icare NSW Reviews

Business office, nicely done decor.
Good external views to the Darling Harbour

As a new business owner tentatively taking on my first few employees, I was shocked to learn "icare" is a government owned monopoly masquerading as a privately owned company.

As with all government run organisations the customer service is awful but more disturbing are the outrageously high premiums!

Business owners have been stripped of all choice in NSW and forced to take out a "Compulsory Workers Compensation " insurance policy with only one organisation - icare!

This is basically a form of autocracy where I and other businesses have been forcefully stripped of our ability to shop around for a better deal.

There is only one place to get insurance of this kind and one price to pay. You better shut up and cough up!

This is not how things should operate in Australia. I urge anyone reading this to put in a complaint with ACCC as I did. If the above isn't anti-competitive conduct then I'm not sure what is.

Our workers compo policy was ''forcibly moved'' from CGU (who were great) to iCare. Never really understood why this was done. iCare has not addressed & resolved a single matter (and there are several) to my satisfaction. One star rating is too high. The name iCare is somewhat misconceived. I'm yet to see one iota of caring.

Problems include:
- premiums charged (approx 30% increase on previous year!!!) well in excess of CPI based on an ''arbitrary'' iCare estimate
- not receiving refunds; we are owed two refunds one from when iCare ''took over'' (well over a year ago) - have sent several emails & made follow-up telephone calls to no avail
- receiving overdue notice when premium had been paid on time
- lodged an online complaint; 4 days later, still no response.

I'm seriously wondering if iCare is a scam organisation.
Is it just bureaucratic or are customers being rorted?
Perhaps they do care but are underfunded & understaffed?
Really hard to know what's going on when nothing is happening other that taking our money.
Trying to establish if there is perhaps a body (ombudsman or some regulator) who might pressurise iCare to resolve the problems.

Customer service representatives are poorly trained and it takes half a dozen calls before any issue is resolved. Don't waste your time with iCare, there are plenty of other options.

If i could give this company zero stars I would have.

things aren't transparent at all. Id say all the 5 stars are employees . Thought I had cancelled. They make it hard and complicated to just cancel. Never go with this crowd.

One of the worst insurance companies to deal with its been 2 years ive been trying to cancel the insurance as i no longer need this insurance they keep asking me to renew but i dont want to now i have to deal with the matter. Dont go with this company guys worse ever decision

I would never use this company if I had the choice. From address changes to setting up direct debit there has always been complications.

Unbelievably, I've been sent an email that looks suspiciously like a bill for the 5% discount on my premium that I paid 30 days ago. No actual invoice was sent with the letter. I wonder how many people blindly paid this thinking it was a necessary monthly payment.

I've queried the bill, asking for an actual invoice! We'll see how morally corrupt (or perhaps simply technically inept they are - but we already know this will be their excuse; a clerical error).

What has happened to this country?

Been on hold for 56 minutes. Try a call back option? Standard stuff when the government gets involved in a business.

Disgusting Company! Have been fighting on and off for months to cancel a policy on a business that is closed down, email after email, form after form, phone call after phone call. THEN! I get a call from a debt collector, who after send her the correspondence tells me ' yes the forms are correct ill have to get this fixed for you'.
Worst customer service on the planet!
NEVER EVER AGAIN! Get your act together

they send emails reminder emails at midnight how could someone set that up to send at midnight. trying to get through on the phone is impossible and they are sending payment reminders one month after the payment was already paid .very disorganised wish the WC stayed with GIO as a business director i don t have all day to sit on the phone to find out if a payment i made a month ago was received

Being government owned, there is zero focus on customer satisfaction.

Very disappointed by the lack of professionalism and compassion from icare. We had seeked an extension on premium payments for a small family business due to COVID. This was approved over the phone and email. However we have since been sent several letters and emails with various legal intimidations despite the fact that we had asked for an extension. Payment has since been made, yet we are still being chased for payments.

its a sad state of affairs when these guys cant get anything right. im a injured worker and have a current claim. but for the last 4 weeks have not been payed on time even wiro contacted these guys. but still they refuse to adhere to nsw legislation payment on my normal pay day . then they just lie and lie when contacted by phone these guys should be ashamed of them selfs my case worker and her boss . are doing it on purpose anita chen and jossh . i have writen to the minister about them Dominic Perrottet its bad when being vindictive makes injured workers suffer

Got sent a reminder invoice but never received the first one. Now on hold 40 minutes and counting to get this sorted out. Will be shopping around when the policy is due next year.

