Wawanesa Reviews
Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company is a Canadian insurance company that currently does business in California and Oregon. They started as a mutual insurance company for farmers in 1896. The name comes from their town of origin, Wawanesa, Manitoba. According to their website, one of their founders, Charles Kerr, hand-wrote their first policy for a thresher. See below Wawanesa reviews from actual customers.
Since then, Wawanesa Insurance has grown to be one of Canada’s most successful insurance companies with 1.2 million policies in force. If you have had Wawanesa auto insurance, feel free to leave a comment, good or bad. To see reviews for a different company, checkout these auto insurance reviews.
For State Farm reviews, click here.
For SAFECO reviews, click here.
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Reviews (25)
Matt
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Much happier with this company than I was with my last company, so far. The price is about the same as it is everywhere else, but the customer service is great.
Haven’t had a claim yet, so that will be the real test of this company if that day ever comes.
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Jeff H
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I have been with Wawanesa for about 3 months now. I previously had Progressive insurance for the past several years. I like the convenience of doing everything online with Progressive but always felt the rates were too high. When my policy was up for renewal and went shopping for a new policy. Wawanesa was my second choice and happened to be almost 50 percent cheaper than progressive. This was exactly what I was looking for. The agent was very helpful and professional. I let her know that I would be checking with other companies and would get back to her the next day. After checking with other companies they were all about the same price as progressive. This would not do. I did a google search on Wawanesa to make sure they were legitimate and to find out about their customer service and reputation. Most of the reviews were positive and I did not find anything particularly worrisome. I called back the next day to get my policy started. The process took about 15 minutes over the phone. They had to check my driving record and get details about my Progressive policy. I had the option to pay all at once or to pay installments every three months. I chose the later. They did want to charge a ten dollar fee for using my debit card. They also gave the option of paying with a direct payment from my bank. This was a little bit more of a hassle but I did save the ten dollar fee. So far I am happy with my service and especially my premium amount.
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Timmie Tee
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I’ve had Wawanesa for about 10 years, and am very happy with them, setting a claim a couple of years ago when my Corolla was rear-ended and totaled, giving me full market value and allowing me to keep the car as a salvage title. Although Wawa seemed to have raised their rates recently, I recommend this company if you can get in.
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joy
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I’ve only had them 1 yr, and renewal was a unexpected increase, and getting thru to c/s, I’ve been TRYING for 3 days.
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Benji
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So I was able to get a quote online for auto insurance and it was the second most affordable to mercury. First sign that should of drawn me away from Wawanesa is that they require you to print out the application and mail it in along with your payment. Most other insurance companies I’ve had I signed up and paid online without having to mail anything. So I mailed in my application along with a check. Didn’t get any confirmation until over a week after when I got a phone call from someone in San Diego. Wasn’t able to answer it because I was at work so I let it go through to voicemail. Sure enough it was a rep trying to get a hold of me to answer some questions. So when I got a chance I called back but no one answered so I left a voicemail with my name, number, & application number. 3 days later I finally get a call back from the same rep that left left the initial voicemail asking me questions that I had already answered on the application. It’s been two weeks and I haven’t received any documentation in the mail and my previous insurance policy already expired. Tried logging on through the Wawanesa website and it doesn’t allow me to do much let alone print out a copy of the insurance ID card. Totally regretting going with this company.
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Aura Wilder
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I used to have Wawanesa a long time ago, back when they were not a known company but only few of us knew of it and it was great 5+ stars, but now, I am on hold waiting for Cinthia to pull up an email from a group email, really, I was born at night, but not last night, it does not take this long to check an email, I have been holding for 11 minutes, prior to this I held for 21 minutes and had to leave my # to have them return my call. What an aweful customer service. I also had to mail some driver’s exclusion paper which I did back in December, since then I have been fighting back and forth and mailing, emailing, faxing this thing and no one seems to find it or receive it. It is ridiculous. This is not all, the worse part of all is that the DMV has suspended my registration on both cars since WAWANESA has not reported that I am insured with them since, so they are going to get a piece of me today, I have to time for this. It is too bad that they have turn to be like the other companies that grow big. If i could do a minus with the stars, it would be -100
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kim
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I have had good luck with this insurance company. I can’t get anything cheaper. And I have filed a claim and happy with the process. Nothings perfect but for me this insurance company is pretty darn good. I have three vehicles insured with them. I’m very happy and save a lot of money.
