Direct Line tell me my contents insurance was never valid

thriftymonkey

Hi all,

I'm currently living in a privately rented, furnished flat, and am soon moving to another privately rented, furnished flat. I have contents insurance with Direct Line. I called them to update my policy details and, to my surprise, was told that they can't provide contents insurance for privately rented, furnished properties.

I hung up, and inspected my policy documents. They don't state that the insurance isn't valid for privately rented furnished properties. So, I called them again, and one of their advisors told me that it won't be in my policy document, it's a term that I had to agree to before taking out the policy. I told her that I bought the policy on their website. Both Direct Line's employee and I have looked at Direct Line's website, and when buying a policy, their website does not state that the policy is not valid for privately rented furnished properties. There are some important statements with which new customers must agree, but no statement is made about privately rented furnished properties.

However, I strongly suspect that if I'd tried to make a claim, they'd have not paid out because of this. My insurance was never valid, according to their underwriters. Direct Line had to arrange special provisions to authorise insurance of my property for the few remaining days of my policy.

Do you think I have a case to ask for my money back? How should I proceed in doing so?

Many thanks for your time, and any help you may be able to provide.

Best,
Louis.

jinky67

I would say yes you can and should claim the money back. You have paid for a service you never received.

dacouch

It depends on the statements on their website, in addition when you obtain a quotation it will normally ask you what type of property it is eg owned on a mortgae, owned outright, rented unfurnished from a private landlord, rented furnished from a private landlord.

If you have entered the type of property incorrectly eg that it was rented unfurnished from a private landlord their software may have a stop in it that would have said they cannot offer a quotation.

Unforrtunately this is one of teh drawbacks of buying a policy on the internet, its up to you to enter the correct details and if you don't then its your fault. If you ring the Insurer or broker or go actually into a brokers office it is their fault if they enter the information in correctly.

Depending on the circumstances of how their website was set up etc they may still have had to pay a claim so its possible you were covered. You could try asking for a refund, there is no guarantee they will refund though

thriftymonkey

dacouch wrote: »

It depends on the statements on their website, in addition when you obtain a quotation it will normally ask you what type of property it is eg owned on a mortgae, owned outright, rented unfurnished from a private landlord, rented furnished from a private landlord.

If you have entered the type of property incorrectly eg that it was rented unfurnished from a private landlord their software may have a stop in it that would have said they cannot offer a quotation.

Unforrtunately this is one of teh drawbacks of buying a policy on the internet, its up to you to enter the correct details and if you don't then its your fault. If you ring the Insurer or broker or go actually into a brokers office it is their fault if they enter the information in correctly.

Depending on the circumstances of how their website was set up etc they may still have had to pay a claim so its possible you were covered. You could try asking for a refund, there is no guarantee they will refund though

Thanks Dacouch!

Their website asks whether the property is private rented, but doesn't ask whether it's furnished or unfurnished. If you select private rented, as I did, it doesn't warn you that your property can't be furnished.

So, is it best to call them and ask for a refund? If they say no, can I threaten to take them to court?

lisyloo

If you are certain it's not on their website then yes you have options.
But first check any related links.
Sometime you get a check box that says "I agree to the terms and conditions" and it has a link to another page.
Check it out and if you are sure I suggest you print out the pages ASAP (in case the website changes).

Your best option before court would be to make a formal complaint.
Check their procedure on the website and follow it.
It's important to follow it rather than just send a letter to a random address so be sure it gets to the correct department.
I would send your letter by recorded delivery (70p or 75p) or send email with both read and delivery receipts switched on. (keep any receipts).
I don't think Direct Line are a bad organisation but some organisations will "lose" your correspondance on purpose. This way you can prove it was delivered. Keep a record of names, dates and times if you speak to anyone on the phone.
Their procedure will take some weeks possibly months and you will go through 3 or 4 levels of employees.
This is to keep their costs down but also to try to wear you down.
If they don't agree then you can take them to the ombudsman which is slow but FREE and no risk to you (apart from time, paper and stamps).
It will cost Direct Line about £350 if you do this, so they might settle before this especially if your case is good.
You cannot go to the ombudsman before you have exhausted the complaints procedure with Direct Line. If DL don't agree you will get a deadlock letter.
You then submit your claim to the Ombudsman and if you are right, you have a very good change of winning in my view, but do expect it to take months.

Your other alternative is to go to court.
This may cost you some money and there is a chance of losing.
If you do this instantly, the judge might think you haven't given Direct Line a sporting chance of replying, so I think you need to do that first.
You also face the risk of Direct Line, moving the case to their location (I think the defendant can move it to their locality).
You might want to check this out in case their Head office or customer services is at the other end of the coutry to you.
Also consider time off work for going to court.

