,600pa - RACV quoted $1,600pa and i am now paying $1,100pa with Elders insurance,.
Your age (and perhaps location to a lesser degree) is to blame.
I'm over 30, and the Monaro is more than 15% cheaper with AAMI compared to RACV, and even more with others. My brothers VT supercharged is about the same as well.

[Covert]

If you read AAMI's Product Disclosure Statement it's quite clear that AAMI choose the repairer. You can submit a quote, but the choice is AAMI's.

If you don't like the product, don't buy it.

[whitels1ss]

Your age (and perhaps location to a lesser degree) is to blame.
I'm over 30, and the Monaro is more than 15% cheaper with AAMI compared to RACV, and even more with others. My brothers VT supercharged is about the same as well.

I am over 50, live in Adelaide, Full no claim bonus etc and RAA costs me about 60% of what AAMI quoted me.
I am in the car trade also and know alot of crash repairers who all tell me that RAA is heaps easier to get a claim through and much faster than most, and yes you choose your own repairer and only one quote.
I had someone run into the back of me last year at a set of traffic lights and made a phone call to them and they just told me to drop the car off at the repairer of my choice and they fixed it for me without delay. :) :goodjob:

[planetdavo]

I am over 50, live in Adelaide, Full no claim bonus etc and RAA costs me about 60% of what AAMI quoted me.
I am in the car trade also and know alot of crash repairers who all tell me that RAA is heaps easier to get a claim through and much faster than most, and yes you choose your own repairer and only one quote.

Quote sounds location based.
Over here in Melbourne, RACV are generally known within the panel circles as being a pack of c#nts, and definitely the worst for @rseholing the shops, as they have two of their own panel shops, and actively try to steer everything to these two shops.
None of them are good. It's just who is less worse...

[BigAl83]

Interesting Barney, I have both our vehicles with AAMI never had to make a claim yet. Living in Tassie I wonder if they have such a centralised repair scheme such as that in the Melbourne metro.

In saying that I might pop down to the local panel shop and ask them what the norm is for AAMI down here.

Cheers Boyley

Situation is like that down here in the South.
Personally I wouldn't touch AAMI, what Barney said is correct about the lowest bidder stuff. This forces the repairers to re-use parts that sometimes should be replaced and often forces them to repair them in a shorter space of time that is not ideal.

As well as that what you probably don't know is that AAMI actually "owns" some bodyshops but because of the potential for dishonety you wont see their name on the owners papers. Essentially this allows them to undercut the quotes of your local bodyshop after they've got all the quotes in. Good for them, not so much for anyone who crashes.
Other insurance companies may or may not behave the same way I don't know. However I'd like to hope not.
:vpo:

[whitels1ss]

Quote sounds location based.
Over here in Melbourne, RACV are generally known within the panel circles as being a pack of c#nts, and definitely the worst for @rseholing the shops, as they have two of their own panel shops, and actively try to steer everything to these two shops.
None of them are good. It's just who is less worse...


Davo, RAA over here is fantastic, as you know I have been in the motor industry 34 years and I have never heard a repairer complain about dealing with their claims once! :)

[Speedy Gonzales]

Have had half a dozen cars insured through AAMI, no issues as yet, did you lodge a compaint or ask to speak to someone else?

[ti0350]

My mate owns a panel shop and he said he hates dealing with AAMI more then anybody else..

[Carrots]

FOr me AAMI were by far the dearest. I have just bought an 03 ss and they quoted $2,600pa - RACV quoted $1,600pa and i am now paying $1,100pa with Elders insurance,.

That's because Elders Insurance has forgotten what making a profit means...oh wait thats why they're in the poop! :rofl:

Just Cars when I first bought my ute wanted $1900, ended up at $900 through Lumleys.

One words of caution with the RAA, although this was more so on their home insurance, check carefully as to what coverage you're actually getting. I looked at their home insurance and for the sake of being $150 cheaper on what they called Accidental Damage cover, in terms of actual cover is wasn't anywhere near the same as AD on the likes of CGU or Allianz (the other two I looked at).

