Elephant Car Insurance

the_jaundice

Hi all, first post

Does anyone have any experience with Elephant Car Insurance?
They are offering the best quote (including protecting my no claim bonus) by quite a margin. Almost too good to be true

Any advice or horror stories?

Thanks in advance

Quentin

the_jaundice wrote: »

Any advice or horror stories?

Here's a current horror story to make you think twice:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3697109

They are cheap for a reason!

olly300

the_jaundice wrote: »

Any advice or horror stories?

Like most insurance companies they are fine until you have an accident so I suggest you read the small print of your policy booklet. You can download this from their website.

I also suggest you phone them up and ask them how much their admin charges are for say adding a named driver or changing your address. Even if you don't think you will need to do this it's always worth asking. BTW These charges are in addition to the additional premium you will have to pay.

They also charge extra for drivers who weren't born in the UK even if they were educated and learnt to drive here. So be careful if you think you may need to do this during the life of your policy.

Plus Elephant like most of their group like doing auto-renewal. If you don't want this to happen you must contact them well in advance to inform them of this.

adamc260

I worked for them, they're ok... the policy isn't outstanding but it's not the worst. I guess it really depends who you speak to as certain people do more than others in companies. They do charge admin/cancellation fees as said above and they do do auto-renewal.

Most the time you get Cardiff/Swansea for customer service but on the odd occasion you get India or Canada. All of claims however are UK based in Wales.

Parking_Trouble

Elephant are part of the Admiral Group, which also include Diamond, Bell and Confused.Com.
http://www.admiralgroup.co.uk/corporate/our_companies.php

Read the policy terms and conditions thoroughly before you sign up.

http://www.elephant.co.uk/policyDocs/policyPage.php

You need to be a contract lawyer to step through this stuff but remember it is not up for negotiation but a take it or leave it scenario.

There are a couple of gems in there that could trip you up if you are unlucky. Namely around accidents involving drink and drugs or a family member or someone that lives with you taking the car without permission. Don't sit there thinking it will never happen to you!

These items don't show up on comparison sites but they do expose the policyholder or the driver to what appears to be unlimited liability where the insurer will seek the return of money they have paid out.. The link mentioned earlier by Quentin relates to a seemingly innocent policyholder being asked for £14,000.
I have seen similar cases with Admiral Group (up to £49,000) where the driver had an accident and was convicted of drinking and driving.

These high figures are invariably caused by the obligatory Personal Injury claims these days. Admiral Group take referral fees from (ambulance chasing) solicitors so they are part of the problem in my opinion.

Never has "caveat emptor" applied more than when taking out motor insurance these days.

mildred1978

Parking_Trouble wrote: »

These items don't show up on comparison sites but they do expose the policyholder or the driver to what appears to be unlimited liability where the insurer will seek the return of money they have paid out.. The link mentioned earlier by Quentin relates to a seemingly innocent policyholder being asked for £14,000.
I have seen similar cases with Admiral Group (up to £49,000) where the driver had an accident and was convicted of drinking and driving.

.

I'm not sure I see the problem with this.......???

Parking_Trouble

mildred1978 wrote: »

I'm not sure I see the problem with this.......???

I try not to be judgemental but without doubt you are in a majority of the hang 'em high brigade.

Rather than pick on Drink or Drug drivers I prefer to have people using their mobile phones or smoking whilst driving shot in front of their families (with apologies to J Clarkson) but we can't have everything we want can we?

Lavendyr

I've been with Elephant for years and never had a problem. I have had to report incidents and claims and they have all been sorted out with no issues at all - very straightforward and helpful.

Each year when my renewal comes around I get some quotes for comparison, then email them telling them the cheapest quote and asking them to match it. They have always matched it, no questions asked.

I'd recommend them.

olly300

mildred1978 wrote: »

I'm not sure I see the problem with this.......???

While some other insurers have the clause with drinking/drug taking and driving, the issue is if a member of your household, who doesn't understand how UK car insurance works, decides to borrow your car without your permission and has an accident.

Unlike other insurers the EUI group doesn't have a clause that allows you to report them to the police to stop you being liable for the third party costs.

This means you have unlimited liability which could easily run into millions if some idiot, who they can claim is part of your household, has a major accident. i.e. the driver falls asleep at the wheel and manages to cause a train crash which happened a few years ago.

Other insurers make the driver liable and chase them for the third party costs as long as you report that person to the police.

I should state I'm biased against the group as I shopped one of their brands to the FSA due to another unfair clause in their contract regarding auto-renews. They did change this - well they had no choice

mildred1978

olly300 wrote: »

While some other insurers have the clause with drinking/drug taking and driving, the issue is if a member of your household, who doesn't understand how UK car insurance works, decides to borrow your car without your permission and has an accident.

Unlike other insurers the EUI group doesn't have a clause that allows you to report them to the police to stop you being liable for the third party costs.

This means you have unlimited liability which could easily run into millions if some idiot, who they can claim is part of your household, has a major accident. i.e. the driver falls asleep at the wheel and manages to cause a train crash which happened a few years ago.

My comment was in relation to drink and drug driving.

All of my cars are insured with EUI, with my husband and I fully covered to drive all of them, and the only other person in the household is only 18 months old. So the other clause means very little to me as I'm not really at risk of it IYSWIM.

mildred1978

Parking_Trouble wrote: »

I try not to be non-judgemental but without doubt you are in a majority of the hang 'em high brigade.

Rather than pick on Drink or Drug drivers I prefer to have people using their mobile phones or smoking whilst driving shot in front of their families (with apologies to J Clarkson) but we can't have everything we want can we?

So if an accident is caused by someone who is p1ssed and/or stoned, that's okay? Their insurance should cover all damages?

I hate people who use their mobiles whole driving and smoke in cars too.