Coles Home Building and Contents

Coles Home Insurance is hands down the worst insurer I’ve ever dealt with. They lie, delay, and dodge responsibility at every step. I’ve been waiting endlessly for my claim to be resolved, and every time I ask for updates, I get excuses, false information, or silence. They will do anything they can to avoid paying — twisting reports, ignoring… Read more

evidence, and even sending out the wrong or unqualified contractors who make things worse instead of fixing them. Their behaviour is completely unacceptable for a company claiming to provide “protection.”

I’ve now had to take the matter to AFCA because Coles refuses to do the right thing. Their treatment of customers is shameful, and their lack of integrity is beyond belief.

If you value honesty, professionalism, and peace of mind — stay as far away from Coles Home Insurance as possible. They are a total nightmare.

I’ve had a really positive experience with Coles Contents Insurance. Every time I called, the call centre staff were so lovely to deal with. They always took the time to really listen to me, understand my situation, and do their best to help. It made the process feel a lot less stressful, and I truly appreciated their patience and kindness. Coles… Read more ·  1

organised the best trades to come out , with a big shout out to Carpe Diem for doing an amazing job!!!

very good service – easy to set up just rang their office I lodged a claim and it was settled within a reasonable time about 2 weeks I have been with Coles insurance for 4 years I will not change Show details ·  1

great service – Changed to Coles insurance to save on premiums. Was concerned when i needed to make a claim due to the negative reviews here. However, my claim was settled professionally, without issues. very happy with the service provided. Show details ·  1

House claim – Purchased policy and eithin 2 months i had to make a claim. Easy to do online, builder sent to access, make safe happened. Cash pay out within 14 days of claim. Staff were excellent when i called. Very happy i made the choice to change my home insurance to coles Show details ·  1

Small home claim from roof leaking. Claim lodged in April. Requested a cash settlement as repairs wouldn't be done in time before we sell our home. We've sold our home and still waiting on cash settlement. I've had to chase them the whole time. Not one call from my claims manager to update us. Rang Thursday to once again chase up Claim. Was told I… Read more

would get a call Friday. Here we are Tuesday, still waiting on the call from my claims manager. Will never insure through Coles insurance again. So slow, no communication and never seem to know what's going on.

I changed house and contents insurance as it was advertised there would be 10 percent off monthly shop. What wasn't advertised was there is a monthly fee to enable one to get this offer. Tried numerous times to get some answers but appears no one knows what is going on.One email of which I have plenty states "The offer is also for Coles Plus… Read more

Saver (monthly fee and includes the 10 percent off not the Coles Plus (annual fee and no 10 percent off". This tells me nothing and as stated there is nothing about a fee added when taking out insurance. I previously had Woolworths Everyday Rewards and got 10 percent off monthly shop. Another email stated " Currently there is an issue where customers will see that they will be charged once they click Start Membership, however no payment will be processed. This is being looked into"

They are using out of date flood maps to provide quotes / denying cover. The updated flood maps showing no flood risk are freely available from the relevant authorities and Council. Show details

Review: Coles Home and Contents Insurance – A Deeply Distressing and Unacceptable Experience. I would strongly advise anyone considering Coles Home and Contents Insurance to look elsewhere. My experience has been nothing short of frustrating and deplorable. To begin with, Coles never returns phone calls. Promises of call-backs are routinely… Read more

broken, leaving customers in limbo during what are often already stressful situations. When I finally managed to reach someone, I was forced to speak to representatives who clearly struggled with English, making communication incredibly difficult and time-consuming. The customer service is appallingly unprofessional. Staff are often rude, unhelpful, and seem completely uninterested in resolving issues or even offering basic courtesy. Instead of assistance, you’re met with dismissiveness and a total lack of accountability. Our claim for repair of an existing fence after storm damage was laughed at by the person I spoke to on the phone. Out of a paltry $594.00, less the $300.00 excess, we received $294.00. They apparently thought it was very amusing!! The policy premiums are horrifically overpriced. For what you pay, you’d expect high-quality service and support – what you get is the complete opposite. This has been a deeply disappointing and stressful experience. I do not recommend Coles Insurance to anyone who values their time, money, or peace of mind.

