Hmm, the real insurers behind the car companies..?

kathym203

My current car insurance with Virgin is up for renewal, and I've found a number of other cheaper quotes. The cheapest is the AA at over a £100 pounds less, but only on chasing them up did I find the insurers that provide the service in the event of a claim is Zurich. I understand this is different to Virgin, as they have underwriters but deal with the claim entirely themselves. I'm cautious about the AA and Zurich, I can imagine getting passed around and not getting the service I would want.

Firstly, does anyone know how I can check up on Zurich and their customer history? (I know from personal experience that some insurers are complete fraudsters, who refuse to pay out on the slightest grounds). Secondly, has anyone else found the best way is infact to go with direct providers, and if so how would I find out who these are without the extensive leg work (currently FOUR hours and counting) I've already done!! Many thanks in advance.

Wutang_2

Zurich are a huge global corporation and unlikely to try to commit fraud with your insurance.

dogbot

Zurich are one of the worlds largest insurance companies. I am sure they will be fine. They are (or were in 2007) the 5th largest insurer in the UK market as you can see here: http://www.postonline.co.uk/public/showPage.html?page=469961 (the position hasn’t changed much, if at all).

The UK personal lines insurance customer is very well protected by the regulatory requirements of the FSA and oversight by the Financial Ombudsman Service. Of course, the only way to make sure you are protected, is to take responsibility and read your policy to understand what you are or are not insured against.

The AA are insurance brokers. That is, in fact, what has supported their business for the last umpteen years and not roadside assistance.

Insurance brokers may offer quotes from their panel in those panel insurers names OR they might have a scheme.

The scheme will usually use a single policy wording to which a panel of underwriters subscribe so you get the same level of cover. This is the case with AA.

Some schemes may entirely use the broker's name, others make it clear the insurer is involved. This will also depend on how much authority is delegated to the broker by the insurer.

Saga is also run on a scheme/panel basis. The same is the case with the vast majority of bank or building society offerings.

dogbot

p.s. i am not totaly sure who handles the AA's claims but if it is Zurich then any undue issues that you have could prob be sorted by a quick call to the AA. They are huge and Zurich's claim manager won't want to annoy them.

Atermis

where i work, the claims handlers have different procedures when the broker is AA, have to give them better than standard service.

dacouch

Here are the reviewcentres reviews for AA Insurance, bear in mind that people who have had a bad experience are more likely to post on these sites

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews9016.html

To balance this here are the reviews of Virgin Car Insurance

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews88571.html

Here are reviews of Zurich

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews86356.html

Like I said above, people have a habit of only posting reviews if they are unhappy, if you look at reviews for most other companies you will find they are top heavy with unhappy customers.

Here is a survey of brokers which is probably more balanced and based on their own personal experience. Bear in mind its easier for a broker to get good service than someone using a company direct or through a call centra as the broker will have good contacts and will know how to get things sorted out efficiently. Zurichs ranking in this is fairly good as the companies above them generally give really good service. Most companies ranked above them only deal with brokers and as a general rule of thumb have to give good service as a well as a reasonable premium to get business from brokers.

http://www.instimes.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=376295

BruceyBonus

I've worked for Zurich and generally it is cheaper to go via AA than direct to Zurich as they pass on large discounts - however this isn't always the case so make sure you get a quote directly from Zurich.

If I remember correctly, AA policies are dealt with in the same way as any other broker policy. You would need to deal with AA for everything who then pass on information to the insurer.