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My experience with Shannons Insurance!

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#1
Evo-00x

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This is a friendly reminder to all you car lovers out there to be wary of the insurance company you are dealing with. I will be leaving Shannons and taking all our 3 cars and our home and contents insurance policies back to GIO or AAMI as soon as our policies expire.  

 

Please take the time to have a read of our recent experience: 

 

We are not going to deal with Shannons insurance (Suncorp) anymore as they are absolutely hopeless in handling claims on behalf of the customer. They took our car to a dodgy workshop of their choosing who claimed to replace and fix some engine and electrical issues after flood water damage in the April 2015 storms, but the car went back 4 times for the same check engine and traction control error codes on the dash. We were left dealing with the workshop directly to fight to get our car repaired properly for 3 months. Shannons wouldn’t write the car off because their policy states that if the interior of the car doesn’t get effected by water, then they can repair it.

 

History: Flood water went over the bonnet and into the intake manifold (into the engine) and engine bay electrics so they said that they could have that fixed for less than writing the car off (which is insured for $8900). So they spent money on paying the workshop to clean the engine, pull apart the intake, replacing filters, oils, change alternator, removed and cleaned sensors, removed ABS brake sensors and replaced ABS module etc and the problem still existed!!  For 3 months we have been waiting with our car in and out of the workshop whilst they were trying to diagnose and chase the same reoccurring electrical fault.

 

We were advised that if I had opened the door and water came into the interior of the car, it would have been an instant write off. I answered why would I be so stupid to open a door and exit a vehicle with my 14 year old son in dangerous flash flood waters with trees and power lines coming down around us and with debris flying around in high winds? Looking back now we should have just opened the bloody doors and let the water come in and risk walking home in the torrential rain and high wind storm, however all power was out, streets were cut off with downed power poles and trees and not even the mobile phone network was working to call for assistance. So we stayed in the car whilst I kept trying to start it and managed to get it out of the water and hobble it a block or so home kicking and screaming as it was not happy moving at all.

 

Anyway, after 3 months of it being off the road for weeks on end at the workshop trying to diagnose and fix it, then coming back and forth to our home only to find the problem still existed, then waiting days or a week for re-booking it back in whilst the car lay dormant in our front yard, we got sick of the non-action from Shannons to represent their customer!!!

 

They had already committed to repairing the vehicle and spent $$ on having work done, that the last thing Shannons wanted to do was to pay us out the insured  amount of $8900. They didn’t even supply us with a replacement vehicle to use in the meantime.  They are a joke of an insurance company when it came to this particular scenario. I'm sure that if the vehicle was involved in a smash or water entered the inside of the vehicle it would have been written off immediately, but for what we had to endure without a 2nd family car for kids weekend sports, getting lifts from other people, reorganising our weekends around one car only, work etc it was terrible.

 

In the end the workshop got jack of the car that they pushed it aside in the corner and didnt touch it. When we pressured them for action they went quiet for a while then came back to us with a bullshit story about water leaking from the heater core unit onto the ECU (which is protected by plastic sheeting anyway) and that it was a 'maintenance issue' and not covered under insurance. Mind you, they 'allegedly' already looked for water leaks under the dash and from the firewall when it first went in for flood damage assessment and they couldn't find any evidence of water in the car whatsoever. However now, all of a sudden after 6 weeks in their possession there is radiator fluid leak in the footwells??? They quoted us $4600 for repairs for the replacement of the heater core unit, ECU, modules, labour etc!!  I got so pissed off that I claimed that they purposely pressure tested the system and blew the heater core to cause that because the problem was not there previously to my knowledge. I later found there was evidence of a small drip leak over time, but nothing that could have wet the ECU or made us aware of the problem as our carpets were dry.  Anyway, I picked the car up and noticed a great amount of radiator fluid soaking the carpets that wasn't there before the floods nor after the floods, but it was there now!! The assholes blew the heater core unit wide open. I know for certain we had no electrical issues prior to the floods, but now, they claimed the ECU was damaged from a severe water leak.  Oh and whilst they had the car all this time, it ran out of rego in July.

 

Angrily we picked the car up and I bought a wreck at my own expense to do the work that they had quoted us $4600 for. Therefore I replaced the heater core, replaced and recoded the replacement ECU (which showed no evidence of water damage or burns on it etc as it was covered by plastic) and I also replaced TCL module and the problem still existed!! It had nothing to do with the original ECU as I had suspected because it never got wet!! So I just spent my own money, time and effort to do the work that they quoted us $4600 for and it still didn't fix the problem!!! 