[Brandonsdad]

I had some damage fixed on my VE 18 months ago and I had to get 3 quotes. The first place I went to was a place that has resprayed 3 of my previous cars. When I got there for a quote, they told me that bacause they are an approved repairer, by AAMI I presume, that they can take the photos of the damage and send them into AAMI for their assessor to assess. In the end this was the only quote I needed and I didnt even ever see the quote, it was all handled by the crash repairer and AAMI. After car was fixed, AAMI even rang me up a week later to see if everything was fine. Everything was fine and I am now with SGIC.:)

[Mix 6000]

Thats why they can spend all that money on advertising, running the poor little guy around like a "Blue @rse fly".....anyway????....wasn't that a "Swan" that backed into your SS, Barney???...AAMI have been known to be 'shonks' for ages...My Panel Beater mate always tells me to steer away from these guys...'have fun'....cheers

[Drewie]

Both my SS's are / were insured with AAMI.
A little while ago my wife backed straight into mine that was parked in the driveway:vpo:

The process with AAMI requires that you dump your car off at their central depot where they "auction" it to the lowest bidder, regardless of where you live in relation to the repairer. This means a panel beater from anywhere comes in and drives your car away. Any follow up repairs require you to take it to that panel beater in whatever suburb.

However you are legally allowed to choose your own repairer. AAMI have two approved repairers local to me, which makes it convenient for me, but also supports my belief in supporting local businesses.
I have got quotes from both of these approved repairers. And both have submitted the electronic quote to AAMI along with full photos etc.

Now AAMI require that i ALSO take the car into their central depot for a booked in assessment. The earliest date IN 3 WEEKS:flipoff::flipoff:

But if i let them auction my repair off they'll look at my car in 1 day. This is so clearly an effort to force people to not choose their own repairer.

AMMI are the cheapest insurance i found at $981. But i have now renewed my policy with GIO at an additional cost of $200 because GIO treat you so much better in the case of a claim.
Whe considering your insurance dont forget to talk to your local repairer and see how you will get treated in the event of a claim.

Oh and the nice sounding girl on the phone at AAMI certainly changes her "nice tone" when you challenge her on the above.

Barney

My next door neighbour had a good experience with GIO, he was on holidays in QLD and had a guy 'U' turn in front of him, did quite a lot of damage including stuffing the front suspension, it was a late model Mazda Tribute
4wd he rang GIO they collected the car and had it back to him in just over a week, he said they were fantastic to deal with and the repair was first class and the car ran faultlessly on the 2000 odd kilometre trip home.
I am with RACV and have found them very similiar to AAMI premium wise, maybe a tad cheaper, but their agreed value was no where near what RACV offered, thousands of dollars difference in the cover offered.

[bigdogdazza]

AAMI what else can I say but WTF was I thinking when I went with them? I HAD 2 ss insured with them along with house and contents, I work for myself as a subby in the construction ind. Payments are made by the month with full NCB for years. Now the guy I subby to is very irregular with payments and things such as direct debts have been late as the funds werent available. House broken into went to claim and told policy cancelled due to lack of funds 3 months prior [still was paid the following week] and basically BAD LUCK! I wasnt informed of this at all and when I challenged them, all the comeback was that they sent me a letter! Checked my bank records and payments were still coming out for 2 months after this date and 3rd was due in 1 week. Still awaiting a decision as to if they will pay 2 months later! NRMA has all my business now and AAMI can FO:flipoff::bawl:

[bush_basha]

As well as that what you probably don't know is that AAMI actually "owns" some bodyshops but because of the potential for dishonety you wont see their name on the owners papers. Essentially this allows them to undercut the quotes of your local bodyshop after they've got all the quotes in. Good for them, not so much for anyone who crashes.
Other insurance companies may or may not behave the same way I don't know. However I'd like to hope not.
:vpo:


they cant be hiding it that hard, i had my car repaired thru aami and i went to check on my car halfway thru i actually went to where one of the aami repair centres is in sydney which back onto a MASSIVE panels beaters which im gathering was theres

[Excellent]

Both my SS's are / were insured with AAMI.
A little while ago my wife backed straight into mine that was parked in the driveway:vpo:

The process with AAMI requires that you dump your car off at their central depot where they "auction" it to the lowest bidder, regardless of where you live in relation to the repairer. This means a panel beater from anywhere comes in and drives your car away. Any follow up repairs require you to take it to that panel beater in whatever suburb.

