Beware of seeus2save - scam artists

Peter_Martin

foggytown wrote: »

Thrifter - find out from these pirates who your actual insurer is. Then have a go at them for allowing seeus2save to scam their policyholders and sully their (presumably good) name. Might get some action.

Done that allready with Fortis, they aked me to phone seeus2save and ask for a manager, I did this was and was told that managers DON'T speek to customers. This seems to break Fortis own guidlines. I will be sending a complete report to Fortis Agent management team. Not hopeful as to the outcome as Fortis have said "how they run their business is up to them and they set their own terms and conditions", it may just be that as long as they bring in new business and Fortis is remote from the hassle then they don't realy care about the customer.

Buzzy_Bee_2

Hmm disgusting. They will probably try to string you along until the 14 days are up so they can then refuse you cancellation. Keep all records of letters/emails. Have you considered getting advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau?

Thrifter_2

Peter_Martin wrote: »

Do i have the right to cancell and get a full refund?

Their web site quoted me £172.79, thinking this was a good deal I paid this amount in full via my debit card, I was sent an email with three attachments, the proposal, Cover note and Seeus2save Motor Insurance Terms of Business.

The Proposal was all wrong stating the Premium was £203.28 not £172.79. I was alarmed to find there are loads of hidden charges not clearly shown on the web site but listed in the seeus2save Motor Insurance Terms of Business. such as Telephone Calls to their admin being charged at a premium rate of £1.50 per minute when called from a BT landline. Calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more. A charge of 50% of the Insurers return premium, plus an administration fee of £65.00 for cancellation, these terms are imposed by seeus2save not the actual Insurers.

The Cover note is invalid as it is not signed by the Agent (seeus2save), despite the cover note having a warning right below where the agent enters their detail, it clearly says "This cover note is not valid unless signed above by a person authorised by the Company". I emailed them about this matter and they promptly sent me another cover note, again it was un-signed and thus not valid.

I have not been supplied a correct proposal and after all the hassel I have no confidence in the company.

I ahve contacted Fortis the underwriters of the Insurance (i never got) and they confirmed that the cover notes were indeed not vailid, since taking out insurance with seeus2save I have not been able to drive as the cover was not in place, the policys have errors as well. I am disabled and this has realy set me back. Fortis said I should phone seeus2save and point out out all the errors to a line manager or department manager and if they were but available to leave my phone number and ask they phone me back. when I called seeus2save the chap flatly refused to let me talk the a manager, I gave him my phone number as requested by the fortis customer service person, he promptly and rather rudely said we don't do that.

After chatting to Fortis it seems to me that "THEIR AGENT (seeus2save)" is not following own Fortis's guidelines, I have requested that my problems are passed on to Fortis's Agent's admin team. but i am not hopeful for a quick outcome it sounds like they are not too bothered having a dodgey agent finding new business for them, time will tell. I am off to the trading standards office next. probably by bus or taxi.

EXACTLY the same situation with myself. I however threatened to take legal action. Do not call them... they play loud music to you for a good 5 mins whilst they coin in the £1.50 a min charge. Email them at or their parent company clearbikeinsurance.


I have in the meanwhile emailed the FSA seeking clarification and will in due course report them.

Hello FSA,

I had recently applied for car insurance policy though a comparison website which directed me to an online broker. Upon filling in my details and going through with the online transaction, they had sent through their terms of business by email an hour later which i read the next day. Upon reading them, I felt that the fees were extortionate and decided to cancel immediately....

Mid-Term Changes – Up to £100.00
Duplicate Documents - £25.00
Temporary Changes – Up to £100.00
Cancellation (Within the 1st 14 days) – £65.00 plus 20% of the total value of the policy
Cancellation (After the 1st 14 days) – your policy is non refundable
Credit Card Default & Returned Cheques - £25.00
Amendment to Finance Agreement - £25.00
A card transacted fee of 3% will be applied to each payment made on a debit or credit card


Having read the above with fright, I decided that I would like to like to cancel the policy immediately and not send off my documentation such as drivers license etc for them to then issue me with Motor Insurance Certificate. I called them on their premium rate customer service phone line of £1.50 a minute and told the customer representative that I would like to cancel my policy, I also sent an email as written confirmation. The time between me putting in my debit card details on their site to canceling the policy was approximately 24 hours. They then issued me with letter stipulating they would refund me but deduct a £65.00 plus 20% of the total value of the policy. (By the way, they still haven't refunded me anything, despite it being almost a month)

Now, having looked at the online FSA handbook, with regards to the Right to cancel....