 

So I took the car back to them again with exactly the same fault it went in for originally. Two days later they call us up and said that the car was fixed and that it was ready for pickup. I asked what was the issue? They said it had a faulty ABS module - which is something they claimed they had replaced weeks earlier.. and that was it! 

 

So basically we went through 3 months of bullshit, spending my own time and money on repairs etc, for them to turn around and say it was a faulty ABS module???  And Shannons didn't do a thing to help its customer try to recoup costs for time and monies spent on repairing a vehicle that had a misdiagnosed fault! This is bullshit!

 

I suspect the workshop quoted a high repair cost on purpose in order to have the car written off. They simply just wanted the thing gone because it took up space in their workshop for so long and they couldn't diagnose the fault. However, Shannons kept pressuring them back to fix it because the assessor had already committed Shannon's money to carry out repairs and they didn't want to end up writing the car off in the end and lose more $$ in a payout.

 

So the person who loses out here on both accounts is "ME"... "THE CUSTOMER". Lost time, rego, monies, weekends, insurance, frustration, everything.... including possibly a lost engine too!!

 

Now the car is back in our front yard, unregistered and unloved. I can understand why my wife has gotten jack of it and doesnt want to drive it anymore.

Me on the other hand, I just spent money on the bloody thing to fix it. So I guess we are at that stage of whether to re-rego it, or get rid of it.

The exhaust stinks bad and I suspect the engine internals are damaged, but the car has 300,000kms on it so no proof of flood water damage as the engine has so many kms.

I do have a 130,000kms replacement engine and transmission for it from the wreck though.

I guess it depends on my wife whether even if I change the engine and transmission over, if she still wants to keep the car, but I don't think she does now. 

So here I am again, probably going to spend more of my time and effort and money fixing it just in order to sell it - yet another cost to me brought about by dodgy workshops and crappy insurance companies.

 

Screw them all!!


Edited by EVO-00X, 09 August 2015 - 02:37 AM.

AWD. 2 Litre. GTX3076R 0.82.
330kw atw @ 28psi 98 pump fuel.

372kw atw @ 28psi E85 Flexfuel.
EVOLVED AWD COUPE
WWW.EVOCOUPE.NET

#2
jack be nimble

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Sometimes i think you are better off without insurance. If you break it, you fix it.
Its just not worth the hastle.
all those little crap rules about water inside etc. All bollocks.
4g93t jumbuck conversion. PRANGED 18/3/12, CHECK MY MEMBER RIDES Page 11. no serious human injuries.
ON THE ENGINE STAND. g4cs 2.4l + Gt35r. PLUS: auto conversion + Awd coming.
thanks for parts and help: BMGTZ, EVOCPE, cwolf, Benozi, Jamo-GSR, 1JUM2NV, RXVII..much appreciated, cheers guys.
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#3
Cranked

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Anything under 10k is a 3rd party fire and theft for me. Cos if u stack it and it's ur fault, stiff shit and fix it urself. It does suck that u have had to go thru all this rubbish to essentially no result. Typical insurance companies though. I have a burst breach behind a wall in my bathroom for who knows how long, only found it cos I was under the house doing insulation. So assesor comes after my plumber popped a tile off to repair it. Assessor pulls a rotten piece of timber out with his hand, yet the report from insurance says it's not structural.... So I'm waiting for a rejuggle and refinance to go thru, then I'll pull bath out and if it structural I'm after them. Any ombudsmen remotely related will hear about it.
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#4
rock_it

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I am with Shannons .. But they give me choice of repairer..

I wouldn't have it any other way. They do offer a loan car when you take up the policy, but that costs you extra..
Moved on from the DSM powered Sonata who put out 238kw @ the wheels .... To a GSR 2.0L that is now engineered .. :wub:

#5
evo-gsr

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Fucked them off quite a while ago for similar reasons..bunch of pricks.
[qoute name="BMGTZ" post="331212" timestamp="1467451744"]I don't know anything ...
Trust in the master of taxis.... He will set you straight[/quote]

#6
ted

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Ive heard this story many times with different people........bunch of fuckwits!!



#7
Cranked

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It's funny though really. As "enthusiasts" we or the majority of us have built our car and we love them. And yet cos we are modified to above oem specs we are scrutinised by insurance companies. I know I sure as hell won't leave my car from my sight when I'm out, and then it's locked up in a secure garage when I'm not. Yet technically speaking my triton is worth twice as much $ wise and I'll leave it anywhere.
GSR Lancer- JE-73-VO, 11.701@125mph, 1.79 60" and getting faster. No:3 conrod now orbiting the moon.

#8
ENGINR

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I have my car and trailer with them, they offer "Laid up and Transport" cover which is perfect for my situation.  Only thing I'm unhappy with is the maximum agreed value amount they would accept.

