Aegon Insurance

fidobsa wrote:

...Aegon firm are not some sort of Mickey Mouse outfit.

Aegon is a large international insurance company so there should be no concerns there.

On the other hand, and more importantly, what do you get for your money and will they pay up? As far as we know, everything is an extra here, bit like the car insurance - you need insurance for this, insurance for that and there's no one size fits all policies around - unlike the UK. We've never had to make a claim on any of our insurances in Hungary but we've heard anecdotes that it's very difficult to actually get any insurance company to cough up in the event of a claim.

One thing to be aware of is unoccupied buildings. If you went to the UK for 3 months, you might find the insurance is invalid because the property was empty or more specifically not occupied enough. For example, being during there during the day, but sleeping elsewhere is not occupation. We've tried to get contents insurance on an unoccupied building (an old house only used for storage) and we've had no luck so far.

Caution advised!

fidobsa wrote:

death is worth about £1000 or permanent 100% disability is about £2000. It could be that such sums are typical in Hungary

It is typical in Hungary to go with the absolute minimum price possible on anything. You can always raise the coverage if you want, you just pay more.

Had heard good experience stories with OTP insurance coverage (go to the bank of the same name and inquire about their insurance: and they are a non-profit Hungarian corporation). Paid right away. They also have documents in English.

For what it is worth, I for one would never go with a "cold call" offer like this agent did circulating his contact info. But that is just me of course.

OTP non-profit? I wonder what keeps their stock price so high then :-)

szocske wrote:

OTP non-profit?

The insurance division is actually owned by Groupama, which also owns 8% of OTP stock. I used the term "non-profit" a bit too loosely, but rather regarding Groupama's social contract:

http://en.groupama.com/social-responsib … pz?id=819.

klsallee wrote:

... I used the term "non-profit" a bit too loosely, but rather regarding Groupama's social contract:
http://en.groupama.com/social-responsib … pz?id=819.

To me that just looks like a serious company's PR division playing the 'we are nice guys' card. They may be (trying to) play fair, but that why is that non-profit? Btw, it is not the website of their hungarian branch-as far as I know, the behaviour of multinational companies may differ significantly between countries.
Nevertheless, it is reassuring to know, OTP is not too much involved in this;-) (At least in my family, they are not known for their excellent service)

fireroller wrote:

PR division playing the 'we are nice guys' card

I expect most people know that :

"Multinational Corporations"="Lots of PR one can not trust at face value"

I try to avoid stating what I think is obvious. But maybe I am wrong, and it is not obvious.

But if you think about it, being socially conscious and putting money into that is also good business. If you are an insurance company you don't want depressing social conditions. Then people are stressed, get sick, commit crimes, get depressed, commit suicide, etc. That all means more payouts.

And for those that question these claims, and everyone should (stating the obvious?), they can always take the time to confirm what a business says. There are a number of third party NGOs that track corporate "honesty" and rate them. The Internet is a great resource to find them (stating the obvious?).

As I said, my second party experience from people I know said this insurance paid quickly and on time to their claims. This confirms something "possibly" good about the company. However, the experience of others may differ. I kind of thought that was why someone would post such a question here.... to get different experiences from others.

fireroller wrote:

but that why is that non-profit?

I already agreed to the correction earlier pointed out to me. If minute details why are desired: I wrote "non profit" when I was thinking "not just for profit". A mistake. Fingers and brain were not connected well that day it appears. The horse is dead and beat.

If additional bludgeoning is considered needed, allow me:

fireroller wrote:

the behaviour of multinational companies may differ significantly between countries.

I for one think that is pretty common knowledge to everyone, so I do not personally bother to speak it out myself. Things tend to get worse than better. A good home office business does not mean of course that a regional office has the same high standards. But with a good home office, for example, you might be able to work up the food chain to reach someone who can deal with a complaint properly.

On the other hand, if the home office is clearly corrupt, unethical, or immoral, the regional offices tend to not be much better and you will get no help at all from the home office.

So knowing the reference point is important.

fireroller wrote:

Nevertheless, it is reassuring to know, OTP is not too much involved in this;-) (At least in my family, they are not known for their excellent service)

If you have reports of bad experience with this insurance group, I think it would be good to inject this for the edification of forum members.

klsallee wrote:

Had heard good experience stories with OTP insurance coverage (go to the bank of the same name and inquire about their insurance: and they are a non-profit Hungarian corporation). Paid right away. They also have documents in English.

For what it is worth, I for one would never go with a "cold call" offer like this agent did circulating his contact info. But that is just me of course.

I was not too keen on the Aegon deal, especially after hearing that the same firm ripped off a pension fund for Dutch dock workers. I went in the Nagykanizsa branch of OTP to ask about insurance. Unfortunately the woman I spoke to could not help me and she says she is the only one there who speaks English. I may have the wrong end of the stick but I think she only deals with banking and the staff who do insurance don't speak English. It did not help that she didn't know the English word "insurance" and she apparently had no means of looking it up.

Hi,

I've just red your topic. I work for an insurance broker in Budapest.(riskpartners.hu)
I think it would be the best for you, if you could find an insurance broker there.
I believe it is obviuous, that the sales man belongs to the insurer, and if their product isnt good, it is not a problem for the agent. He will try to sell it.
But an indepent broker provides the best solution in the market. For you.
Anyway..
There are a lot of hungarian insurance brokers, who dont have enough knowledge and just try to find the cheapest insurance.(cheap insurance means a low coverage.)

There are only a few brokers who analyze the clients' risk profile and after that, they finance the treathening risks (with insurance.

If you cant get a solution at your place, feel free to contact me. Usually my firm focuses on big companies, but we have vip clients as well.

Best regards,

Marton

insurance is "biztosítás", insurance company is "biztosító".
Just so you won't have the same problem next time :-)