Great customer service and quick quotes - very impressed.

Are the chosen health care providers independent? I do not believe they are!

I dealt with a knowledgable and very friendly (inc. understanding of late payment) customer service representative over the phone and the icare website in my view is great; the quote process is very user-friendly. A pleasant experience overall, thank you!

Any bloody wonder it's "a nice place to work" and "it has lovely decor" that's because no-one can cancel a policy that has been paid for but have no use for! Hence more cash for icare!

Absolute crooks - do not use!!! I cancelled a policy in 2018, they invited me to renew when it expired and then issued a statement of demand for payment. Avoid at all costs

incompetent. non responsive. rude.

a few adjectives to describe this money racket.! its unfortunate this crowd are the only ones that we HAVE to pay money to for workers comp. obviously a few brown bags passed hands somewhere. im dreading the day i have to claim as they dont have a clue.

This is the most frustrating company i've dealt with, tried to cancel my policy and keeps going non-responsive. This has been going on for a year now and all they can do is send you bills. I want to cancel my policy!!!!! Stop delaying it and stop going non-responsive, useless company.

They are just ripping money from small businesses, 20%increase of insurance fee every year even if you haven't claim anything for the past few years. They only care about making money.

Poor cancellation process and no refunds when entitled to them. Threatened court action via there large legal team over a very small amount of funds, completely out of the blue. Cleary only after money and doesn't care for anything other than that.

Maybe iCareMoney could be a re-brand.

thanks for being great.
Reza aluminium .

What a waste of taxpayers money, Icare have sent over 6 pieces of literature thru mail with new changes from my previous provider. Today I find out the system does not enable to upload files on line. Small business needs to mail documents or scan loads of pages. They have gone back 10 years from CGU my previous provider and wasted a lot of money promoting a system that doesnt work in 2018 online... Good luck with claims in future if they cant even develop own site to sort this prior to launch. Waste of time and money again thanks NSW Gov.

My abn was canceled few years before,but this company very year send me a new bill,every year My accounting contacted them a lot of times for this was canceled already and they said ok,they marked canceled,but still every year they find Debt collection company to Intimidated me to pay again !

I'm in the process of passing my dinner to my animals because its been 2 weeks since I've gotten any composition for dislocating my knee. It's disgusting to let me go without my weekly salary and without a word of my salary getting paid. How many days will I skip meals before the decide to give me what I'm owed. Disgusting!

They are not much better than the previous company my policy was transferred from. Very good at taking your money, and demanding more. However cancelling your policy is the most difficult task and they make you work hard for it, even asking for yearly pay summaries for all employees multiple times. When I send it in, they ignore it or pretend they can't read it and requested it be sent again. Don't insure your business or personal matters with them

They update and charges my premium based on my business gross income not the actual income. Since Icare took over the worker compensation I have to call at least one a year to have my cover right on track.

Easy phone access with policy number. Constructive, thorough response to my query, great product knowledge. Thanks!

been trying to reach them over a month now ..still no contact on the phone ...i handed them my cancellation form after the business was ceased 4 months ago ..still no response ...been trying to reach them ..each phone waiting was more than hour and still no contact ...email them they wouldnt reply or response ..

Sooty about the only one start . Don t get me wrong.
I don t know if I can use this insurance for my business. Because everyone seems very disappointed with them, I am confused base on these reviews ( I CARE ) is a terrible insurance . Anyone can give me some tip ?
Thank you

If I could give 0 stars I would. The inability of their staff to respond to queries, provide any relevant information, or generally just get things sorted is beyond a joke. My husband has been in pain since JANUARY as a result of a workplace injury, he was referred for an MRI in May, and is still awaiting approval to actually get the treatment that he needs, we are suffering financial impacts as a result of the inability to approve the treatment that will get him back to work as he is currently only covered for 80% salary. The impact this is having on his mental health and our family life is now significant.

1 star is being generous.

Twice I've tried to contact Icare to cancel a worker's compensation policy on behalf of a client and have not been able to get through on either attempt.

Admittedly, on the first attempt I gave up after waiting 50 minutes in the middle of the day. So for the second attempt, I called first thing in the morning and after just over an hour on hold their system hung up on me.

Would be interesting to see how long the wait times are to sign up to a new policy compared to trying to cancel one.

Good place to work, view from level 15 and up is breathtaking.