 

Road car and house is with RACV - Shannons couldn't match them despite already having the "toys" with them so they missed the chance to have everything insured with them.


"I got an idea, an idea so smart my head would explode if I even began to know what I was talking about." - Peter Griffin

#9
Evo-00x

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The car in question is our Ralliart Magna. We pay full comprehensive insurance at Shannon's market value of $8900. It got damaged and the asswipes had the hide to say that the car is only worth around $4000 market value. But yet, they are happy for me to pay a higher premium as long as I never make a claim. Then when we made a claim, they did everything they could in their power not to pay it out and did not represent us through 3 months of bullshit we had to endure with the workshop. There is no customer service at all. I had to do all the chasing up and I had to try and repair the car according to the workshop's diagnosis, which was wrong in the first place. You would think they would tell the workshop to compensate me for their misdiagnosis and the extra time and money I had to spend, but no... Shannons are happy that we got the car back and that's where their responsibility ends.

I'm sure you can fix everything on a flood damaged car if you replace all the parts off a wreck. So my point being, don't insure a car unless its a newer model. Because if you can buy a wreck for $1000 to fix a car yourself, then you're better off doing that than paying $890 per year for full comprehensive insurance. Third party property damage insurance is only $140 a year.

On a side note, when we lost a car to floods in 2007, I still drove the car to work and back before it started developing electrical problems over the course of a few days post the floods. AAMI told me to leave the car out front and they picked it up. AAMI paid up within 48 hrs and we used the $$ to go out and buy a replacement car within a few days and immediately reinsured with AAMI again. There was no stuff around, no bullshit with workshops and they definitely understood that customer service (and not leaving them in the lurch) comes first. Go figure.

Even though multiple Shannons policies saves us a small amount of $$ every year, they definitely weren't worth the money.


Edited by EVO-00X, 09 August 2015 - 09:53 AM.

AWD. 2 Litre. GTX3076R 0.82.
330kw atw @ 28psi 98 pump fuel.

372kw atw @ 28psi E85 Flexfuel.
EVOLVED AWD COUPE
WWW.EVOCOUPE.NET

#10
evo-gsr

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If you were happy with Aami in the first place..why the fuck did you change to these knobs??
[qoute name="BMGTZ" post="331212" timestamp="1467451744"]I don't know anything ...
Trust in the master of taxis.... He will set you straight[/quote]

#11
jack be nimble

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Yep. Generally a 10yr old generic car you can fix for sfa.

I had a centura as a younger guy. They wanted 900pa to insure it for 3500. Pass. I could have replaced it for 6-700 and swapped all my bits across. Even a nasty prang, you should get the engine out of at least.
4g93t jumbuck conversion. PRANGED 18/3/12, CHECK MY MEMBER RIDES Page 11. no serious human injuries.
ON THE ENGINE STAND. g4cs 2.4l + Gt35r. PLUS: auto conversion + Awd coming.
thanks for parts and help: BMGTZ, EVOCPE, cwolf, Benozi, Jamo-GSR, 1JUM2NV, RXVII..much appreciated, cheers guys.
Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. —Enzo Ferrari
REMEMBER: you cant polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter.

#12
Cranked

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Ombudsmen... Do it
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#13
White Knight

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Insurance ombudsman service +1.
I used to be an insurance assessor and prior was an underwriter. Following Suncorp s' poor handling of cyclone in Townsville last decade the insurance act in Australia was rewritten to include "fair and reasonable". This simple change gives the consumer much, so long as you know of course.
FYI, Shannon's, suncorp, GIO and AAMI are all under the same banner. You WILL have the same assessment team.
Always ask who the underwriter is for your insurance and play hard ball with any insurance company that you feel is treating you unjust. Or message me...

#14
Evo-00x

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If you were happy with Aami in the first place..why the fuck did you change to these knobs??

Because they do modified car insurance and back in 2009 they were the only ones who would insure my awd engineered coupe. Then they offered cheaper insurance for multiple policies so I moved all of our insurances over to them to save a dollar and to support a company which apparently looks after 'car enthusiasts'. I was wrong.

 

White Knight you would have been great to have in our corner in the last 3 months. You know the assessor never even looked at the car! He was only going by what the workshop was telling him and photographs taken from under the dash. Then when I pulled apart the car and took my own photographs, I had proof that the photos the workshop took were doctored up on purpose. There was no way fluid could have been on the ECU where they photographed it unless they pulled back the protective plastic sheet that covers it completely. Not that it mattered anyway because it wasn't the ECU at fault in the first place as it tested fine and was readable and functioning normally. It's like saying that a table top was wet when the table is covered by a clear plastic sheet all around it and covering the sides - it's physically impossible to get wet there. So when the fault still existed with the replacement ECU, I plugged the old ECU and TCL modules back in to double check and sure enough, the problem was still happening.