ICOBS 7.1 The right to cancel

The right to cancel




Question: Would it be within my right to ask them for a FULL complete refund?

I am very worried about my money and feel that i wont see any of it again. They have been extremely evasive, such as when I call the cancellation line phone number, the phone line always transfers to answer phone. Also, I have had only two email from them, which they operate a practice of getting in touch with you within 72 hours to 5 working days and do not abide by it. Ive google'd them (wish i had done it earlier) and have read lots of stories on websites from many disgruntled clients that have used their services. I have checked their registration number on the FSA website and it seems that they are on it.


Can you please advise me on what I can/should do?

I feel that i needed to contact you as they have been dragging their heels over refunding me any amount.


Thanks in advance for your helpful service.

Kind Regards,

Hope to get an answer soon.

dacouch

Their contact number on the FSA register is 0151 549 3160

Scuba_Pete

If your debit card used to pay seeus2save was a Visa/Visa Electron, that usually has a kind of "insurance" (called "Visa Chargeback") built in such that if the product the turns up is substantially different from what was ordered - and I think both Thresher and Peter Martin, from what you have said above - could justify this. See the section on "Section 75 - Protect your purchases" (approx. 3/4 down the page) for more information on this.

The very last resort, if you could try take the firm to a small claims court, but that could cost you £50-£100 or so in court fees (plus time) and it is not necessarily guaranteed you will win - I would strongly suggest speaking to Citizens Advice Bureau or such like before taking this route.

Thrifter_2

foggytown wrote: »

Thrifter - find out from these pirates who your actual insurer is. Then have a go at them for allowing seeus2save to scam their policyholders and sully their (presumably good) name. Might get some action.

I know who it is, liverpool victoria who set up the ABC group where these con artists operate from under their umbrella.

I am disgusted with liverpool victoria and will never take any product from them ever again as they have clearly got these merchants in without vetting them to do one thing: get them business.

I'll also be avoiding a comparison website called Tiger.co.uk which seems to put SeeUs2Save always at the top.

I got my refund, but they deducted the £130 pound. Hopefully once i get clarification from the FSA i will then position my next move accordingly.

Peter_Martin

Scuba_Pete wrote: »

If your debit card used to pay seeus2save was a Visa/Visa Electron, that usually has a kind of "insurance" (called "Visa Chargeback") built in such that if the product the turns up is substantially different from what was ordered - and I think both Thresher and Peter Martin, from what you have said above - could justify this. See the section on "Section 75 - Protect your purchases" (approx. 3/4 down the page) for more information on this.

The very last resort, if you could try take the firm to a small claims court, but that could cost you £50-£100 or so in court fees (plus time) and it is not necessarily guaranteed you will win - I would strongly suggest speaking to Citizens Advice Bureau or such like before taking this route.

Yes Scuba_Pete you are spot on. I have allready applied for a Visa Chargeback for the full payment I made. Barkleys customer services at my local bank didn't know what I was asking for and it took a while for them to get up to speed on this because they didn't know that it also applies to VISA DEBIT cards as well. After making two phone calls, they handed me the phone, I was asked a few questons and then was told that they thought I had a valid claim and that they would send forms for me to sign to start the Chargeback process.

Although Barkleys were a little slow off the mark they were very helpful and spent some time getting this sorted for me.

Thrifter_2

does Visa charge back affect your credit rating? as i used visa electron also and am thinking of claiming through them as the FSA and FOS have been very sluggish in their response.

LV=_company_representative

We’re sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction with this particular broker.

We have received other similar complaints and have suspended using them until we’re satisfied that their practices provide appropriate levels of customer service.

_________
Nick Joy
eCommerce Team
LV=

dacouch

Tony_Evans wrote: »

As Managing Director of SeeUs2Save I take customer complaints very seriously. Our customer complaints procedure is geared towards responding to any complaint within a specified timeframe.


The basis of SU2S competitive rates is that our process identifies parties who may seek to manipulate on line quotations to artificially reduce their premium and thus do not reveal the real risk to the Insurer.

Anthony Donald Evans
Managing Director

I wonder if LV have a way of identifying brokers who manipulate them or their customers...