Direct Line insurance website restirctions

chrish100

Hello
Calling all Direct Line insurance policy holders!
Is anyone else having problems getting a quote from the Direct Line website? Both my wife and I have car insurance policies with DLI and have been trying in vain to get new quotes for new and exisitng cars. However, after speding 15 minutes completing the forms, a message appears 'sorry we are unable to provide a quote based upon the information provided'. It used to be the case that renewing online was always much cheaper than accepting the renewal notice, or by calling them, but now it seems that you can't. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I reckon DLI have got wise to the fact that existing policy holders can get a better deal by using the DLI website and have decided to block access to it. In other words, if you already hold a DLI policy, you cant renew online or even get a quote a new vehicle. We have also noticed that DLI have becoem increasingly difficult to contact and deal with recently and as a result we are abotu to move insurance companies . All comments welcome

huckster

Test your theory out by doing a test quote, change name, date of birth slightly, perhaps enter an address nearby (but don't save quote, do mail opt outs etc, so they don't get junk mail). Atleast you can see whether it is an IT issue or a deliberate block on existing customers.

In regard to DL and other RBS Insurance companies, they are getting ready to be sold off next year. Following the government bailout of RBS, the EU ruled that RBS had to sell their Insurance arm by 2013 I think. They are closing various offices around the country and I have read that they have outsourced some work to India.

vusys1

DL does not have the technology in place to stop existing PH taking out new policy rather than renew.

in regards to the new cars you were trying to get quotes for they could have been out of the u/w scope or drivers etc. You can call to discuss your renewal (there is a number on your renewal) or just phone for a new quote.

mikey72

huckster wrote: »

Test your theory out by doing a test quote, change name, date of birth slightly, perhaps enter an address nearby (but don't save quote, do mail opt outs etc, so they don't get junk mail). Atleast you can see whether it is an IT issue or a deliberate block on existing customers.

In regard to DL and other RBS Insurance companies, they are getting ready to be sold off next year. Following the government bailout of RBS, the EU ruled that RBS had to sell their Insurance arm by 2013 I think. They are closing various offices around the country and I have read that they have outsourced some work to India.

You should always do this every year with the main comparison sites as well.
I don't bother with Direct Line having said that, they've always been too dear for me. They're not on comparison sites for a reason.

olly300

mikey72 wrote: »

I don't bother with Direct Line having said that, they've always been too dear for me. They're not on comparison sites for a reason.

They were actually the same price as my current insurer but then reading the small print I found my current insurer offered a better deal on a couple of things like windscreen replacement and replacement car.

InsideInsurance

vusys1 wrote: »

DL does not have the technology in place to stop existing PH taking out new policy rather than renew.

They certainly didn't used to but having changed a lot of their tech in recent years it is always possible.

The better system is to quote the customer the same as their existing policy, which a number of insurers do. To simply decline to quote would be a bit of a botch way to plug the gap.

Certainly all insurers are concerned about this type of activity and look to plug the gap one way or another.

vusys1

InsideInsurance wrote: »

They certainly didn't used to but having changed a lot of their tech in recent years it is always possible.

the most recent tech thing they have changed is the coffee machine

InsideInsurance

I did say changed, not improved.

huckster

vusys1 wrote: »

the most recent tech thing they have changed is the coffee machine

Many of the major Insurers use very old IT systems, held together with sticky tape. Yes they are updated every so often, but the basic system may be one they have had for 10+ years. So it does not surprise me that companies such as DL would not produce accurate data as the basis for sending letters. They have millions of policies, so I doubt they sampled much of the data, before sending the letters.