car Insurance search engines

pgt67

I have done the usual checks through all the usual search sites for my wifes car Insurance and the best we have come up with is £290 from RAC, possibly reduced more via quidco etc.

we have been honest all the way through putting down on every site the details of the 2 accidents had within 5 years that we claimed on the insurance at the time and the actual cost of the incidents and highlighting the nearest description of the accident, ie single vehicle claim/skidded on ice etc.... which can be hard as you sometimes dont get a right description of what happened.

Out of curiosity I checked the details of the quote on the actual RAC site and with regard to both accident claims it clearly shows, on the accident details page, that we didnt claim on the insurance when in fact we did, something we clearly stated on the search engine pages, I double checked on the search sites to make sure I had not made any mistake.

What would happen if I had just clicked through to the site and bought the insurance, as most of these sites can let you do. If I take out the insurance and a claim is made would the insurance company delve into the claims see that it shows no claims on previous insurance made (even though we declared we had on the search site) and refuse to pay out?

How many other people have used these sites, found a good deal, just clicked through to pay for it not knowing that the details put into the search engines may not have been transfered to the actual insurance companys questions correctly??

glider3560

pgt67 wrote: »

How many other people have used these sites, found a good deal, just clicked through to pay for it not knowing that the details put into the search engines may not have been transfered to the actual insurance companys questions correctly??

I had this problem a few times when I worked in an insurer's call centre. We allowed people to pay by phone for quotes they had generated online (at the online price), part of this was double checking the customer's details were correct. Somtimes, some of the details were either missing or weren't correct.

On one occasion, I remember that a full time student's occupation was showing in our system as Academic Professional (which I assume means teacher/lecturer).

Another one had a claim the policyholder made was down as being her husband's claim.

One time, I even noticed that the vehicle's registration number was missing!

tripled

If you tell the insurer they should investigate to see why the details aren't transferring through correctly. They may need to fix their system, or get the comparison site to change the way the quote details are sent through to the insurer.

cjgoodsell

In my Job I have found incorrect info has transferred over, If people have been ignorant and not checked these details and then go ttheir documents thru and info was incorrect they would call up and blame it on us when we had no involvement putting the info on.

To correct the info sometimes meant there was an additional premium to pay some people would refuse to pay and would rather cancel just as a matter of principal of these sites.

In regards to your question I believe these site put a disclaimer on (tick the box to say you read it but I guess most people havent) that they wont be held responsible if the info goes over incorrect and puts the onus fully on yourself! So if people dont spot anything is incorrect and If and when a claim happens then its down to the insurer if they want to pay out for it. Some will some dont all depends on each circumstance.

Some companies that operate thru a broker and offer online will check the claims and dvla databases to see if anything has been non-disclosed and then call the broker/write to them asking for it to be put on or indeed ask the customer why it wasnt put on and most of the time asks for the additional premium to correct it or in extreme cases refuse the insurance.

IMO I dont like these comparison websites because some people in this world dont check the info when it transfers over so its all fun!

Quentin

pgt67 wrote: »

the best we have come up with is £290 from RAC.....

RAC has some strange anomalies which are worth knowing about if you are considering buying from them:

1) The DOC extension is only given to the main driver and not "policyholder" (unless of course the policyholder is the main driver)

2) The car must have a valid MOT (if applicable)

3) NCD is only accepted from the main driver (irrespective of who is the policyholder)

4) NCD is only earned by the main driver, (irrespective of who is the policyholder)