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Car Insurance Customer Service?

Hi everyone,

This is my first question on here, so please be gentle... ;)

I'm getting my first car soon, so I've been looking at insurance (fully comp) - using the various comparison sites Hastings Direct, Admiral, Quinn Direct, Aviva, Direct Line, LV, Zurich Connect, and Co-Op all came back with a vaguely "sensible" quote. Of these, I've dismissed Hastings, Admiral, and Quinn as the cover is slightly (in my opinion) inadequate.

So, of the others I've mentioned, I was wondering if you guys had any experience of their customer service, and how they fared? Hopefully I won't need to make a claim, but I know that as a new driver I'm fairly likely to do so, so I'd rather pay a bit extra and go with a company that will handle a claim sensibly (no silly valuations, etc) and without hassle.

Sorry if it's a bit of a daft/odd question, but I obviously have no knowledge of car insurance companies ;)

Thanks! :D

Comments

  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Avoid Quinn, especially if you have a provisional licence
  • crittertog
    crittertog Posts: 190 Forumite
    dacouch wrote: »
    Avoid Quinn, especially if you have a provisional licence
    Thanks - they were 1 of the 3 I'd ruled out as the policy looked a bit poor to me (& I'll have a full licence, btw)... Anyone else?
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Well done for reading the paperwork, we come accross lots of problems for MSE members that are often simply down to them not looking into what they are covered for.

    The companies you have been left with are all pretty good, the Aviva Policy (Not sure about Zurich and Admiral) use a lot of off shore call centres, which some customers are not keen on.

    One thing to bear in mind is the total amount of excess thye quotes have, this is the compulsory excess added to the voluntary excess. It can vary dramatically from company as some companies increase the excesses in their quotes to make their quotations appear cheap.

    If your paying by instalments it can be worth checking the interest rate each of the companies charge as it can make a big difference to the premium you pay

    Once again well done, if everyone took buying Insurance which can be a complicated product as seriously as you there would be less problems for us to deal with.

    Are you aware of possible cash backs that are available with some of the Insurers you are mentioning
  • crittertog
    crittertog Posts: 190 Forumite
    dacouch wrote: »
    Well done for reading the paperwork, we come accross lots of problems for MSE members that are often simply down to them not looking into what they are covered for.
    Thanks. :) I take the view it's a very substantial purchase (>£1,000), so it pays to research it thoroughly. I did print off the policy documents of all those I thought it was worth looking at - ended up with a stack about 1"-2" thick, which was an interesting day's reading. :rolleyes:
    dacouch wrote: »
    The companies you have been left with are all pretty good, the Aviva Policy (Not sure about Zurich and Admiral) use a lot of off shore call centres, which some customers are not keen on.
    OK, didn't know that about Aviva - thought they used a UK one. :o It's something I'm not overly keen on, as accents do give me an issue (even a Scots or Mancunian!).
    dacouch wrote: »
    One thing to bear in mind is the total amount of excess thye quotes have, this is the compulsory excess added to the voluntary excess.
    Yeah, I'd noticed about the new/young/inexperienced driver excess, which was a surprise on the first look. :o I have since got individual quotes from the various companies with the excesses normalised to about the same level after taking into account the extra compulsory excess, so I could do a better comparison. :)
    dacouch wrote: »
    If your paying by instalments it can be worth checking the interest rate each of the companies charge as it can make a big difference to the premium you pay.
    Nah, one-off payment for me - cheaper in the long run, and less to worry about. :)
    dacouch wrote: »
    Once again well done, if everyone took buying Insurance which can be a complicated product as seriously as you there would be less problems for us to deal with.
    Thanks :o
    dacouch wrote: »
    Are you aware of possible cash backs that are available with some of the Insurers you are mentioning
    Umm ... I'm vaguely aware of Quidco and MoneyExpert (from Martin's article)..? Are there any others?
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    There are a number of cashback sites including Quidco and Topcashback, I have only ever used Quidco and so far my experience has been good (Others on MSE have issues).

    You should always look at cashbacks as a bonus eg do not buy a policy solely on the cashback you get as sometimes they do not come through.

    Quidco are offering £52 on Aviva, the Co op (CIS) are offering £54 and apparantly Zurich are coming soon. If you decide you want the cash back you must delete the cookies on your computer and get a quote and take it up through the cash back site (After registering with the cash back site).

    Another thing to bear in mind if you cut out the cash back site and go direct to a company is that with some you can negioate a discount. For instance you might be able to say to say Aviva I could get £52 from Quidco would you give me a discount if I come direct. Or the easiest way is to ring and explain you have a cheaper quote from say Quinn and that you woudl rather go with say Aviva can they reduce their price to near Quinns price. This can often get a reduction of up to 10% or an extra cover thrown in free. Just make sure they do not reduce the cover eg increase your excess to get the discount (Unless your happy with the reduction).

    Well done for spotting the difference in excesses and getting quotes with the same excess, Martin would be very proud of you!
  • crittertog
    crittertog Posts: 190 Forumite
    Thanks for the details of the extra cashback sites, and the general help! :D

    Like I said, I'm a total newbie to this! :o
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