Allen and Allen Car Insurance - Feedback (Good and Bad)

Legacy_user

Hi, just wanted to get some feedback on this company for car insurance please? Has anyone got a policy with them and are they good to deal with :

http://www.taagl.com/services/carinsurance.html

dacouch

They have had some bad reviews on MSE.

Try googling or doing a forum search on their brands eg ESI Insurance, Broker King

System

Thank you dacouch, I did a quick search and did see some bad feedback and thought I'd do a double check. We also have a quote from Bewiser - they were very helpful but will check feedback aswell.

phuture1

this company and their customer service and policies are APPALLING!!! Stay away from them. I am not on a vendetta but am concerned for anyone who is thinking about using them. My girlfriend was completely ripped off by this company and had an expensive time trying to get away from them.
I intervened and found their customer service to be a disgrace with receptionists and tele sales staff hanging up on me or just keeping me on hold for ever hoping I would go away.

In my personal opinion, ANY company is better than this mob.

Leetommy14

Hi Guys,

I could do with some advice with relation to these guys. I took a policy with them in January 2011, had a few issues but stuck it out. I renewed again this year.

I received a text a couple of days ago asking me to call so I did, they said my policy had been cancelled due to non-payment. I wasn't aware of this and asked if it could be re-started. She stated that it would probably have to be a new policy with the outstanding paid up. Fair enough, I owe what I owe. I was also informed they had written to me, emailed me and text me with regards to payment. Now here's my beef with them - I informed them upon renewing my policy that I couldn't receive post at my home address and provided them with a family member's address instead. I know they have it on file as my policy was sent there. She even told me they had a recorded delivery returned to them as it could not be delivered to my home address. Surely proof that I did not receive notification. As for the emails and text messages, nothing in sight.

Now, cancellation might be a good way to find a cheaper provider I thought. Apparently not. For the privilege of cancelling my cover they are demanding somewhere in the region of £350. How is this fair? Is it legal when I wasn't aware of the non-payment? My initial thoughts are that they didn't set up the direct debit right in January.

There are a few things I need to look into such as bank statements etc, but thought I'd get a heads up from you lovely people first just to see if anyone has been through something similar with A&A or any other car insurer?

I've put forward my argument via email (as I can't afford to wait on hold for 15 mins to an 0844 number on a mobile as they had me earlier!) I'll let you know what they reply....

joeshelme

Summer01 wrote: »

Hi, just wanted to get some feedback on this company for car insurance please? Has anyone got a policy with them and are they good to deal with :


these are the worst ever, bad attitude, cheap to start with, but any changes will cost you big, our insurace was 250, 3 months late we moved to country, went up by 180, then after 10 months canceled and lost my year no claims, and no refund. and usel bad attitud.

familymatters2me

Hi, This company is attrocious!!! My Grandson insured his car with this company because they were the cheapest on-line quote for his age (20yrs old) The deal was 'pay for 9months ins get 3months free!!! He paid £450 deposit with monthly payments of something in the regien £289. A few weeks after signing papers the problem started, he recieved a letter informing him that his ins would be cancelled because his home address he had given at time of taken the insurance out was differant to the one on his licence (which he had to fax to them) thats fair enough as he genuinally forgot to change it when he recently moved, but surely THEY should have spotted this beforehand. My Grandson set about getting his address changed through the DLVA, not an immediate operation! inbetween times he had rang them (speaking to and being passed from person to person) and explained it would take up to 10days to proccess it. The letters of cancellation kept coming, my Grandson continued to ring them untill eventually his licence arrived and he then had to fax it to them with his current address which he did on that day. A few days later he got a letter to say they were cancelling his ins, again! he rang them and asked why, they told him they didnt recieve the fax, after a lengthy talk again to several people he told them he had faxec his licence so they told him if he faxed that day they would carry on with the ins, he quickly went to P.O to fax it and got a receipt for it (as he did 1st time), the same thing happened again, a letter of cancellation, a phone call from him to say he had fax it and had proof that he did, no-one in their office had trace of it. He went back to the P.O got the same person to fax it for him and this same person actually quoated that he had already done this! However, this time the person at the P.O asked my Grandson to come back later as he said the fax wasn't going through for some reason? My Grandson tried 4 times that same day and on the 5th time the man at the P.O told him that because he couldn't fax it the reason must be that either A&A's fax machine must be broken or turned off! again inbetween times my Grandson had rang them to explain the P.O was having problems faxing, he was abrubtly told 'they never turn their fax off'. In the end he got a letter on Thursday 13th Sept 12 saying that as HE had cancelled his insurance on Monday 10th (therefore my Grandson had been driving around for 3 days with no insurance), he came to mines (he did all his calls to them from my landline) almost in tears as at this point he had paid £1600, and a month before he was going to gain on the 3months free deal!!! (how convienent) When he spoke to them he told them that HE didn't cancell any ins but was told as the policy was cancelled they couldn't re-instate it, they also wanted something like another £400 from him, the cost of cancellation!! but offered him another deal with a lower deposit (£300) and lower monthly payments (£190) at this point i was furious with them and took the phone off my Grandson and went through all it again with the young lady, getting no satisfaction i asked to speak to the manager, WHEN he came on the phone it sounded like i was speaking to a 12year old! However, he said nothing could be done at this late stage, I tried to reason with him saying my Grandson had did everything they had asked of him and it was no fault of his if they hadn't recieved the fax and that HE DIDN'T CANCEL when i asked about the letter being 3 days late he said it had been sent out because they tried to ring my Grandson twice on his mobile but couldn't get through, but what really got me was when he said that the twice they rang they got the voicemail and left a message to say that they wanted to talk to him about the cancelled insurance, Now ask you, a statemant as important as that should never have been left on a voicemail message, I for one never retrieve any of my voicemails, they should have tried harder to get hold of my Grandson. The outcome is my Grandson is £1600 out of pocket, no insurance, his car sitting on the drive doing nothing, he may have to sell it, and all this happened between april 12 through to sept 12

