First Direct Car Insurance 10% guarantee

Premier_2

scoobydru wrote: »

A word of warning to all MSE users.

I received 10% off renewal with First Direct last year. First Direct customer service is fantastic!

However, your car insurance and any subsequent claims are through Equity Red Star.

Their customer service is appalling. If you have to make a claim, they are a joke. They are incompetent, do not return calls etc etc.

While I appreciate people are more likely to complain than commend, please save yourself some aggro and do not use them.

Google "reviewcentre equity red star" for example of customer service.

Only by writing to the underwriter Lloyds was my simple claim resolved (3rd party insurer accepted liability on day one).

I would have to say I have used equity red star in the past for car insurance, and I currently am insured with them for motor-cycle insurance.
(I think I've even possibly had buildings insurance through them at one time, but I never contacted them about that)

I have always found them to be easy to contact and very helpful/efficient.
Auto Aid car breakdown (which has numerous good reports on this forum) is also run by the same people.

scoobydru

Premier wrote: »

I would have to say I have used equity red star in the past for car insurance, and I currently am insured with them for motor-cycle insurance.
(I think I've even possibly had buildings insurance through them at one time, but I never contacted them about that)

I have always found them to be easy to contact and very helpful/efficient.
Auto Aid car breakdown (which has numerous good reports on this forum) is also run by the same people.

Have you ever made a claim under your insurance? Sales dept are efficient.

emmav6

worked for me no problem, 10% cheaper. im first direct customer so also no charges when swapped my car, got a £12 refund so im not complaining!:T

Premier_2

scoobydru wrote: »

Have you ever made a claim under your insurance? Sales dept are efficient.

Yes I've had car insurance claims in the past and motor cycle ones (both with equity red star - I've held motorcycle cover with them in the past, as well as currently)

I had no issues with how they handled my claims; my experience was that they were fast and effecient. Also no issues in contacting them.

Sorry to hear you were not provided with the excellent service I received. If I had had any issues with my past claims, I wouldn't be using them today

Edit: I googled the link you suggested earlier regarding reviews. True it doesn't look good going by that site, but just as a comparison I checked out More Than car insurance on that site too, and found equally bad comments/ratings
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews8271.html

Churchill car insurance (as another example) doesn't fare much better
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews2627.html

Perhaps it's that only those who have had a bad experience go to the trouble of visting that site to moan? Like any business, I'm sure equity red star do not please everyone 100% of the time ... but I found them quite good in dealing with my claims in the past
If you check out the Auto Aid thread(s), that relates to handling claims too. Fast & efficient is the general feedback posted.
(Auto Aid is different to say the AA or RAC. Auto Aid is an insurance backed policy. If you breakdown, you pay for the repair/recovery and claim it back under insurance)

Edit 2: Maybe my experience of equity red star was somewhat unique due to somewhat strange circumstances.
I originally took out my insurance via a local insurance services office that later ceased trading. Equity Red Star then dealt directly with me regarding renewal etc. from their Brentwood office.
When I made any claim to their Brentwood office, they would first say I should contact my broker, but when I reminded them they were dealing with me directly due to the original intermediary having ceased trading, they helped me.
I only ever dealt with their head office in Library House, Brentwood ... but I see according to their website, claims are usually handled by an office in Swansea. I've never dealt with anyone in Swansea regarding anything to do with equity red star.
(having said that, part of their complaints procedure suggests contacting them at head office in Brentwood before going to Lloyds)

MilkyJoe7

Premier wrote: »

I googled the link you suggested earlier regarding reviews. True it doesn't look good going by that site, but just as a comparison I checked out More Than car insurance on that site too, and found equally bad comments/ratings.

Perhaps it's that only those who have had a bad experience go to the rouble of visting that site to moan?

I potentially agree with this analysis - most insurers seem to have 1-2 stars and I think it is because people only go on there to moan. If they receive good service, they don't post a review.

Terz

My renewal came through from Liverpool Victoria and was up from £439 to £541. I spent quite a bit of time searching around for better quotes and the First Direct deal of 10% off was the best out there for me. They did beat the standard product by 10% but there was something I did have to pay extra for that didn't get the 10% saving (forget what it was but it only cost me an extra £10). Overall it was still by far the cheapest deal for me.

I've been a First Direct customer for many years now and previously had a problem with a buildings insurance claim. Clearly they use other insurers to provide the product in their name but when I complained to FD about the poor service I'd had in their name they helped resolve it for me.

lisyloo

Yes OK sorry, I mean my RENEWAL. Online renewal. Can I just print it out?

I have always had a paper renewal, even for policies that are otherwise entirely operated on-line.

These days if you have a colour printer a printout is often indistinguishable from an original.

triticale

I tried a quote as an FD customer.

Quote was similar to my high renewal quote, and then sky-rocketed when I corrected all their assumptions (9 years NCB assumed!).

time2waste

First Direct insurance - another complete waste of time! Can't quote - ring us............I will stick with £466.50 for my 996 carrera 4 convertible, fully comp with protected no claims, thank you.

BatOutOfhell

First Direct were the only company to offer a renewal premium less than my current insurer. I worked my way through MSE's entire guide to try to save money on my car insurance and came up with nothing until this offer from First Direct.
They were also offering 15% off a second car in the same household so we tried to move my husband's insurance too. Unfortunately, they declined to quote for his car so he stayed put. Still at least I saved the 10% and I've been happy with them so far (no claims, touch wood).