Poor service – Suppose to receive $50 off a shop, made multiple phone calls to query this and the staff member has questioned am I even eligible with attitude telling me there is nothing she can do, I will just have to wait. If they can't even get a credit back offer for new members, I doubt the claims for insurance will be great?! Might not be worth using this company for insurance Show details

Coles home insurance is a waste of time having been with them five years my home suffered damage from an earth tremor from 22 Kms away epicenter They came out eventually two months later wrote an unrealistic and biased report blaming my home for having quote “ brittle bricks” and poor maintenance and poor quality mortar. Basically any thing they… Read more

could think of to reject a claim for $10,000 of repairs and yes the next years premium doubled exponentially A pathetic insurance company that should be taken to court because every member of a self respecting jury in court has been denied claim payment from insurance companies like this A coles customer services women operative continued to talk over me every opportunity and refused to report my complaint correctly Disgraceful service , rude and arrogant Do not use them do not waste your money buying their policies do not deal with a company that refuses to honor its own policies small print and will never pay out in full

Broken Promises on Special Offers - Can't be Trusted – Renewed a policy based on a partner offer with Flybuys for a discount on Coles shopping. Discount was never supplied. Given the run around when trying to resolve. Call Centre staff are clueless and Renee from complaints just passed the buck to Flybuys. Had to file a formal complaint with AFCA. Still not resolved. Next time I will change to… Read more

Woolworths. Response from Coles is call a number that is rarely answered or puts you in an automated Q that cuts you off.

Rude nasty humiliating comments – Yes I totally agree I was humiliated by the assesser guy email I received of course the ceiling kept getting mouldy water was pouring in for months and of course no roof fixed had to get a roofer ourselves n pay for him . Ditching Cole’s insurance was the best thing I’ve done. It needs to be bought to the attention of the local ombudsman Show details

100% jump in insurance cover – Premium Doubled from $2,700+ to $5,400+. Called their number to find out why and put through to call centre in Sth Africa. No reason given for 100% jump other than pure greed and they bet wrong on insuring on flood plains. This house is impossible to flood due to elevation. Asked for someone in Aus to call me back and was told later that day or… Read more

next business day. Week later still waiting but have changed insurance provider. Report Coles price gouging to your state and federal MPs and maybe they'll get reined in if enough people report them. There have been no claims made or any other thing to justify price hike.

Buyer beware – It’s a long story but I’ll try and summarise: Had a water leak from a fish tank which ruined the floor boards. An assessor was sent out and rejected the claim on the basis of the floor boards ‘not being installed correctly’. Blamed the damage on the installation by the builder. I rang Coles and complained so they sent assessor number 2. He… Read more

agreed with my claim.

Coles then send out assessor number 3. This guy works for Coles parent company . Has all the credentials. Starts out by asking me who I want to do the repairs and I advised I didn’t have a preference. About 20min later he then backflips and says he tends to agree with assessor number 1. And denies the claim.

I ring Coles again to complain and they send out assessor number 4. He was some big burly guy full of tattoos with the credentials of a ‘building engineer’. He comes with a water meter and a thermal gun trying to impress me with his gizmos. He does not know that I am a real engineer so I wasn’t fooled by his nonsense. He claimed the house wasn’t built correctly and lacked enough sub floor ventilation and water has come in from outside and caused the piers to become dislodged which was the cause of the squeeking floor boards. The fish tank water would not have caused the damage. He wrote a 20 page report stating if the fish tank was the issue there would be water staining on the bearers and on the chip board under the floor boards. However we did not have access to the sub floor so there was no proof. Claim denied again.

I rang Coles again and asked if I got my own building report done would they review it and they said yes. My guys report agreed with me however before he came I cut a hole in the floor and got pictures of the under floor. The pictures showed water staining of the bearers and effervescence on the ground from the Fishtank water. Proving I was right.

However my guy wrote at the top of his report ’Without Prejudice’. This is a legal term which means he cannot be held responsible in a court of law. Why he did this I don’t know to this day. However Coles said to me his report was useless as it held no weight. They said if he removed those two words, then they would review the report and possibly pay the claim. I got them to speak with him directly and he refused to remove those two words.

By this time I was fed up and went straight to the ombudsman. Long story short the ombudsman reviewed all the reports and the photos and agreed with me.

The claim went from a $10,000 payout to a $76,000 payout. Had they paid out as per the second assessors quote it would’ve cost them $10,000. The ombudsman requested the second assessor come back and reassess, and his quote increased as he believed the whole floor had to be removed in the entire house (not just in the lounge where the fish tank was). This now meant removing the kitchen and storing it off site. This then meant we had to leave the house for six weeks and Coles had to pay for this as well which meant the claim increased to $76,000.