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Nathalie
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I can’t believe the comments I’m reading. I’ve been with Wawanesa since 04′ and their a totally awesome Company. As a CS Supervisor myself I have had an excellent experience with their Customer Service reps. Hell, I would love to work at their Main Corp office in San Diego if I could. Anyways, I recently had to use my comprehensive coverage on my Mustang. My claims adjuster was great, vehicle was inspected next day and within the next 2 weeks I had my vehicle repaired. I even had an issue with the initial repair done and my adjuster competently backed me up and made sure I was satisfied with the result. Sucks that you can no longer pay your bill on their website without paying a fee but I just pay through my bank now. Their billing fee is only $4 which is very good. I know that cause I work for an insurance company myself. If you have the good record to qualify, then you deserve the best. Aside from AAA (which is more expensive) …Wawanesa is it. 🙂
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Andre C.
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I got my insurance with wawanesa in October. It is now February. The story is my policy keeps getting dropped. First time it got dropped because they “didn’t have my driver’s license number and vin numbers.” I’m pretty sure that was all part of the application process. Either way, I sent them the back the check they cut out for my policy that I paid into, and called to give them the info. After that, the lady who’s name I know but will not disclose M…..e told me my policy was done and nothing else needed to happen. then I get another check saying I didn’t send back some excluded drivers forms. I never got anything requesting that. So I sent them signed copies by email after I requested them, thinking this would be the quickest way. NOT. They gave me some story that the person that I spoke with got into some accident and they needed me to forward the email to a manager. Policy re-approved. At this point I’m thinking ok I’m done. YEAH right. I got back a check $13 short of what they were billing me. So I call again and use the wait in line feature and about 30 minutes later a young lady called J….t answers. We all of a sudden get disconnected. No call back. I used to have wawanesa before I was shipped overseas and they were really good. However, now I think they’re the worst customer service experience ever. The extra money you pay other insurance companies actually makes it worth it with their customer service. I guess you just get what you pay for.
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Mark
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I have been insured with Wawanesa for 20+ years. The amount I have saved on insurance premiums more than compensates for any substandard service other seems to have complained about.
I have had 2 claims, one of which was my fault and the other was not. There was never a problem with adjusting the claim.
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L.H.
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Absolutely the worst insurance company I’ve ever worked with. They were recommended by Lexus when I first bought my car, which I thought was strange since they’re based out of San Diego and I live in LA. They have no way to pay for or buy a policy online, offer no incentives or discounts, and cancelled my policy two months after it was re-instated because they failed to send me a form I apparently needed to sign! I would give no stars if possible. As an alum from UCLA, I get a way better policy and discount with Liberty Mutual.
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Ella
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I received a letter in the mail stating that Wawanesa will not be renewing with me because my brother has an ineligible driving record. They go on to state that “Even though this driver is not a rated driver on your policy, our guidelines specify that all resident drivers maintain an acceptable driving record. “ Well, let me be clear to all who read this MY BROTHER DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT IN 2011 and that is why Wawanesa is dropping me. He died LAST year in September and they renewed my policy LAST year in December. I have never had a claim with them and now all of a sudden I am not going to be renewed? Talk about a cold business. So, for those who want to go with this company I wouldn’t because they don’t seem to care about anyone or anything.
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Holly W.
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I love Wawanesa Insurance! They give us the best rates. The only thing is you have to have a good driving record in order to qualify at all for them to cover you. My husband and I have both have coverage for our cars and we also have our condo covered by them. If you are able to qualify, I highly recommend using them.
