Although insurance is required in CA, I am honored to have Wawanesa insurance. I've heard that you have to have a good driving record to have Wawanesa insurance and that contributes to the good policy premiums. I'm not sure how true that is but their customer service is super friendly. I've had an unfortunate situation occur where coverage helped and the process was near flawless. I would highly recommend this insurance company.

I had Wawanesa car insurance on my parent's policy when I was a teenager, so when I moved back to San Diego from out of state after several years, I was pleasantly surprised to find that their rates were as low as ever. Warning: they only insure good drivers, which is how they keep the rates so low, so don't bother trying if you have too many marks on your record. I researched many other car insurances, and this was by far the lowest rates for the most coverage. Easily $400- $600 lower per year than Geico, AllState, Progressive, and many other smaller companies I have looked in to. I have only had to file one claim, and had no problems whatsoever. The person on the phone was very helpful, they scheduled me for an assessment at the shop the next day, and I received a check in the mail the next week. They are also very accommodating if you cannot make a payment on time, with no penalty fees or hassle. Rates did go up this year, but they haven't raised rates in years, so I suppose it was inevitable. I haven't had experience wih their home or life insurances, so I can't speak to the qualities of these.

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.

I think that their services were probably better prior to 2005 from all the reviews that I've read on the internet and talking to customers. Since then the company's claim practices has gone down hill to become almost fraudulent. They are known now to be unresponsive once you file a claim with them. There are customers left hanging (like myself) despite several attempts of "leaving messages". The claim supervisor is the same way. Their business practice reminds me of the pre-downfall of MCI WorldComm. They were auditted by the US Department of Insurance in 2005, you can read about the findings yourself. It will reconfirm everything I just said and more. Please file a report thru the Dept of Insurance. If you have been screwed by Wawanesa's claims dept, please file a report with the Dept of Insurance, BBB and Attorney General along with any other agencies that will take your complaint. I'm hoping for a civil action lawsuit.

I'd always thought they were great, then today learned it's only until you NEED them. I called to make a claim today and was on hold for over 10 minutes, which was VERY frustrating to begin with. Then came an option on the outgoing message stating I could leave a message instead of holding longer, so I opted for that. I received no call back though - unreal! I think a call within the same day isn't too much to ask for. I'm always timely with my policy payments, so why can't I get the same timeliness with their customer service?