The whole process took a year with the ombudsman, taking about six months to conduct their investigations not a fast process by any means, but well worth it in the end.

They also had to pay for my original report.

Don’t let Coles bully you with their assessors if you believe you are correct, go straight to the ombudsman and they will deal with the issue fairly.

Most people would’ve walked away after the first assessor denied the claim as they couldn’t be bothered dealing with the process. However, I’m glad I went through to the end as I had the last laugh. I got the floor fixed for $10,000, went on a an overseas trip while the work was being done and pocketed the remaining money and reduced my mortgage.

Thanks Coles.

Must be better way – A policy renewal came up over Christmas/New Years. I didn't renew withing a 2 week period since it was holidays, my fault for being on holidays. I tried to renew the policy (less than one month past) but I was already no longer 'an existing customer' and only able to renew as a new customer. This included $137 increase in the premium, as well… Read more

as loosing a renewal offer bonus I would have received if renewed within 2 weeks.

I called in to discuss options a willing returning customer might find, hoping to meet in the middle, but like all insurance companies I've ever dealt with, their "system" dictates everything and the support workers, while courteous and professional were simply lesser victims to the same system, powerless to do anything other than repeat what the system dictated, only at a greater cost due online discounts not being ava. when getting a quote over the phone.

Insurance (in general) is excessively expensive and so far worth nothing in return. Whenever needed it hasn't been worth it or returns so little the premium paid is still the main economic damage. Coles Insurance was cheaper than many quoted. Their site indcated a 30% discount, but the quote returned only showing 15%. The operator said even though it doesn't show an additional 15% it's actually already applied. Seeing only it say 15% and being told its actually 30% seems like they are blatantly fooling people, even if they're not. You have to take their word they are not. Coupled with their other rewards programs, costs are slightly further offset. However being customer to an uncompromising computer system geared to only take higher and higher amounts of money for nothing in return, while proactively minimising the humanity leaves me with an overwhelming sense of "money waste", wishing and wondering how can i shed the economic parasite that insurance has become for an alternative safety net which offers better return on investment and isn't so much like "pouring exuberant amounts of money down the drain, mainly to tick a box."

Don’t do it - or your review will be here next – Cheap abut not worth the stress and waste of money, I found myself uninsured three times from 3-6 months each time, I’m uninsured now while in proceedings .. they bumped me off without warning each time then want to double repayments to reinstated..they didnt inform me I had no insurance, I was oblivious to it, then deny and dismiss you forcing further action.. they need a full enquiry into these very real appalling reviews Show details

just coped a 300% premium incresse – Buyer beware our latest premium renewal has just arrived in the post it has increased by 300% -$$1200 pa to $3700 no claims no change in risk just a grab for money to boost profits -check your renewals and don't get ripped off Show details

230% premium increase – Have been a Coles insurance customer for years and never had any issues. Suddenly, this year the premium went up nearly 2 and a half times (about $1,200 to over $2,600!). Tried to speak to somebody but got very little sympathy. Found another insurance company to go with that is a lot cheaper. Never again. Can't believe after years of being a loyal… Read more

customer this is how we're rewarded. I did make a small claim years ago. Not sure how people expect to run a business this way.

Coles Insurance is almost a Ponzi scheme – A Coles representative fell through my ceiling causing a large hole. Two years on they have offered me $392 to fix the ceiling, not to even get their dysfunctional building company Rizon to just repair it for me. A greedy un-Australian corporation. Show details

They are ripping us off – Had my home insurance go up 110% and have never made a claim in the years i have been with them and they just made 1.1 Billion profit and they want more. Pure greed and no customer service , so i went to other company as it was only $150 more then last year. Show details

267% increase for long term multi policy customer – I have just received my house and contents renewals from coles insurance for my 2 properties after being with them for 7 years with no claims. One policy renewal went from $521 to $1392 and the other from $545 to $1067. After phoning them to ask if it was a mistake they told me that these are their new prices in line with other insurers. I then got a quote from another insurer and it was less than half of what they are charging. Show details

277% premium increase! – I received my home building renewal notice from Coles insurance today. It has increased nearly threefold! Needless to say I will not be renewing. Do they seriously expect customers to agree to such exorbitant increases? Show details