Though I will say, I’ve never been in an at-fault accident. I’ve heard that if you get in an accident, they cover everything just fine, but then they drop you soon after. I figure it’s worth it because you get lower prices so long as you are a safe driver. There’s plenty of insurance companies out there who will cover you with one accident. Until then though…lower prices for sure.
All that said, my co-worker recently got in an accident with a young girl who had Wawanesa and she HAD previously been in an accident – so this would have been her second one. So clearly, it’s based on other factors as well. I think she was on her parents plan though. Anyway… It’s all hearsay. They’re not one of these cut-rate companies who don’t give adequate coverage either. You can get as much coverage as you want, you just have to pay for it. They cover all major, normal categories.
Another thing, last I checked they only cover (in the US) California and Oregon. I think they cover Canada, but not sure. All in all, again, I highly recommend Wawanesa.
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Chona
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It is not true that Wawanesa drop you after 1 accident, I have Wawanesa for over 15 years and have had quite a few accidents between myself and my daughters and they still cover me. The only thing they will not cover you is if you have 3 points and above = 1 at fault accident and a ticket or more,
in my experience with Wawanesa, they are excellent in processing claims. I take my car to the shop of my preference, the adjuster works with the shop and approves the repairs and I get my car back like brand new again. I use Caliber Collision Rancho Cucamonga branch, excellent service from Ryan all the time!
Accidents and tickets do increase your premiums but what company doesn’t do that right? But after this latest increase my Wawanesa premium is still lower than all the other ones I checked with – AAA was going to charge me $4,990 for 3 drivers and 3 cars!!!
I recommend Wawanesa to my friends all the time!
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S.Bell
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I have had nothing but a good experience with Wawanesa. I have been using them for auto insurance for the past year. Their rates are the lowest I’ve found.
I really like their monthly payment plan. They have a couple to choose from. The one I use is I pay for 8 months and then I don’t pay for 4 months, but I still have full coverage. I ended up paint off my year long policy in 6 months & have been enjoying a 6 month break from a car insurance payment. I have found they were very easy to get a hol of, I called them when I moved & they had new cards out to me with my new address within a week. I also like that you can make your payments online at no extra charge.
I would definitely recommend this company for auto insurance!
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Eddie G
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I have had Wawanesa for about 8 Years. I’ve never had an accident, only recently had a hit and run driver back into my car. The adjuster worked extremely hard to minimze my claim. I accepted the lowball repair estimate and paid the difference for correct repairs.
Recently I wanted to discuss my policy as I shopped for better rates.
I sat on hold for 45 minutes without my call being answered.
I called back again and waited for 30 minutes without my call being answered.
I called again and hit the prompt for new policies and my call was answered immediately. I requested assistance with my policy and was transferred to the “endless hold”. After 20 minutes of hold time I gave up.
I had always heard good things about this company. The customer service is subpar at best. I’m putting my money elsewhere and would never return or recommend Wawanesa.
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S B
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Pros:Cheap! (You get what you pay for!)
Cons:- Archaic systems – forget trying to reach anyone outside banker hours
– Incompetent employees
I was their customer for over 6 years. I changed addresses over a year ago and called them and let them know. Their systems show this and they even sent me correspondence to the new address!
However, come time to send me a bill for the next installment of my payment, they send the bill to the old address. The forwarding address duration had run out and so the mail never made it to my new address. They made NO OTHER ATTEMPT to reach me – email/snail mail/phone and promptly cancelled my insurance without letting me know. I find out because the DMV sends me a letter indicating that my car was no longer insured and that my registration will be terminated.
I called Wawanesa and they acknowledged that it was their fault completely and that I had been driving for over a month without coverage! Thanks for accepting blame Wawanesa, but had I got into an accident how many of you out there think these guys would have accepted blame then?
Anyways adios Wawanesa! I’m moving to a car insurance company that lives in the 21st century…
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Jack
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I’ve had Wawanesa for over 6 years. Each time an accident occurred, I was called back for followup within 24 hrs. They’ve been pretty great so far. And I just added a 12′ Focus Titanium & it’s more than half of what I’d pay with every other place I searched.