 

It was at this time when my wife and I got furious that we got played. I ended up calling the assessor and emailing him and his complaints team photographs of replacing all the parts as proof (and leaving the original parts on the passenger floor and in the boot) including photos of the clear plastic sheeting covering the factory ECU. I even took a youtube video which is time and date stamped as proof that the car was still having the same existing problem afterwards with intermittent check engine and TCL light coming up on the cluster. I also said that the workshop had misdiagnosed the problem and I had lost time and money fixing it for nothing. Imagine if I was silly enough to pay their $4600 quote to have it repaired and it was still faulty?!. I bet they would never had admitted that they f*cked up. 

 

Yet the Shannons assessor didn't do anything other than ask me, yet again, to return the car back to the workshop for re-assessment. The workshop could have dicked me around for another 3 months and Shannons would have still been a toothless tiger because they didn't want to pay out the claim. They wouldn't know what the words "customer service" meant let alone 'fair and reasonable'. We got played by both parties.

 

What fair and reasonable recourse could I take up with the Ombudsman?

 

Here are photos to show you guys what I had to do:

Attached Thumbnails

  • 03.jpg
  • 01.jpg
  • 02.jpg
  • factory sheeting.jpg
  • 08.jpg
  • 09.jpg
  • 11.jpg
  • 12.jpg
  • 15.jpg

Edited by EVO-00X, 09 August 2015 - 04:48 PM.

AWD. 2 Litre. GTX3076R 0.82.
330kw atw @ 28psi 98 pump fuel.

372kw atw @ 28psi E85 Flexfuel.
EVOLVED AWD COUPE
WWW.EVOCOUPE.NET

#15
Evo-00x

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These images are what the workshop took and emailed to the assessor to claim that the ECU was damaged from a fluid leak.

They simply couldn't diagnose the fault so they had to fabricated one up by pulling back the plastic sheeting and wetting the outside of the ECU.

I bet they didn't expect me to fix it and expose their dodgy practice :fuuuuu:

Can anybody tell me how the ECU can get wet where they took the photos after seeing the pics of the clear plastic sheeting in my previous post? lol   :thumbsdown:

Attached Thumbnails

  • Workshop photo 1  - Claimed ECU water damage.png
  • Workshop photo 2  - Claimed ECU water damage.png
  • Workshop photo 3  - Claimed ECU water damage.png

Edited by EVO-00X, 09 August 2015 - 05:05 PM.

AWD. 2 Litre. GTX3076R 0.82.
330kw atw @ 28psi 98 pump fuel.

372kw atw @ 28psi E85 Flexfuel.
EVOLVED AWD COUPE
WWW.EVOCOUPE.NET

#16
White Knight

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I'm sorry mate, I honestly didnt read your thread until recently.....
It would fair and reasonable for you to get an unbiased 3rd party opinion from an auto sparky regarding the cause or lack of cause (lack professional work ethic by original shop) of water to the ecu.
Further, by doing this the ombudsman may rule that it would be a "fair and reasonable" assumption that flood damage to the vehicle was the cause of the electrical issues and not a faulty ecu.
At the moment I would do nothing except timeline your "event" in an email, with any correspondence that you may have rexieved from your insurer or the workshop, and then call the ombudsman for an email address (to a real person not a generic inbox) to direct it to.
The ombudsman's number is on the back page of you product disclosure statement (insurance booklet).
PM me if you get stone walled, however I doubt that you would.....

#17
mat

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hey evo-00x I possibly could be interested in the magna engine with 130000kms if you decide to sell it, One of the timing belt pulley bolts broke on our vrx so no more engine  :( Im not sure whether to fix it or sell it off for parts at the moment but let me know



#18
jack be nimble

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Looks like a magna would die from water in the intake before a wet ecu stopped it. Even if the cabin was full of water.
Its so strange that a workshop cant fix a fault when it is ongoing and not intermittent.

the workshop should have to reimburse the insurance company for not fixing the problem they are qualified to repair and should pay you because you fixed it. That seems fair to me.
4g93t jumbuck conversion. PRANGED 18/3/12, CHECK MY MEMBER RIDES Page 11. no serious human injuries.
ON THE ENGINE STAND. g4cs 2.4l + Gt35r. PLUS: auto conversion + Awd coming.
thanks for parts and help: BMGTZ, EVOCPE, cwolf, Benozi, Jamo-GSR, 1JUM2NV, RXVII..much appreciated, cheers guys.
Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. —Enzo Ferrari
REMEMBER: you cant polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter.


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