However you are legally allowed to choose your own repairer. AAMI have two approved repairers local to me, which makes it convenient for me, but also supports my belief in supporting local businesses.
I have got quotes from both of these approved repairers. And both have submitted the electronic quote to AAMI along with full photos etc.

Now AAMI require that i ALSO take the car into their central depot for a booked in assessment. The earliest date IN 3 WEEKS:flipoff::flipoff:

But if i let them auction my repair off they'll look at my car in 1 day. This is so clearly an effort to force people to not choose their own repairer.

AMMI are the cheapest insurance i found at $981. But i have now renewed my policy with GIO at an additional cost of $200 because GIO treat you so much better in the case of a claim.
Whe considering your insurance dont forget to talk to your local repairer and see how you will get treated in the event of a claim.

Oh and the nice sounding girl on the phone at AAMI certainly changes her "nice tone" when you challenge her on the above.

Barney

RACV have the same procedure. You have to drive the car to their assessor.

[SV346]

I had a bit of trouble getting my car repaired a couple months ago by the place of my choice with AAMI aswell, 'Reno smash repairs' in campbelltown are brilliant, any issue i had with the car at all they were more than happy to rectify and i would be very happy using them again the job they did was nothing short of impressive, they were all great blokes there and treated the car with the upmost respect.

But i had a bit of an advantage up my sleeve by renos' being the ones who picked up the car originally and then if Renos couldnt fix it then i wanted it to be fixed back here in canberra :) But all up, AAMI were very quick to getting the ball rolling and having my car repaired, all up it took 3 or 4 weeks i think, including time for re arranged parts as holden sent the wrong headlights :(.

I think its entirely pointless with the whole auctioning it to the repair shop with the cheapest quote as the cheapest quote on my car was something around 2700-3000mark, but ended up being near 6000-7000 from memory with damage that couldnt be seen originally.


AAMI what else can I say but WTF was I thinking when I went with them? I HAD 2 ss insured with them along with house and contents, I work for myself as a subby in the construction ind. Payments are made by the month with full NCB for years. Now the guy I subby to is very irregular with payments and things such as direct debts have been late as the funds werent available. House broken into went to claim and told policy cancelled due to lack of funds 3 months prior [still was paid the following week] and basically BAD LUCK! I wasnt informed of this at all and when I challenged them, all the comeback was that they sent me a letter! Checked my bank records and payments were still coming out for 2 months after this date and 3rd was due in 1 week. Still awaiting a decision as to if they will pay 2 months later! NRMA has all my business now and AAMI can FO:flipoff::bawl:

I am sorry to hear about your troubles with them mate, thats completely buggered up!
But id be careful, you may have to now apologise to them for naming them because you werent happy with them.

[hsv-105]

Both my SS's are / were insured with AAMI.
A little while ago my wife backed straight into mine that was parked in the driveway:vpo:

The process with AAMI requires that you dump your car off at their central depot where they "auction" it to the lowest bidder, regardless of where you live in relation to the repairer. This means a panel beater from anywhere comes in and drives your car away. Any follow up repairs require you to take it to that panel beater in whatever suburb.

However you are legally allowed to choose your own repairer. AAMI have two approved repairers local to me, which makes it convenient for me, but also supports my belief in supporting local businesses.
I have got quotes from both of these approved repairers. And both have submitted the electronic quote to AAMI along with full photos etc.