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Scott W
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For my auto insurance (which only consists of cars), I use Wawanesa insurance. I’ve had them for over 5 years now and as far as I can tell, they are a decent provider with decent benefits. I insure my 2000 convertible Toyota for about 50 a month which covers liability, collision repair, and theft. I’ve had more than a couple of incidents that involved my insurance.
My first car under that insurance, a 2003 Toyota Matrix, was hit multiple times. One was my fault, and one was a hit and run. Each time I paid my deductible on the insurance and had the damage repaired. At one point I forgot to pay a parking ticket and my license was even suspended. My insurance bill took a pretty big hike and I was paying almost double what I’m paying now.
Lucky, a year of good driving habits and no marks on my record got my yearly payment reduced. Backtracking to before that – each time my car was hit, it was handled in a different way. Once, Wawanesa sent an inspector out to my place. This would be the guy with the company logo on the polo shirt and a clipboard. He took a visual inspection and then drove on back to the office.
Another time, I actually had to drive my car to an inspector to get another visual examination. I didn’t mind that since I had actually moved 100 miles away from my original location. My insurer has a decent amount of locations in the major cities of the U.S. – so that’s a plus. Switching cars on my insurance is pretty straightforward and hassle-free and I was able to handle it over the phone.
One thing I must say: I wish I was able to register a car using my insurance company, instead of having to physically go to the DMV. A couple of my friends have policies that allow them to basically register a car over the phone or at a local office. They completely skip the hassle of spending a day in the DMV.
I’m not too keen on how well my insurer covers valuables or stolen goods in my car. I haven’t had a valuable theft in any of my cars so I’m not too worried about that. I AM, however, worried about getting my convertible top slashed. The deductible will probably cost as much or less than the repair, and my payments would go up.|
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Chris Hannam
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I have been with Wamanesa for over 20 years and never had a claim that was my fault. My husband and I were recently in an auto accident, which we were zero rated for the accident. The incident happened on Feb 25, 2012. Right from the start we advised out adjuster we wanted our car repaired. She sent out her appraiser, who first told us our 2006 Epica was only worth approx 5000.00, we did some research and found these cars went from 12000.00 – 7950.00. He then told us he wanted to take our vehicle to the dealer to get an actual price to repair. However, when he got the vehicle in there he then told us he stopped the strip down as the car was an economical write off. Our adjuster has been less than pleasant to deal with, all we got from her was attitude. We wanted to keep our vehicle and have it repaired, however they made this impossible. We were offered 4000.00 plus the car. The ACV value they put on the car was 7765.00, which meant they were charging us 3765.00 for us to keep the car. They told us that the drop the labour rate down to 25.00 an hour when you keep your vehicle. So they wanted us to pay 3765.00 for the car but sold it to the juck yard for 1550.00 a difference of 2215.00. We in turn bought the vehicle from the junk yard for 2600.00 and had it repaired. Because they did not do a complete appraisal and went on the assumption that they dash bar was damaged, they car would have been repairable. Then to make matters worst they have delayed doing the permit work to get the vehicle permit transfered into their name and getting it ready for the salvage yard. THANK GOD WE WERE NOT AT FAULT because I would hate to see what kind of treatment we would have received considering the nightmare we have just gone through. Not one penny is coming out of their pockets. Can you believe we even got attitude from the adjuster when she found out we were buying the car back from the junk yard. Then the adjuster told me on Monday the paper work was ready for pick up by the salvage dealer but when the salvage dealer called was advised by Wamanesa the paper work was not ready. The car has been repaired for over a week and we still can not drive it due to the delays created by Wamanesa. BUYER BE WARE!! I would rather pay more than to receive the treatment we have from Wamanesa!! They are great at collecting their premiums but LACK CUSTOMER SERVICE!! VERY RUDE AND UN PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE!!
