19 days following an accident and had done nothing with my vehicle!

On 30th April my 3 and 1/2 year old vehicle was hit on my way home from work, in peak hour traffic, stop/start, low speed, where two lanes were merging into one. I was not at fault, hit from behind when that driver failed to stop, the impact pushed me forward into the vehicle in front. My vehicle was towed from scene as damage to front passenger side, boot and back bumper. Lodged claim with Suncorp that night, was contacted the following morning at 9.33am to finalise details for claim. Hire car was organised for 20 days from 9am Sunday 2nd May to 9am Saturday 22nd May and a $200.00 bond would be payable on the day and refunded on return of the hire car, but no assistance would be provided to get to the Rental Company (I had to organise for someone to take me or pay for an Uber/taxi) so no paid fare from home to the Rental Company as offered by insurance company AAMI.

I also had to pay my excess as I couldn't prove I wasn't at fault for hitting the vehicle in front of me (even though I had a statement from that driver clearly explaining she had seen me stop and I was then pushed forward from impact of being hit). Was told the excess would be refunded within 3-4 business days once Suncorp Claims Team had confirmed with the other two driver's claims as to what had happened. I was asked for the address of the driver at fault but didn't have it, told representative I could get it while on the phone and she said not to worry, the claims team would obtain it and it wouldn't be a problem.
NOTE: Excess was NOT refunded within 3-4 business days, had to chase them 7 weeks later and request for it to be refunded, finally received it on Monday 21st June - claim had been finalised on Thursday 20th May, settlement money paid but no excess refunded.

Tuesday 12th May - 11 days after the accident my vehicle was FINALLY moved from the tow yard to a repairer for assessment. Received a text message from the repairer advising the vehicle had been received. NO communication at all from Suncorp about the claim progressing or next steps. The repairer completed repair estimate, submitted it to Suncorp and on Thursday 13th May they left me a voice message saying it would take Suncorp between 3-4 business days to review the repair estimate and approve repairs to commence. I waited 8 days from Thursday 13th May until Thursday 20th May and received NO communication from the repairer or Suncorp.

On Thursday 20th May, 2 days before my hire car rental was up, I contacted Suncorp to get the term increased as my vehicle had been damaged for 20 days and nothing had been done yet. Was advised by Suncorp Rental Team Representative that my policy only allowed 21 days hire and they could increase the rental by only 1 more day to 9am Sunday 23rd May. Advised the representative that the accident was not my fault, also not my fault that Suncorp had yet to even start repairing my vehicle after 3 weeks! The Rental Team Representative advised that repair works WOULDN'T be completed as they had decided my vehicle was a WRITE OFF!!
NOTE: I had to find out from a Rental Team Representative that my car was written off, there was NO contact from the Claims Team advising that the vehicle had already been written off! When was someone from Suncorp going to tell me?!
Also, vehicle was insured for $12,699.00 and appeared to only have cosmetic bumper damage to the front and back from a low speed collision, so I was in shock that they had written it off instead of repairing.

Since my vehicle was a write off I was advised I would be contacted by the Settlement Team in 6-7 business days to finalise a pay out.
NOTE: I was expected to return a hire vehicle in (now) 3 days time and be without any vehicle for 8 days (following an accident that was not my fault) until the Settlement Team got their act together and contacted me to discuss settlement?! And I hadn't even been contacted yet by the Claims Team to advise the vehicle had been written off! What a joke!

The Rental Team Representative was sympathetic about my situation of being left without a vehicle and contacted the Claims Team to see what could be done, eventually advising me that after 3 weeks they were yet to obtain the address of the driver at fault (even though I offered to do this the day after the accident and was told not to worry, it wouldn't be a problem!) And until they did they couldn't extend my hire car term which would then be covered by her insurance, as I was still classed as 'at fault' and could only receive a hire car under my policy for 21 days. I then had to do Suncorp's job for them and obtained the driver at fault's address from her within 2 minutes and provided it, also sending a screenshot of the message from her to prove it was her address. After 15 minutes it was confirmed the address was accepted and the Claims Team had closed the claim stating I was NOT at fault. Hire car was extended for another 7 days from Saturday 22nd May 9am until Saturday 29th May 9am, although I still had to physically present to the hire car company to sign a new contract on Saturday 22nd May when the initial 3 week contract would end and sign a new one for the additional week. I was also advised I would have to pay a new $200.00 hire car bond and the old bond would be refunded - so I was expected to be $400.00 out of pocket for my hire car until the initial $200.00 was refunded?! I was also given the contact details for the Settlement Team so I did not have to wait 6-7 business days for them to contact me so I could finalise the settlement pay out immediately and organise to purchase a new vehicle before my additional week hire car term expired.
NOTE: Thankfully the hire car company transferred my bond from the original contract to the new contract so I didn't have to pay another $200.00 and wait 3-4 business days for the initial $200.00 to be refunded.

After 30 minutes on hold and another 20 minutes on the phone, a helpful Settlement Team Representative organised for my settlement amount to be paid via direct debit for the agreed amount on my policy less the remaining monthly payments for my 12 month insurance policy.
NOTE: Settlement amount did NOT include my excess even though I had been declared not at fault.

Thankfully, settlement amount was received in my bank account the following day, Friday 21st May, allowing me to work out what additional funds were required to purchase a new vehicle as I only had the hire car for another 8 days.

OVERALL VIEWS OF SUNCORP
*All representatives I spoke to were great at their jobs, knowledgeable, helpful and understanding... And that is where the positives end!
*Suncorp have a lot of improving to do with their procedures for dealing with claims and ESPECIALLY WITH THEIR LACK OF COMMUNICATION WITH POLICY HOLDERS!!
*Advising policy holders when they phone that wait times are longer than usual do to a large number of claims does not inspire confidence in Suncorp! Where is the management of staff and resources in ensuring policy holders are looked after in a TIMELY manner and that claims are processed to completion also in a TIMELY manner?!
*I live in between two major cities in Queensland where there are more than enough options for repairers yet it took Suncorp 11 days to move my vehicle from the tow yard to a repairer and after another 8 days I had to call them to find out what was going on! So 19 days for them to do absolutely nothing! Yet under insurance company AAMI I had a vehicle repaired from a more serious accident in less amount of time while living in regional Queensland!!
*Suncorp needs to realise their policy holders are ACTUAL PEOPLE, the way they are treated throughout a claim process impacts their emotional well being - lack of communication and keeping policy holders in the dark increases anxiety and stress after an already stressful event of being involved in an accident!

Did you like or dislike this review?