Beware Aviva car insurance

davetza

Just a word of warning if you are thinking of using Aviva car insurance. There system can't record no claims discounts of more than 5 years. This means that when I started using them a year ago I had 6 years no claim discount. I have not had any accidents in the last year which means I should have 7 years no claims However their system can only show me as having 5 years no claims.

According to their call centre this is the way the system works and their is no way around this. I think I have managed to sort this out using the document from my previous insurer but it has wasted a whole bunch of my time trying to sort this out.

dacouch

The broker arm used to send out "Post cards" that were pre printed and then had the clients name, policy number and no claims bonus manually filled in.

Them were the days

tightrs

i believe that they are not alone in only counting to five years, just another way of getting maximum hassle when transfering car insurance to another insurer

bromleymum

I have just had major problems with this.

I switched to the RAC from Aviva on the basis I had 8 years no claims.

Obviously, when Aviva sent the documents on to me there were only 5 years stated. "No worries" said the Aviva rep I rang. He went on to explain it was the industry standard and should not impact on my RAC policy.

I wish. Today I had a phone call from the RAC basically saying that the incorrect information I'd made on the original application was now going to cost me several hundreds of pounds a year more. OK I said, I'll cancel and shop around. Dead end here as well as the policy was nearly a month old and I would be charged a hefty cancellation fee.

I then argued that I wasn't dishonest on the form and had really not made any claim for 8 years. I was then told that technically that's not what "No claims" means - it's more a measure of how much discount an insurance company underwriter is willing to give you. Can you believe it!!!! How the blooming heck are we supposed to know that.

Anyway, after several more phone calls to Aviva and the RAC, I've managed to get the RAC to contact Aviva for a verbal confirmation that I have 8 years no claims. And I have been advised by Aviva that I should always request a supplementary letter when leaving an insurance company to clarify what no claims discount I had on the date I joined the company to avoid any confusion.

Avoid any confusion!!!! Surely Aviva, being the huge company it is, could put the actual number of years of "no claims" on their documents as , although it doesn't make a difference to their underwriters, it does to a lot of others out there.

Fingers crossed, when I ring the RAC tomorrow (as their system updates overnight) this has all been sorted.

I HATE INSURANCE COMPANIES!

dunstonh

Avoid any confusion!!!! Surely Aviva, being the huge company it is, could put the actual number of years of "no claims" on their documents as , although it doesn't make a difference to their underwriters, it does to a lot of others out there.

To be fair to Aviva, they havent done anything wrong here (thats something you dont say often!)

Every insurance company has its own record of no claims discount. Most typicaly, it is around the 5/6 years mark. When you buy the insurance your broker would normally warn you or have the record to allow you to show a longer history. However, if you dont use a broker and DIY then it is your responsibility to keep those records. So, in future, keep your renewal letters on file so you can prove your history longer than the insurance company may.

bromleymum

dunstonh wrote: »

To be fair to Aviva, they havent done anything wrong here (thats something you dont say often!)

Every insurance company has its own record of no claims discount. Most typicaly, it is around the 5/6 years mark. When you buy the insurance your broker would normally warn you or have the record to allow you to show a longer history. However, if you dont use a broker and DIY then it is your responsibility to keep those records. So, in future, keep your renewal letters on file so you can prove your history longer than the insurance company may.

Yes, I take your point but I'd been with Aviva a few years and was an online customer with them and the company (Elephant) prior to that, therefore everything "online". Secondly, the last broker I used had disappeared into the ether after selling on his business to another firm that went bust. And the RAC wanted paperwork specifically from my last insurer.

I will revert back to killing the planet from this day onwards, insisting on letters about every tiny bit of info from now on.

Thanks for your advice. Lesson definitely learnt.