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Ann
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I have had Wawanesa for 17 years and never had to use it. I finally had to file a claim recently for a minimal repair. I did exactly as I was told to do and got a quote from their service provider. Their provider and my mechanic only varied in cost by approximately $60. Suddenly, my adjuster looked into the repairs from their same provider and somehow talked them down to half the cost, using cheaper, not the same dealer parts. Then they said they would not cover the cost of us using our regular mechanic since they found cheap products elsewhere. Then, when trying to contact a supervisor on the issue, it took her a week to get back to me and she had an ATTITUDE! She was not apologetic for waking up my baby by calling 6 times in row while I was trying to put him to sleep. She was also defensive of the adjuster rather than helpful with me. Now I understand why they are so cheap. Paying a bit more money a month is worth peace of mind, good service, and dealing with nice people. I am dropping Wawanesa. I am appauled by the attitude of the supervisor. The adjuster spoke like a cars salesman, “I’m saving you money and I’m saving us money.” Nope. You’re not saving me a penny. The cheap comes out expensive in the end. Rudest, most non-helpful company ever.
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Anna Heaslet
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I have been given partial denial for repairs on my vehicle that are the result of indirect damage from a car accident on 3/29/11. The damaged part on my car is the engine control module, which in Mitsubishis, is not a part that usually ever has to be replaced. I have spoken to all 12 Southern california Mitsubishi dealerships from San Diego all the way up to Long Beach, and not one had sold one of these parts in more than two years, if ever. They also all say that this is a very reliable part in an eclipse, but that the violent jolt of the impact can cause serious damage in computer parts like these, and that there is no way that the damage was a coincidence. The adjuster is saying that it is a coincidence that the control module was damaged at the time of the accident, and that it was just mechanical failure. He actually told me on the phone that, “we shouldn’t have to pay for that, its expensive!” It took me 25 days from the first and last time that I spoke to my first adjuster John Hearst to get ahold of anyone at Wawanesa regarding my claim, no one would even return my messages. My car has been sitting in the shop in pieces for 20 days.. in pieces just sitting there. It took 13 days of the car sitting in pieces to even get the first partial denial. The manager of the collision center that my car is at has taken over handling my claim on their end, and completely backs me up. The adjuster says that he is denying this repair “based on my opinion, and my opinion is final unless you decide to take it to the next level.” Well, I am a licensed insurance agent working for Farmers Insurance, and I know my rights, and have proceeded to take this matter to the next level because this has definitely reached bad faith claim status. All that I asked was to be treated fairly and have my car restored to the same condition it was before the accident, which is my right as stated in my Wawanesa Policy. Neither has happened with this company, and I am very sorry I hadn’t switched to Farmers before this accident, because none of this would be happening right now.
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Todd Taylor
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Up until today, I thought they were fine. However claims department just screwed my over.
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Anna A
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They handled my car claim above my expectations, but the medical claim was a nightmare. They were shady and manipulative in their handling my medical from the get-go. After having great adjuster for my car, I knew I was going to get screwed by the way the medical claims adjuster was trying every angle not to pay my claim, and she succeeded through deceptive practices. She was like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, pretending she was on my side working for me, but in actuality was using my trust against me. She uses people’s ignorance to manipulate people, and never fully informs people of their rights. She only intimidates and uses information that can used against people. NEVER AGAIN!!! Her conduct discredits all the good that came from the car claims adjuster because it reflects the entire company, not just a department. They treated my car better than they did the person driving it and paying the insurance premiums.
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Randy B
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I have had Wawanesa car insurance for the last 10 years, I have been very happy with their service and prices the entire time I have been with them. They have great customer service and the rates cannot be compared to in my opinion.
I did have an accident last year, which was the first and only one in the time I have had the insurance and it was my fault. My rates did go up slightly because of it, I was a little disappointed that they did go up considering I had never had an accident in the last 10 years. I would guess the same thing would happen with most other companies as well. Shortly after the accident I spoke with a representative and they showed me a couple ways I could save money and now my premium is back to what it was before the accident. Very good company overall. I would recommend that you at least check them out when shopping for Insurnace in California.
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