This was the worth ever nightmare I encountered in many,many years dealing with WorkCover insurance on behalf of our clients. True blue government monopoly. Meaning, take it or leave it! How can you leave it, when there is nowhere else to go. The overwhelming rates and money grab is obvious. People on the phone are useless to say the least, and not terribly nice either. Something definitely needs to be done. I wish we could have GIO instead!

What a waste of time, beyond useless employees. No response from email, and you get transfered to every employee if you call without any resolution . Disgraceful joke of a company

Sincere thank you to Rosalie and her team at icare for all of their help over the last 6 months. You have made a very difficult period in my life just that little bit easier.
When I was injured on the fireground in in November I was (and still am) devastated. You have given genuine support guidance and empathy throughout this ordeal. Giving prompt approvals has made the medical side of things efficient and streamlined. Even with covid19 impacting everything, turnaround times are still decent.
Thanks again Rosalie.

Edit: again thank you for paying attention to detail and assisting so often to ensure I am being taken care of after another round of surgery.
Ps
Very surprised at all the previous poor reviews

The most inefficient and frustrating company to work with. We notified them in Sept 19 our business had closed in May and got a polite automatic reply they would contact us with in 30 days. 60 days later we got an amended wages invoice for 18-19, a few weeks later we got an amended invoice for 17-18. After they were paid we got another amended invoice late January 2020 for the 16-17 year. How inefficient. Numerous calls and emails complaining about being invoiced 2 years after the end of a period but no-body wants to make a decision.

I have PAID MY WORKERS COMP in full! For the year! they keep sending me emails to pay AGAIN the dope I hired refused to come to work so I want to get my money back Pigs might fly too! I am a tax payer and hate being stuffed around by these PUBLIC Servants!!!!

The worst company I been dealing with as a Sole Trader . I m a small business owner and I was hired by this bunch to do some work for one of they clients . This bunch is a nightmare , they will never return your calls or emails after the job is done or like in my case something goes wrong with the invoice. First you have to wait for almost a month to get your invoice processed. Then just out of the blue you receive a letter in the post that they can t read or you have forgotten to include they ABN , even they haven t provided you with any in the first place. Cant remember how many emails and calls I have made to get paid , it s just a joke and a waste of important business time. I should have contacted a debt collector to deal with this bunch . Terrible never again!

Disgusting company to cancel my insurance, all 5 stars are fake just by employee did it for nice view. they never helpful company, just want to rip off customers. never good customer service. one star too much for this company. This government own, and no one care Because staff got paid and threaten customer to deal with NSW governments if not comply. After 6 month still they didn t cancel my work compensation.they are just killing businesses. Nobody check all one star here, even you complain you never receive response because they just ignore, just some bandits ripping off people and this more worse this insurance belongs to NSW governments.

Crooks - plain and simple. I thought initially that they were just guilty of incompetence. But it s now clear that it s worse than that. Lost our direct debit details - then referred us to lawyers for non payment - won t retract charges - then overcharged is by 400% - then tried to recharge us incorrectly for charges from 5 years ago I ve drawn their attention to the issue multiple times but they continue to chase payment. They will probably reply to this message with instructions to call them. Believe me when I say that I have tried that dozens of times. Rotten to the core.

i care is nobody care! I have made request refund phone call(4 times) for my doubled up payment but over one & half months no result.

I like how all the positive reviews state it is a nice place to work or that they have nice views. Seems like someone sent out an interoffice memo to leave positive reviews. They obviously can not handle the transition and I frequently do not receive a response from them for over a month at a time.

After 3 weeks of trying to cancel and sending wages declaration forms you continue to not act and send me lawyers letters with threats. The customer support service is so poor and inefficient.

Hi,
This insurance company is surprisingly slow. They havent reimbursed my bills since April and today is 5 Sep. I called 139 922 and I hope they call me back one day :/ . They have to give back my money no matter how long it takes. So why you dont do your job properly to avoid bad reviews? !!!

They do a lot of good work and help many people. They also trampled over many people and leave them in a worse condition than when they started.
Remember that big commission into corrupt spending? That was very recent.
If I d heard anything from them I d probably have more information to give but if they re not buying a broken wheelchair or spending money on friends then they re basically in hiding.

Systems can't cope with the change over. They blame the previous companies for incorrect details. The don't take american express.

Terrible experience with iCare. It's sad that they are the only option our government gives us...

