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**MSE Lawrence** · 21-01-2008, 3:09 PM

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's 'Alliance & Leicester Car Insurance: Probably the most irrelevant promotion ever seen' blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's 'Alliance & Leicester Car Insurance: Probably the most irrelevant promotion ever seen' Blog.

Click reply to discuss below.

Kevicho · 21-01-2008, 4:06 PM

(and my comment btw)

The alliance & leicester give with one hand.

And take away with several.

Stumpy · 22-01-2008, 2:26 PM

I've just done my car insurance - the same way as every year. I get a renewal quote, then got onto confused.com, find the cheapest, then get onto quidco and (assuming there are no silly "catches" to the lowest quote) get cashback through them.

So this year I got insurance for about £40 less than my current insurer was quoting, plus another £75 cashback with quidco. Can't be bad

Heinz · 22-01-2008, 2:55 PM

Spot on Martin. I got:

Quote:

Unfortunately we are unable to offer you a quotation based on the information that we have collected. If you would like to speak to one of our advisors please call us, quoting reference number 12345678, on 0845 603 9763 or click on the ask us to call you link at the top of this page.

Badger_Lady · 22-01-2008, 3:02 PM

Yep, same here!

anne78 · 23-01-2008, 7:12 PM

Hi, I was going to just renew with my existing insurer, but saw this and thought I'd try A&L - it was a bit cheaper, plus I got free breakdown cover which I didn't have before. Would recommend giving it a try, thanks Martin

Nodge · 23-01-2008, 7:23 PM

I also tried getting a quote by calling number. As an Alliance & Leicestr customer told cud hav car brakdown FREE! quote was £10 cheaper than my Direct line renewal so happy!

Badger_Lady · 23-01-2008, 9:05 PM

Oh, you silly people!

1) If you're actually from Alliance and Leicester (assumption made because you haven't posted anything other than this praise), you are simply spamming the forum and are not welcome. You will also notice that we're very savvy moneysavingexperts and are not fooled by such posts.

2) If you're not, apologies, but you still shouldn't just go along with this campaign. Read Martin's tips on "Cheap Car Insurance" - you are almost guaranteed to find cheaper quotes and/or better cover for your money.

If you are genuine people and have taken up the insurance, you are legally entitled to a "cooling off period" during which you can cancel. I would recommend you start searching for a cheaper quote now, and cancel the A&L quickly.

simons · 24-01-2008, 1:15 PM

I was a More Than car insurance customer - late last year they sent me mail saying they would guarantee to beat my building and contents insurance quote. I took them up on it and their first quote was about £800 combined! My renewal policy from existing provider (which could have been pushed up much higher since I had made two minor claims) was about £350. I said to the agent on the phone, your quote is terrible. She then asked what my renewal quote was and when I told her she said, first, I can lower it to (a figure that was now about £500). I said, well you are still way over, so she then said, "Oh, sorry we cannot beat it". So...er...the guarantee is somewhat less than a guarantee it's just empty, pointless, time-wasting, misleading sales talk that is frankly called for what it is. Lies.

Phil · 06-02-2008, 4:44 PM

I thought I'd investigate this so logged onto the A&L website and found car insurance.

I used to use a broker to get my car insurance, which had quoted £355 to renew my insurance.

But I wasn't going to tell A&L that, so I entered £200 as my renewal quote and got back £189.97. I then clicked on the back button and put it down to £100 and it returned a "phone this number screen". Oh well. I think clicked the back button again and entered £190, then £180 and kept going until I entered £105 and it returned £94.96!

I then changed the assumed details to reflect that I would normally keep the car on the street and the amount remained unchanged.

Now, I am actually selling the car but if I was renewing the insurance this would be a great place to start from because I could then go through the other sites with this quote as my bargaining tool!!!

Silver linings and all....

Phil

Phil · 06-02-2008, 4:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil

I thought I'd investigate this so logged onto the A&L website and found car insurance.

I used to use a broker to get my car insurance, which had quoted £355 to renew my insurance.

But I wasn't going to tell A&L that, so I entered £200 as my renewal quote and got back £189.97. I then clicked on the back button and put it down to £100 and it returned a "phone this number screen". Oh well. I think clicked the back button again and entered £190, then £180 and kept going until I entered £105 and it returned £94.96!

I then changed the assumed details to reflect that I would normally keep the car on the street and the amount remained unchanged.

Now, I am actually selling the car but if I was renewing the insurance this would be a great place to start from because I could then go through the other sites with this quote as my bargaining tool!!!

Silver linings and all....

Phil

I've just gone through the moneysupermarket and confused searches and the best quote I got was £228.02...

MarkyMarkD · 21-02-2008, 4:13 PM

What's hard to understand about

Quote:

A copy of your renewal invitation or notice from your previous insurer will be required.

Lying about your renewal premium to get an apparently bargain premium simply isn't going to work.

And there's no reason that any other insurer is going to care about you having a spuriously low quote from A&L and consequently give you a bargain price on their own part.

Goggsy · 16-03-2008, 5:04 PM

I just did the Quote but i did not put in my renewal of £212 & the Alliance quote came back at £253 , I'll phone them tommorrow and ask for my years free insurance .It should be an interesting phone call .

nilashah · 17-06-2008, 1:39 PM

Hi

I have to say that this marketing scheme for car insurance by Alliance & Leicester does seem to be a bit of a scam.

I got a higher quote with A&L and you know what, they got away with it. They called me this week, however, they said oh cos you've already renewed your policy 5 days ago, our underwriters say that you are not eligible for this offer.

What an excuse hey cos they damn well could not beat my renewal price. If anyone sees this offer from Alliance and Leicester, i would say, really don't bother with it. it's a gimmick. Also, read all the small print, cos they also make things up as they go along. You have to make sure they're offering you the same excess, and the quote mustn't include legal cover or no claims protection cover or any other extras.

Regards

Geen · 23-06-2009, 8:06 PM

Do not touch A&L (Equity Direct Broking)- Mick Larkin is the same person who is responsible of the complaints dept and contact centre. If you write or call o complain, best be assurred your complaint will not be in your favor

eslick · 23-06-2009, 10:14 PM

so nothing new there then, but why waste your time with this when play.com have created lots of issues for mse'ers

Geen · 25-06-2009, 9:40 PM

Took out a policy over the internet and with days i received a letter requesting for my NCB. I sent it via recorded post but again within days i received another letter saying the reg number was not mentioned on the paperwork i sent. This went on for a month and Equity decided to cancel my policy and retaining £127.00 for a months cover.That did not added up since i had paid £331.24 for the year. I immidiately called the Equity office and requested to speak to a Manager. This young rude lady advised me no Manager were avaliable. I then requested the for the name of the head of Complaints and Contact Centre Manager'sname. You guess it. I was advised it was other than Mick Larkin. How in hell can anyone get any kind of justice with the same person who runs the business be in charge of the complaints department.