angry Gran

Heera01

DO NOT JOIN THIS COMPANY YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!
I wish I had read the reviews on A&A before getting out an insurance policy with them.
All the complaints on here are so true!
The staff have no manners, they have a disgusting work ethic.
I have been left on hold for up to an hour.
They transfer you around and then people just hang up, making you call again, wait again in hold. But hey more money for them!!!
THEIR CANCELLATION POLICY!
If in the months with them, you want to change insurance, as my mother did.
We made the payment annually and there was still 5months left on the policy so OBVIOUSLY as normal human beings we were expecting to be refunded the rest!
I can justify cancelation charges. But telling her there will be ZERO refund. THEREORE she will still be paying 5months insurance when shes not insured!!!!
Surely this isnt ethically and legally correct.
DONT JOIN THEM, THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY. ONCE THEY'VE GOT IT. THEY DONT WANT TO KNOW YOU. JUST LEAVE YOU ON HOLD. AND BE DISGUSTINGLY RUDE. WORST CAR INSURANCE COMPANY IN BRITAIN. HAVE CONTACTED THE FSA TO MAKE AN OFFICAL COMPLAINT!

TwaddleDunk

Like others I too wish I had read the reviews about A&A car insurance because I am now experiencing poor service from them.
Took out insurance for my wifes car in October 2012, her insurance renewal was due mid November. Felt quite happy when I put the phone down as the price had been good. Days turned into weeks and still no sign of the Documentation, the renewal date came and went and still no documents, no insurance certificate and no details of the breakdown cover/contact number.
I had sent e mails to the A&A office and had responses but no details.
A week before Christmas ( one month after the insurance renewal date) I phoned A&A and after explaining everything I was informed that the person who had dealt with my original application was no longer in this company, and the paperwork was still on his desk. I was told that the paperwork needed "signing off" and this sales person would ensure this was done that day and the necessary documents would be posted that day. I did recieve a phone call from a different person later in the day saying the documents were ready and were being posted to me 1st Class. I still believe in fairy tales! Thats right, I havent received the necessary. My wifes car had a breakdown and we had to call out a local garage to it, due ofcourse to us not having the A&A breakdown documents.
I wont be renewing through them. The policy is with Aviva but they are not interested as it wasnt taken out with them direct.

shamus123

Hi, I took out insurance with A&A the price was the cheapest at the time so I took the policy out. 1 month later they tried to say I had supplied incorrect information about how many years I had driven on another persons policy, which I had not. I told them to check there phone records to check this, the advisor then asked me if I was sure of the information I supplied and I had not driven for longer on the policy amounting to more years of no claims!!!! I refused to change this information as this would be falsifying information given by me. The policy payments stayed the same, however later in the year I changed my car to a smaller engine car. I was told that the payments would be cheaper and I would receive a refund, okay, this was in September it is now January, my payments were completed in October. I am still awaiting my new cover note which I have phoned for a total of 4 times everytime to be told it has been sent!!!! the last time I asked for it to be sent recorded delivery still no sign. The refund I was told would be credited to my account when the final payment was made, it was not, when I phoned them they said they did not credit the account but would send a cheque. I did not receive this so phoned again, this time I was told they did send out cheques and would put in an urgent order to credit my account, surprise surprise this has not been done. I phoned them once more and was given all the same spiel. I am very thankful it is possible to now tax your car online, otherwise not having the cover note they should have sent out, my car would have been sat on the drive because I couldn't have taxed it due to inadequate documents. They quoted me a renewal price that was over £350 more expensive than other reliable insurers!!! This company is a complete shambles, incompetent and have no idea of customer service, my advice would be steer well clear.

rudekid48

By the look of this thread, they must specifically target people who make long, paragraph-less posts on internet forums