If I have my way, I will not use this company. I have changed my entity from Sole proprietor to Pty ltd and paid them the cover, months later another BS company trying to collect money from my old policy. How in heaven you will have 2 policy in same company? They are not even worth a star. Government should decentralize this insurance so people have choice. :(

Absolutely useless, iv cancelled my insurance 3 years ago but every year they send me a bill of 11k saying that I have a month to pay.
Pay for what?
I don t invoice my customers when I havnt provided them any service.
I don t recommend these crooks to anybody and may god have mercy on the souls of anyone who chooses to go with these unprofessional half wits

Terrible customer service, they never reply to any emails just choose to ignore them.

The standard response from you below is just what you copy paste to every bad review, crazy, wouldn't it actually just be easier to reply to any of the three emails that i have sent your company in the last few weeks, then maybe you wouldnt get so many terrible reviews?

They don t deserve the 1 star. I started business and decided to quit it after 3 months and they still can t cancel policy. It s been 4 months try to cancel and too much nonsense to cancel. Not fair still going and I have many proof.

Cancelling your policy - apparently icare's 'system' can't cancel policies and won't be able to for the next few months. Only told this today after continual follow ups and waiting over 2 months for my policy to be cancelled. Monthly direct debits continued to be deducted after my request to cancel the policy, which i am told can't be refunded until the system is updated. Of course no one is available to escalate my 'problem' to and I have to wait for a call back. While the customer service officers have been very nice, and sound as though they are trying to help the result is the same. Not effective!

Absolutely shocking experience we are going through this week.No responsibility is being taken for why someone in claims illegally contacted on of my clients employees without a lodged claim. This is a very serious matter. I have had a phone call without any follow up, The claims employee needs to be fired. ACTION MUST BE TAKEN

very useless company. No letters inform to pay the bill and put under the creditor black list. Super many questionnaire for these company. Having a very terrible feeling too. Isn't worth for 1 star too.

Very poor service. The only way to retrieve information is through calling and waiting on hold for 1 hour plus. Surely there could have been a more efficient system put in place.

I can not thank enough all the Amazing staff. I never experienced (in Australia) such a responsive, caring and efficient service. I suppose the little I can do is to award this organization 5 stars !

Its more like we don't care , worst workers comp. we ever had to deal with.....we were so much happier with GIO, never had any issues and they processed everything on time, it was simple and easy....iCare is simply useless, we couldn t be more disappointed if we tried!!!!!

Largest general insurer in Australia, great work-culture - a place to work!

Appalled by the pen pushing attitude for my worker comp claim. Would rather go bankrupt paying for it myself then deal with them

Very uncooperative employees. I had a very serious injury at my workplace. My case manager has been ignoring my calls, messages and emails for more than a months. It is unacceptable that icare doesn t care about people.

We would not choose this insurer if we had the chioce not to. But unfortunately, the NSW government decided that it would be a good idea to manage all the workers' problems in a single, state owned insurer. As result, we are forcefully stuck with this company despite the unsatisfactory customer service we were receiving lately. The case manager, Icare & disputes teams (13 99 22) have been unhelpful to us in updating & processing our Electronics Funds Transfer for over 3 weeks now since the check mails weren't being delivered to our address since our injury claim which was more than 7 weeks ago despite the fact we had provided them the correct address to Icare.

I would highly doubt that this review would affect your decision in choosing this company since Icare is the only worker insurance company in NSW you can choose from.

Just terrible at responding and the call wait times are ridiculous. Tip for you icare: if you are always "busier than usual" hire more people!

Rang up to chat about Workers Compensation Insurance for a new business and the lady who I spoke to was very helpful and guided me in the right direction.

they never return calls. payment was paid and no call to advise otherwise yet I receive a solicitors letter. Why dont we have choices in NSW of who to choose. These people would loose my business in a flash if I wasnt forced to use them

Useless. Rang after a report on eml the insurer who does not respond to emails , pay their bills I have had to pay out of my own pocket.
Does not respond to my psychologist about multiple clients on workers compensation claims.
Rang me and when was informed my work still was working with the outlaw motorcycle member who threatened to kill never followed it up.
You don t care about any of us we are just a dollar sign and you want me and others to commit suicide to go away to save you money.
You place no value in my life or anyone else s

Absolutely appalling. Have been waiting on a refund fir overpayment nobody bothers replies to emails they just pass the buck, typical government run business wouldn t survive in a he private sector.

I had a policy for a while with these guys but never claimed anything.
I needed to cancel my policy and they confirmed that this was cancelled. I then get a letter from their solicitors saying that I owed over $1200 , which is impossible because I cancelled the policy.
I called them to sort it out, and they just asked me to fill in a form and assured me they would fix it.
I then got ANOTHER notice , this time opening a new account, saying I still owed money- none of this made sense to me so I called AGAIN and was put on hold for 40 minutes.
UNACCEPTABLE .

