Swiftcover Car Insurance - beware the value of their downloaded documents

mike123456_2

My first post - I'm so annoyed!
My wife is having a mid life crisis (having just turned 50). She has just bought her dream car - an Audi TT, great condition with low milage.
Yesterday I took out car insurance through swiftcover - they came out as the cheapest quote when I used Moneysupermarket.com. They dont send you your documents by post instead you have to download then print them, no problem I thought. Went to the Post Office today to get a tax disc only to find that they wont accept downloaded documents. They told me that I had to go to a DVLA office. I went to the DVLA office only to be told the same thing. The lady at the DVLA said that this was a major issue for swiftcover customers and that they legally have to provide the document via post upon request. Went home and phoned swiftcover (on their premium rate number) who refused to send me the certificate of insurance as they were purely an internet based company. They dont send documents out by post. What's the point of having an Insurance certificate that neither the post office not the DVLA recognise? The unhelpful attitude of their employee didn't fill me with confidence that they would deal with any future claim efficiently. Needless to say I demanded a full refund and cancelled my cover.
I just wanted to warn anyone else that was thinking of insuring through swiftcover - be aware that downloaded documents can be of no use when it comes to buying a tax disc. It doesn't always pay to go with the cheapest quote!

dunstonh

Went to the Post Office today to get a tax disc only to find that they wont accept downloaded documents. They told me that I had to go to a DVLA office. I went to the DVLA office only to be told the same thing. The lady at the DVLA said that this was a major issue for swiftcover customers and that they legally have to provide the document via post upon request.

Swiftcover give you the document in pdf format which you can print and it will look exactly the same as any certificate sent in the post. After all, there are all printed nowdays. The only time there will likely be an issue is if you have a black and white printer only or your print quality is not good enough.

I am going to take the guess that your print quality wasnt very good and tht is what made the post office query it.

luxor4t

Swiftcover also does not show up on the police computer database:eek:

DH got used to being stopped by the police for not being insured (OK, it happened twice,but once was too often iyswim). Each time he only had to say "Swiftcover" and they would sympathise... seems the company is notorious

mike123456_2

You are quite correct - it does come as a pdf document which I printed in colour. My main gripe (apart from the wasted time visiting the post office and the DVLA) is about the attitude at their call centre. If their representative had simply agreed to pop a copy of the certificate in the post I would have remained a very happy customer. They must be very aware that this is an issue as the lady at the DVLA said that she always felt very sorry towards swiftcover customers whom she was frequently sending away without their tax disc. She was quite adament that there was a difference between the downloaded version of the certificate and a "real one". I can only assume that swiftcover customers always go away and renew their tax discs online - this seems to be the only way to get around the issue. It was the total lack of empathy from the swiftcover representative that worried me. How empathetic would they be in the event of a claim?

dunstonh

If their representative had simply agreed to pop a copy of the certificate in the post I would have remained a very happy customer.

I understand your service level comments but what is the difference between you printing the pdf and them doing it?

She was quite adament that there was a difference between the downloaded version of the certificate and a "real one".

There isnt unless print quality is poor, as mentioned. I am more concerned about the misinformation the PO are giving out. Most certificates are bog standard laster printed A4 copies from PDFs. I also know that they do accept printed certificates (from pdfs).

hieveryone

can you get your tax disc online and the DVLA website should recognise that you do have insurance, cutting out the need to go to the post office at all

lopbri

perhaps the quality of paper might help, most insurance certificates i've had tend to be slightly better quality than, usual copy paper.
i also used swiftcover this year, it too them ages to acknowledge my no claims certificate, despit faxing it twice and emailing twice, hope i dont have to make a claim, not very impressed so far

daveboy

hieveryone wrote: »

can you get your tax disc online and the DVLA website should recognise that you do have insurance, cutting out the need to go to the post office at all

My sentiments exactly.

I always try to do my little bit to kill off the local post office.

It's only any use if you are over the age of 65.

lopbri

Yes to the above, you can check if your insurance has been put onto the DVLA database check www.askmid.com, at least all MOT stations are linked to the DVLA database

paulfaz

I'm with swiftcover and get my tax disc online with no problems

msb5262

I'm with Swiftcover and got my tax disc in person with no problems. It was printed on a good quality printer but had clearly arrived as an email attachment. Surely I'm not the only person who has succeeded?