Bristol West Insurance Group Reviews 64

!!!
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Fraud
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I bought an insurance policy on August 29 and cancelled it the same day. Despite calling customer support five times, I was promised my $1,000
refund by September 13, which never arrived. Now they are delaying it until September 25 without explanation.
This delay has caused me severe financial hardship
-I was evicted and am forced to live in my car. The lack of urgency and professionalism is unacceptable. Bristol West must take responsibility and issue refunds promptly.

Bianca Lemus was professional and incredibly pleasant to work with. Thank you Bianca, you are a superstar!!!! in a very competitive market........

Very bad service - taken lots of my money and avoided doing any leg work. All questions I have asked are pretty much returned with "no we wont do this and we wont do that" The point of insurance is to INSURE!!!! they have given none of that - I am basically handling everything about my collision on my own.

The worst thing they did is, I was going to let my policy expire. I had gotten a quote elsewhere that was over $400 cheaper than what I was paying with Bristol West.
Well the morning after the policy was supposed to have expired, Boom, I get a notification from my bank that Bristol had just charged me for 6 months. I HAD NEVER TURNED ON AUTO-PAY. I checked my online account just to be sure, and nope, auto-pay was not on.
So this sketchy af company illegally billed me, and then when I went to cancel my policy and get a refund, they told me “You’ll have to pay a cancellation fee.” WTF

Caution to all current and future customers: I now understand why Bristol West has horrible ratings on EVERY site. This was one of the most frustrating insurance experiences I’ve ever had. My ordeal with Bristol West began with a simple billing discrepancy tied to a policy managed through their partner, Jerry Insurance — and quickly spiraled into a nightmare of miscommunication, finger-pointing, and wasted time.
Despite my repeated attempts to verify payment details and prevent issues in advance, I was constantly misinformed and bounced between Bristol West and Jerry. I spent hours providing documentation — chat transcripts, payment confirmations, even emails to corporate — and instead of resolution, I received deflection. Bristol West eventually acknowledged that the confusion was partly due to errors made by Jerry, yet still insisted I owed the remaining balance.
Their so-called “Resolution Team” offered contradictory responses: blaming my bank one moment, admitting all return fees were waived the next. They kept repeating that Jerry is “independent,” yet continued referring me back to Jerry to fix what was clearly a shared failure between the two companies.
I upheld my end as a customer — I paid what I was shown, confirmed balances, and followed up multiple times. Bristol West failed to do the same. They showed no accountability, no transparency, and no real interest in resolving the issue without penalizing me for their internal miscommunications.
What most consumers don’t realize is that Bristol West (a Farmers Insurance company) relies on third-party agencies like Jerry — which creates a disconnect where no one takes full responsibility. Their customer service is largely outsourced; when you call, you’re likely speaking with a foreign call center agent reading off a script, with little to no power to escalate or fix anything. Then Bristol West had the audacity to follow up with a survey asking how the conversation went — as if being passed around between Zeenier, Welakazi, and Phirdose wasn’t frustrating enough. Even simple requests like stopping an auto-draft become overly complicated, and it’s the customer who pays the price — both financially and emotionally.
If you value accurate billing, honest communication, and customer support that actually supports you, look elsewhere. Bristol West may market itself as a reliable insurer, but behind the curtain, it’s a disorganized mess that treats paying customers like afterthoughts.
Bristol West claims “it all started in Florida in 1973,” but what they fail to mention is that today, when you need real help, you’re rerouted to foreign call centers and given robotic responses. The service is cold, dismissive, and overpriced for what you actually receive. As Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Bristol West clearly hasn’t — and their reputation is suffering for it!

I had an awful experience with this company. Their customer service is extremely poor, and I strongly advise others to stay away. I am canceling my insurance policy with them.

If I could give it zero Stars I would. They told me I needed fr44 Insurance when I didn't, they overcharged me twice as much as the next insurance company for shit I didn't need. They don't answer their phone literally ever. And their chat Windows close on you leaving you having to go back and forth with their chat reps and starting over and over. Essentially just thieves to get your blood boiling.