For the reasons above I suggest using the complaints and ombudsman process rather than court.
It will be slow (guess what they are inundated) but it will only cost you stamps and you won't have to take time off work or travel to somewhere far away to attend court.

If your complaint is valid you will almost certainly win, but make sure you check out all those links on the website first and do the PRINOUTS for proof.
There is a possibility they could change their website either conincidentally or explciity because of your case.

dogbot

The thing is, I don't think you can get your money back since I do not agree that, had you made a claim, they wouldn't have paid it. If there is nothing that you could see restricting the cover and they didn't ask I don't think they would stand an icecube in hell's chance against FOS if they did reject a claim.

More importantly they are arranging to make sure you are covered for some period of insurance, so you are definatly covered.

However, give it a go as suggested above

dacouch

I agree with Dogbot, from what the OP has said it sounds like there is an error in DLs website or failing that the part excluding the furnished rented properties is buried in the small print. In these cases the Ombudsman will often rule in the customers favour so from what the OP has stated it is highly likely they would have had to honour claims.

I'm not sure taking DL to court is the best method as I'm not sure he can demonstrate he had lost out financially as he paid for Insurance and its likely DL would have paid the claim. All DL have to say in court or prior to court is yes we would have paid your claim and its case closed.

By all means make a complaint as they may refund the premium or give an exgratia payment and if there is a problem with their software it should prompt them to correct it (If its not already corrected).

pedro123456

" If you ring the Insurer or broker or go actually into a brokers office it is their fault if they enter the information in correctly"

So you would recommend using a broker dacouch to avoid the drawbacks of buying a policy on the internet?
That would make for a interesting debate on another thread!!!

Lisyloo

Good advice I see where you are coming from especially

“Check it out and if you are sure I suggest you print out the pages ASAP (in case the website changes)”

“If your complaint is valid you will almost certainly win, but make sure you check out all those links on the website first and do the PRINOUTS for proof.
There is a possibility they could change their website either conincidentally or explciity because of your case”

monkey also consider contacting

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/index.shtml

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

good luck

Z

dacouch

Obviously Pedro if you enter information into a website yourself and you make an error in entering the information (Assuming the website asks the correct questions etc) then its your fault for entering the wrong information. If you have rung the Insurer or broker and they have entered the information incorrectly (Mistakes do happen in any walk of life) then it would be the Insurer / brokers fault and you would have some redress against them.

Its one of the drawbacks of buying insurance on the internet

Its similar to you going on easy jets website and putting the wrong information in, they are likely to say you made the mistake we will charge you for correcting it. If you had rung and their call centre staff had made the booking and made a mistake its their fault and they should (We're talking easyjet here) correct the mistake without charging you.

pedro123456

I understand you dacouch others may not see where you are really coming from though, so thanks for clarification……………you do suggest using a broker as opposed to using a on line internet application………..that’s ok no need for defensiveness yet.

Poor old Easyjet hope they don’t take umbrage at your statement.

But in any case……………if you went straight to easyjet, phoned and booked through them, then yes they have responsibility………………………but isn’t that a little like cutting out the middleman (broker)…………………….I’m confused………anyway come and join me and OshayAway when you are free from debating the value (or not) of Brokers.

Z

dacouch

As you know Pedro I am a broker so I'm biased.

A lot of the time a broker will be more expensive as at the moment the direct insurers are buying new customers in at a loss.

A broker is typically earns just under 10% of the premium in commission (The Insurer pay this) and may make extra from selling legal cover and a policy fee (Probably gross an extra £20).

With a broker they can guide you which companies are actually any good and which are not. They can find a policy that suits your needs eg if you travel abroad a lot probably NU would be better. If you have a claim you have the broker sorting it out for you and if the Insurer tells you something incorrect about your claim the broker should know this is incorrect and get it sorted. If you were dealing direct with the Insurer the chances are you would just accept their decision.

Brokers tend to weed out the rubbish Insurers and not use them as they create more work for them when there is a claim and they tend to mean you lose your customer at renewal as they would blame the broker. As with any business a broker wants to build a long term relationship with the client.

The other difference is the policies an Insurer offers direct normally offer lower levels of cover than the policies through a broker. The reason for this is simple, when a broker is quoting they evaluate the premium and cover so they tend to offer better cover through brokers to gain the business.

Like I said before you will often get a cheaper price by going direct but as you well know Pedro getting a cheap price is not a real saving if the Insurer does not pay out or you get a reduced amount. For unusual risks then a broker is normally cheaper than going direct.

The other issue is a broker is normally far more knowledgable and has more experience than the call centre staff at a direct insurer.

I worked for a year at a direct company and the the call centre staff where monitored on how long the length of their average call is and how many calls they answer a day. The reason for this is the quicker the calls the less staff they need. So rather than take they have to rush you to get you off the phone