Now AAMI require that i ALSO take the car into their central depot for a booked in assessment. The earliest date IN 3 WEEKS:flipoff::flipoff:

But if i let them auction my repair off they'll look at my car in 1 day. This is so clearly an effort to force people to not choose their own repairer.

AMMI are the cheapest insurance i found at $981. But i have now renewed my policy with GIO at an additional cost of $200 because GIO treat you so much better in the case of a claim.
Whe considering your insurance dont forget to talk to your local repairer and see how you will get treated in the event of a claim.

Oh and the nice sounding girl on the phone at AAMI certainly changes her "nice tone" when you challenge her on the above.

Barney

Typical bloody Bean Counter :stick: go the cheapest option then :bawl: when you get cheap service.

Read the PDS and all is explained - even better listen to the stories about AAMI and customer experiences.

If you want cheap basic insurance then AAMI is good and well but if you want the bells and whistles then it costs that little bit extra.

A bit like everything in life you get what you pay for.

[signature coupe]

shannons are good,choice of own repairer.
i had a car stolen a few years back and they were real good to deal with

[Super Snake]

I also am with AAMI and also had damage done to my Monaro.
I made sure with AAMI at the start of repairs that I wanted it repaired at an excellent level.
I also wanted to meet their repairer before the commencement of the repairs and have a chat with them, which I did.
I had told them that I was willing to bring the car back as many times as it took if the repairs were not satisfactory to my standards.
They must have listened and were very good in what they did.
Infact, I offered to do their colour matching to ensure everything matched, which it did.
Overall, my premium that I pay to AAMI is fair, the service was ok, and I will at this stage stay with them.
However, I could not get my car insured with Shannons, as it had no modifications done to it.

[kpop]

shannons for me. cheaper than racv, and 100% my choice of repairer.

[Wyrms]

3 of our cars at home are insured through AAMI. We've never had an accident and never have had to make a call in regards to insurance, but I'm rather comfortable with them thus far. I guess we'll see how we go...

In the event of an accident though I'd be very weary about some stranger repairing my car, I'd have to get to know him at least a bit beforehand and make a good impression so that the repairs would be to my standards.

[TUFFIE]

Both my SS's are / were insured with AAMI.
A little while ago my wife backed straight into mine that was parked in the driveway:vpo:

The process with AAMI requires that you dump your car off at their central depot where they "auction" it to the lowest bidder, regardless of where you live in relation to the repairer. This means a panel beater from anywhere comes in and drives your car away. Any follow up repairs require you to take it to that panel beater in whatever suburb.

However you are legally allowed to choose your own repairer. AAMI have two approved repairers local to me, which makes it convenient for me, but also supports my belief in supporting local businesses.
I have got quotes from both of these approved repairers. And both have submitted the electronic quote to AAMI along with full photos etc.

Now AAMI require that i ALSO take the car into their central depot for a booked in assessment. The earliest date IN 3 WEEKS:flipoff::flipoff:

But if i let them auction my repair off they'll look at my car in 1 day. This is so clearly an effort to force people to not choose their own repairer.

AMMI are the cheapest insurance i found at $981. But i have now renewed my policy with GIO at an additional cost of $200 because GIO treat you so much better in the case of a claim.
Whe considering your insurance dont forget to talk to your local repairer and see how you will get treated in the event of a claim.

Oh and the nice sounding girl on the phone at AAMI certainly changes her "nice tone" when you challenge her on the above.

Barney

I have just recently insured with Shannons and the premium I was paying for my Exec with AAMI is the same I am now paying for the Grange with Shannons. And If I insure a second Vehicle with them it get even cheaper.Shannons have certainly changed their policey's and are very competative..and if you have a cams licence etc it get even cheaper, they even cover track days provided there is an instructor present...

An example is a second vehicle 3rd party property only will cost me $110 per year...

I tried several insurance companies and Shannons were the cheapest by far..$200 from any of the other quotes I got.

my 1c worth.