You say you care but ya didn't turn your lights off for Earth Hour.... jus sayin

next to impossible to deal with... you can sign up within minutes but as soon as you try to cancel it becomes a nightmare. they say they will help you over the phone by emailing or mailing you required forms for cancellation, but it doesn't happen, i highly recommend anyone who deals with these people RECORD your phone calls as proof. its "almost" worth the risk of not having workers compensation just so you do not have to deal with these bureaucrats

Fantastic organisation. Providing a great service to all the workers of NSW. Highly recommended.

very bad experience with icare, keep receiving debt collection letters without receiving the actual invoice. just found out with them this morning that I don't owe them anything, Instead they need to give me a refund. Ask me to pay legal fee and filing fee when you owe me? and the debt collection lawyer is still keep telling me on their system I owe ICARE a random amt (an amount different to what they say in the debt collection letter). What can i say? why don't you update your system? long wait for phone calls (no estimated time for waiting) and no reply on emails. Why dont businesses have second choice for worker's compensation in NSW?

This is the most incompetenet business i have ever dealt with its like talking to Telstra , no one knows what they are doing . Everyone gives you a different answer to the same question.
The premium changes when its suite them , its only a matter of time before this gets shipped overseas to save money on staff

PLEASE GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL INSURANCE COMPANIES WHO HANDLED IT BEFORE

WHAT A STUFF UP

Absolutely shocking service.... My case manager Sharron is one of the rudest individuals I have come across. Injured my shoulder at work the surgeon said it was from doing what I had showed him In the video footage of the incident Icare are saying I m basically lying and the evidence is inconsistent....

I would definitely not use this company if I had the choice not to (even if I was paid to do so, to be very honest).
They make it insanely difficult - not to say impossible - to cancel a simple policy, and just charge you whatever they think its fair as there are no competitors. Super dodgy, stay away from them.
I am surprised a first world country like Australia lets these people get away with all these terrible complaints/reviews found in here, productreview and even Facebook reviews.
Would give 0 stars if this was possible

Nick Team 7 did a great job sorting out my policies! Quick and efficient

Absolutely useless, they have zero concern, or care for anyone. My partner is trying to get workers comp and hes not only Been lied about but been given the run around with lies, excuses or totally ignorance.
The staff we have dealt with are arrogant, ignorant and completely souless! Avoid if you can

Shame I can't choose 0 stars because that's how much they deserve. There's no communication with these guys. Still waiting for my receipt which was never sent. I would personally NEVER get a cover from them but with the new Govt rules, we have no choice. Absolute disgrace

Our premiums went up 30% this year and I have not been able to speak to ANYONE for the last 4 weeks as I get put on hold & never transferred to a real person. Have submitted contact form & complaints form online.... result: nothing. Extremely poor service.

Absolutely disgusting company I'd warn to stay well away from.

Since 2017 I've not only cancelled the policy several times I initially only asked for a quote as I was a sole trader looking to put staff on instead of contractors.

I've now been sent several letters from Turks legal demanding money and threatening court dates, credit reporting and the worst bit is I closed my business 18 months ago and despite of that they're still adding 2 years to a cancelled policy and demanding payment.
I've also never signed a document, been sent any paperwork or policy documents or given them any authority to pay.

Any other policy will cancel itself if it's not paid it's simple.

They're crooks!! and read below theres many many more, my case is now in the hands of the ombudsman and I encourage others in the same position to do the same.

If you want to get f$#ked over big time get a policy with these guys.

I am a Bookkeeper who looks after multiple employers. I have had an issue trying to renew each policy I have had. I have not had one policy renew before the old one expired, the Certificates of Currency are incomplete, and it is confusing as to what Icare do and what the insurer does.

Very frustrating, the lack of responsiveness via email and the very little accomplished via phone calls. I have to get on the phone and be put on hold, sometimes get dropped, etc. to accomplish even a small step. I had canceled the policy yrs ago, but apparently was missing some info - no one informed me, and suddenly yrs later my bill has been sent to a collection agency. Any email correspondence I receive from them is just formulaic/even more confusing. For example, just recd two emails, one asking me to pay a sum, the other one appearing as though a refund is due. If I ignore it, I'm sure it will end up back at the collection agency. My only choice is to call yet again....