How do you rate car insurance companies?

clairmelville

Apologies if this thread is somewhere else on this forum (please someone direct me if it is as I would be interested to find out).

I am having a bit of bother with a claim from my car insurance company after someone drove into the back of my car and wrote it off.
The whole process of how a company dealy with claims has not really occured to me in the four and a half years I have been getting insurance, the main thing I worry about is the price.

What I really want to know is how do you rate each company in dealing with claims. Not just who is the cheapest but who offers the best value for money, and who is the most helpful, will not lose record of your claim, not communicate with you regarding your claim etc.

This would be very useful for me come renewal time as I am currently without car (the hire car having been taken away from me this morning with no explanation from hastings) and over a month after the accident.

Thanks for responding.

Astaroth

The problem is that insurance, and in particular car insurance, has become a commoditised product and so people are no longer interested in what cover is best for them or what the service is like but simply what the bottom line price is.

The one issue over judging things like claims handling is the fact it is so variable. If you get a good claims handler then you can have a good experience with a company where as if you are unlucky and get a poor claims handler then you will have a poor experience. There are trends, some insurers more tightly control their staff and dont over work them and so tend to be better. At the same time, the more serious the claim (including third partys and disputes) the more senior the handler will be and arguably the better.

The other issue of cause is that peoples opinions are heavily coloured by the bottom line result. I have seen many people here complaining about how bad their insurers are when they decline a claim or agree a split liability settlement etc when in my professional opinion the insurer is 100% right to do so. As those people though and they will say their insurer is poor (rather than they bought the wrong product or that perhaps the accident was partially their fault)

mattymoo

Not sure if this link will work for everyone but it is the latest issue of Insurance Age, a trade magazine. Pages 30-32 carry the results of a survey of insurance brokers covering their opinions of the various insurers out there. The survey only covers those insurers that brokers deal with so the likes of Direct Line and Aviva Direct will not be included. Aviva broking division is though.

http://www.broking.co.uk/digital_assets/456/IA_December_09.pdf

Can someone let me know if it works or not.

olly300

mattymoo wrote: »

Not sure if this link will work for everyone but it is the latest issue of Insurance Age, a trade magazine. Pages 30-32 carry the results of a survey of insurance brokers covering their opinions of the various insurers out there. The survey only covers those insurers that brokers deal with so the likes of Direct Line and Aviva Direct will not be included. Aviva broking division is though.

http://www.broking.co.uk/digital_assets/456/IA_December_09.pdf

Can someone let me know if it works or not.

The link works.

DCFC79

It will vary from 1 person to the next, depends if you have made a claim and how it was handled or if you called up the customer service number regarding a query or to change say the address and how the request was handled eg was it alot of hassle to do or wa sit easy, was a fee involved and how much was the fee eg £20 or £5. Ive only had 2 insurance companies so ill rate them both very good; direct line and peugeots own insurance when i bought the car as it came with a years free insurance

Astaroth

DCFC79 wrote: »

ill rate them both very good; direct line and peugeots own insurance when i bought the car as it came with a years free insurance

Both of which are RBS Insurance anyway

Quote

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1322653