[Hi Octane]

Shannon's FTw, easiest comapny to deal with, Just added the Ve this morning, was waiting till new house so garaged. For me they were cheaper than anyone, $600 on the ve, Just call em add the car & thats it so easy, yep discount for cams licence holders.

Never had a claim (touch wood) but i have heard that they are pretty good.

[Northy]

I am with AAMI, I made 2 claims within the space of 4 weeks, First one was for $5,000, 2nd was for $11,000. I could not have had an easier claim process. Both times the car was in getting fixed within a few days, claims were processed within 1-2 days or dropping car off and I took it where i wanted to....

[boyley]

Been insured with AAMI for two years now with two V8's and always have updated the cars when modifying them.

I was a little apprehensive when I installed the turbo in the ute that they may not insure it but to my suprise they have accepted the modification and my premium remains the same :) $700/annum with $1000 excess

[CALDIR]

Hi

I have been involved in many insurance claims with cars I own, not many that I drive though. As far as insurance companies go AAMI would have to be the worst I have ever dealt with, but if the price is cheap with AAMI than that is their position in the market place....perhaps change the name to NO FRILLS!

Shannons and GIO both get the thumbs up for their excellent service with all my previous claims.

regards,

Richard
HRTSEN

[mmm]

We are getting our fourth claim in 5 years processed through AAMI - Sutho Shire area.
Their service & response time is pretty good. But they do use cheapest quotes / repairers. That has meant sub-standard repair work in some cases.
I will be looking around for our brand new Kluger.

[Spoolin]

Lets put this into perspective, what do most people do when they seek an insurer....purchase the cheapest option which in most cases is also the worst insurer.
If you are involved in an accident and it is 100% not your fault you can take your car to absolutely any repairer you wish regardless of insurance company, you are also not required to supply three quotes. The panel shop will perform what is called a 'thrid party recovery', essentially they can pretty much start repairs on your vehicle without having to get authourisation.
It completely changes if you are at fault, your insurer has you by the short and curlies. This is when you have to take it to their repairer or central repair centre to start a bidding war.
I was speaking to a VIV inspector the other day and told me a story about a VE that came in for inspection after it had been damaged. It wasn't written off but the insurance company demanded the front chassis rail to be repaired as it had a kink, yet if it had the identical kink and needed a VIV report it had to be replaced not repaired. The owner argued this point with his insurer, dobbed them into Vicroads etc and the repairer had to replace the rail to return it to factory specs.
We're insured with Shannons, 3 cars and the house all pay by the month. I've never had a claim with them but I have friends who have and couldn't be happier.

[boyley]

That is key isnt it? I have no made an insurance claim since 2000 so have not had the opportunity to assess an insurers performance recently.

At the end of the day price influences us and AAMI's public image seems pretty good so until we make a claim out opinion remains:)

[damowhitevz]

im with aami.
some fkr key'd my ute on saturday night in newcastle whilst parked outside of my brothers unit.
its about a meter long and goes to bare metal in a few spots. was thinking if it was worth trying to get it repaired with my own money or hassle aami and get them to pay.
wat type of excess am i looking at.

[AD07]

How about looking at your insurance policy...................:doh:

[OscarTheGrouch]

Interesting Barney, I have both our vehicles with AAMI never had to make a claim yet. Living in Tassie I wonder if they have such a centralised repair scheme such as that in the Melbourne metro.

In saying that I might pop down to the local panel shop and ask them what the norm is for AAMI down here.

Cheers Boyley

I don't think they're that bad here....

I was with Just Car for my old ute (which is owned/run by AAMI) - when I had to make a claim a couple of years ago the process was:

- Get two quotes from panelbeaters
- Book in for an assessment at AAMI in Launceston (only took a couple of days from memory)
- The assessor asked who I wanted as a repairer, and I got word fairly quickly they had approved them to do the repair.

Funnily enough my preferred repairer was the slightly more expensive quote but the assessor had no problem with that.