Mobile Phone Insurance Scams

lona43

I would like to warn people who are about to take out a contract with a new mobile phone.

Most companies offer insurance and after purchasing the phone within hours you can receive a phonecall from a company pretending to be your legitimate insurance company.

You are encouraged on the phone to deal direct with them and receive a better deal but in the end you are charged by DD from an entirely different company resulting in two DD to two different companies.

Over and above that, a sum is taken directly from your bank account for anything from £45 to £90 within 30 mins. When setting up a DD over the telephone it is law that you should receive notice in writing informing you when the monies would be taken.

Do not feel you have to let these companies get away with it.

After contacting this company I was met with abuse and was not allowed to speak to the Admin manager. When I persisted the phone was hung up.

I contacted the FSA and got details of who authorises this company I was given a number to call u2.co.uk who are responsible to a company called Comparisure Ltd. with the contact to complain..... [EMAIL="admin@u2.co.uk"]admin@u2.co.uk[/EMAIL]. The FSA told me should I not receive full refund I would then take it to the Financial Ombudsman who would pursue the complaint.

I am not saying u2.co.uk are not a legitimate company but their affiliates are not following proper procedures in informing the customer A who they are and B what they are offering.

Some of these rogue companies go by the name of RIAF [Real Estate International Financial Services.]

This particular company is an affiliate of u2.co.uk who in turn operates under the umbrella of Comparisure Ltd.

Why these companies should condone such practices is absolutely abhorant and should be exposed. Good practise would be to exclude these companies as it's bad PR and can only do harm to the parent company.

Do not allow yourself to be duped and the more people reporting such scams would result in the FSA taking some action.

Having looked at Real Estate Financial Services website there is nothing there to state any connection with Comparisure Ltd but I can assure you they are and the FSA website confirms it.

http://www.reifs.co.uk/page5.html Edited......................Since first posting this website has been taken down. I wonder why.!!!!!

I have read on many forums of people being scammed by this company and they think they have no grounds to recover their money and that's what the company hopes so don't let them away with it. Stamp it out NOW.

A further bit of information the FSA gave me was the telephone number of u2.co.uk and to contact the Admin. 0185 8466455. When I called that number I was told I had the wrong number and was given a second number 0207 7545938 and was answered by a young girl called Najma who refused to give me the Admin's name. I told her I would have to report back to the FSA and tell them she had refused. She then gave me a name. I called back the first number, the one who said I had the wrong number and asked to speak to him by name only to be told he wasn't available. I might add that it was within office hours. At no time did either answer by stating the name of the company, I could have talking to anybody.

My constant pursuit to obtain my money back paid off and I now have received a full refund of all monies.

lona43

Another one to watch Reliance Cover Ltd............................

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/indivBasicDetails.do?area51=true&sid=667945

gordikin

Anyone got a tin opener?...you know, one of these little key things with a slot in it?

jacktyler

Just hang up :T

hawkwinddotcom

gordikin wrote: »

Anyone got a tin opener?...you know, one of these little key things with a slot in it?

Whats it called
















:spam:

Terry_Martin

Not this old chestnut again, I have read this duplicate article on numerous forums.

In my opinion surely common sense should prevail here. Never buy mobile phone insurance from cold callers selling mobile phone insurance. Don’t waste your time or your cash, just bring the conversation to a close and hang up. These scoundrels are giving the mobile insurance industry a bad reputation and should be dealt with accordingly by the FSA. I think you will find that most of these bogus companies have now been shut down or are currently under investigation.

Why do people still fall for these scams it amazes me. If you need insurance for your mobile phone you should either purchase in store from your network provider or alternatively buy online from a reputable FSA registered company or an appointed representative. It’s that simple.

lona43

The letter also gives you a 14 day cooling off period from receipt of your policy, so that if you are not happy about anything you have the right to cancel by calling their customer services.

Why is £45 taken from your bank account?. No monies should be taken until after the cooling off period.

There is something wrong somewhere or there would not be so many complaints if this company is operating within the law.

Terry_Martin

lona43 wrote: »

Why is £45 taken from your bank account?. No monies should be taken until after the cooling off period.

There is something wrong somewhere or there would not be so many complaints if this company is operating within the law.

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]If you buy mobile phone insurance and pay an annual premium then money would be debited from your bank account. But if you were to pay monthly by direct debit I think you will find that payment is usually only collected once the direct debit has been arranged through your bank.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Anyway you said that you received a full refund, well all's well that ends well! But for future reference I would suggest hanging up on any future cold callers trying to sell you phone insurance.[/FONT]

lona43

I agree Terry. Once bitten as the saying goes.

I posted here to warn others of what they could be letting themselves in for and to explain that you can get your money back.

ineedhelp..._2-2

i've just been scammed by Real Estate International Financial Services!! I took out a new contract with phones for you a few weeks ago,at the same time i took out insurance with the company they use called Policy Administration Services Ltd...a few days later i received a phone call from a company that made out they were my phone insurers,they said they needed to confirm my card details to verify the policy,maybe a small mistake on my part but as far as i was aware they were the insurance company i'd agreed to,igave them my card details then they started talking about money. The policy i had agreed to was £5.99 per month,these people were telling me i needed to pay £45when i asked why they said to start my new policy,anyway they eventually said they were real estate and not my current insures,i told them i already had a policy with another company so do not need one with them,they lovely lady on the phone said that was fine and hung up on me. Low and behold i checked my bank statement this morning and a payment of £45 has gone out to Real Estate!! with my goldfish memory i had no idea who these people were so got on the phone to the bank....while on hold (the bank told me that i would have to wait 30 days to see if i received any paperwork from real estate before they could do anything,helpful Lloyds as always!) i decided to goolge this company and i found this very informative post! I quickly got on the phone to the FSA,who were quite interested in the company,and got hold of a phone number for real estate. A man called Wayne Evans answered,i know this because he answered the phone by saying his name,not the name of the company,i didnt tell him about the unauthorised payment instead i just said i wanted to check they had my details on record etc. For some reason he replied by saying 'oh you want to make sure that we are a proper company,well i can assure you i am the managing director and we are very trustworthy!' he then said he would get the customer services manager to call me back and gave me his name,Martin Smith. Like a dog with a bone i then decided not to sit around and wait for a phone call,instead i got hold of the phone number of Comparisure Ltd,shockingly they werent paricually helpful but did cancel the policy i hadn't agreed to...when i asked about the money taken from me they said i needed to speak to Real Estate. Once again i called Real Estate and got a direct line to Mr Smith,i explained the situation to him including not agreeing to the policy and being charged and he helpfully said he had some other people to call back first and will definitley call me after! So now i am still waiting for my call back,not holding out too much hope if i'm honest! Anyway i thought it was my public duty to share my fun morning with you all as these companies are sneaky little russians and will happily let you believe they are your agreed insurer to get some money out of you!! Well the naming and shaming has made me feel a little better,hopefully i can get my money back too!! i will keep you updated on the drama!!

r123

i got a call from real estate, i stupidly said yes that i wanted the insurance because i thought they were my orginal insurance provider because they knew all my details but i checked online after and found this!! so i phoned them back to cancel and they said i couldnt until i received my welcome letter then i could write to them to cancel! im so annoyed with myself! no money has come out of my account yet but i phoned my bank and then said that £45 was pending!

ineedhelp - have u heard anything recently??