My insurance rates doubled, DOUBLED after 2 years for a car that has no accidents/tickets and maybe is driven 500 miles a year. I always pay the policy upfront so am never behind on payments, before my next policy term started I cancelled Bristol West and found a new insurance that was less than half of what BW wanted. I cancelled my insurance with BW 10 days before autorenewal would kick in, had a zero balance owed and thought that was the end of it. 2 months later I find out that BW sent me to collections over an early cancellation fee that wasn't disclosed to me at any time (had I known I would have just let the policy expire but was worried they would charge me for autorenewal ). Customer service is out of country and doesn't give a rip about ex-policy holders, they know no one comes back to Bristol West after experiencing Bristol West "customer service" so no chance of getting hidden penalty fees waived. I told them that cancellation fees were not disclosed on the website when I was cancelling the policy, in fact the website told me I was going to get a refund for early cancellation and they blamed the insurance agent for not telling me a few years prior. I asked them to show me where cancellation fees are disclosed and they made up a phony legal reference justifying their ability to add undisclosed fees for residents of California, I asked for that in writing and they refused, they said "google 00822" as if that means anything (I did search for CA legal statutes with the phony number they provided and unsurprisingly it did not exist). Bristol West is worse than just an expensive insurance company with poor service, they are crooked and disrespectful, avoid Bristol West at all cost, they will lie, cheat and steal from you.

OMG! I've had Bristol West/farmers over a year and I'm so very unhappy! I blame myself for not leaving earlier but was ill. I'm not ill now. I noticed they debit my account 2x's In March..3rd & 31st! In April I get a notice of cancellation...On top of that, I panicked and pd$200.00 and realized I don't owe the, "anything" for payments! I'm really, "over paid' with the additional money I sent when I got the, "incorrect " notice! I was told by billing to send statements showing where, "two" payments where taken out in March and I wasn't, "behind" on payments! Public, be aware, read your bills and address issues! I will have no more dealings with Bristol West, once this is resolved! Oh, I have all emails and documents to support how they lack in, dignity! THEY ARE NOT WORTH IT!!!...FYI, I have no speeding tickets or dui's ....Not worth it, public!!

"My experience with Bristol West was disappointing. Brian, a representative, wasted my time with unnecessary delays and failed to stay on task, causing significant frustration. The company should improve by ensuring their representatives are more efficient, communicative, and respectful of clients' time, to provide a more professional service."

All the negative reviews about Bristol West are true. I have auto insurance with them, and the customer service is awful. Every time I call, I either get passed around or told to send an email that no one ever responds to. No one seems able—or willing—to actually help. Save yourself the headache and go with a company that respects your time and business.

Extremely poor customer service by corporate. Almost impossible to reach anyone, make a payment or cancel. Cancel with proof of new insurance but get bullying demands for payments after cancellation. Highly NOT recommended!

DONT waste your time or money with Bristol West, for two and a half months they havent been able to send the dmv my proof of insurance, so my car registration is being cancelled, imagine if you actually need the coverage...

Can’t believe this company has almost two stars. Should be zero, this company is the worst. I wish I could give zero.

I truly wish zero stars were an option. Dealing with this company has been an absolute nightmare. Their poor communication, constant oversights, and lack of accountability made an already difficult situation even worse. Shockingly, I had to hire an attorney to represent me against my own insurance carrier after an accident where I wasn’t at fault.

The policies and handling felt designed to work against me rather than protect my interests, which is the bare minimum you’d expect from an insurance company. Pieter Rynders, a representative, was especially unhelpful—his approach was confrontational and added unnecessary stress to the process. It’s hard to understand how such behavior is tolerated in a company supposedly focused on customer care.

I strongly recommend anyone considering this company to proceed with caution and fully understand their policies before committing.

I had a quick and pleasant agent that was parent with me and was willing to answer any questions I might of had . Two thumb 👍 up for this company

Zero stars. I am dealing with them right now and they are trying to lowball me . I got rear ended and that’s the insurance the driver has.

I obtained insurance for my autos through this company and was given a quote of 360 per month. A short time later I received an increase of 1400 per month. I called bristol west again and talked to another agent. She informed me the policy was written wrong and got my premium to 600 per month. The reason for the higher premium of 600 was due to my health insurance. I have since cancelled and am now WITH AAA for 209 per month. I feel I was taken advantage of by this company. I am now receiving collection agency letter with offers to settle this account for 700. I will not be paying

I was all prepared to start a policy with these guys, even submitted the original payment.

Then, I get a "threatening" email (before the policy even took affect), that if I didn't submit documentation from my current carrier about discounts I was getting from them, they would be adjusting my rate upward.

NEVER with any other insurance company EVER has such a request been made and it frankly is ridiculous that they are making such a request.

I got in a chat with them and explained that I did not have access to the information they asked for. They should be determing my discounts on their own, not basing what they will do on what another insurance does.

There was ZERO indication that this information was even required until AFTER I submitted my initial payment.

This borders on insurance fraud by the insurance carrier.

This is the first time I am writing a review to a company because of the bad experiences I have had. It would definitely be a big mistake to work with this company. They are not corporate, they do not provide support in case of an accident. They constantly demand money.