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Be Wise... don't go with "Be Wiser" Car Insurance!
MrTom2009
Posts: 63 Forumite
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LETTER OF COMPLAINT
11th January 2012
Be Wiser Insurance Ref: Wxxxxxxx/x
To Whom it May Concern,
I hope you are sitting comfortably, or may I suggest you grab a coffee before reading this letter of complaint?
I used the GoCompare website on 8th January 2012 for a Car Insurance comparison for my recently purchased Volkswagon Lupo. Be Wiser was not only the cheapest, but also offered RAC Breakdown and Legal Cover was included. As I trusted GoCompare and seeing that the breakdown was with RAC I went through the “buy me” tab to the Be Wiser website.
When I filled out the online forms on GoCompare and then the Be Wiser website I declared that I had zero no claims and that I do have a company car. I paid a £117.93 deposit and then 9 payments of £44.61. At this stage everything was going according to plan, Be Wiser website gave me a ref number and an email arrived telling me I would have my policy documents within 24hours. If not, give customer services a call.
Within the hour after receiving the email, I got a phone call from 01264 336161, the man on the phone told me he was from the Be Wiser Insurance broker and he could lower my quote, he then read out and checked all of my details, then put me on hold and hung up on me. I called back but the message told me, “our offices are shut please call Monday-Friday”.
I then two hours later received another call from 08444999417, I answered the call, then the women spoke to me briefly and hung up! I rang back and got the same “our offices are shut” message.
I did not receive my policy documents.
The following day (9/01/2012) I rung Be Wiser 5 times and received 3 calls. As you can imagine I lost 4 hours of my day. All I simply wanted was my policy documents.
I firstly called Be Wiser Customer Services and was told I needed to speak to sales and I would be transferred, they hung up on me.
I called back, and was told who I needed to speak to was not at her desk and I would receive a call back.
I received a call back at around 13:00 and then was told, “Oh sorry she’s just popped to lunch I’ll get her to give you a call in 10 minutes”. Guess what? I received no call back.
I called back an hour later and spoke to Greg, he told me that the GoCompare website and Be Wiser are, “a nightmare” and he didn’t agree with how your company, “does it’s business” He explained that he was from another part of the company and he would send me my policy documents within 10 minutes and he would ring me back within 15 minutes. I had full access to email, I then received:-
Your Reference: Wxxxxxxxxx/x
For Instant Cover or To Discuss this Quotation
Call Us Free On
0800 8401941
Dear Miss xxxx,
Thank you for your enquiry for your Volkswagen Lupo.
We are pleased to confirm:
Our Quotation for your policy is £468.89.
Payment methods:
1. Full payment by Credit/Debit Card.
2. Deposit of £118.78 followed by 9 payments of £46.68.
Schedule of Covers
Insurer Provident Insurance
Cover Comprehensive
Voluntary Excess £500
Other Excess £225
Drivers Named Drivers Only
Use Pleasure Only
No Claims Bonus 9 years
RAC Cover Included
Legal Assistance Included
Policy Frequency 12 months
We look forward to welcoming you as a new client.
Yours Sincerely,
(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)
This was not what I asked for, firstly I didn’t want another quote which was different from the GoCompare quote (which I had already paid a deposit on) and suddenly I had 9 years no claims?! I had told Greg, GoCompare and the Be Wiser Insurance website I had zero no claims.
No insurance documents turned up and no call back from Greg Jackson.
I then rang back 30 minutes later, I spoke to a man called Ryan, Ryan basically said that Greg had cocked up and that there was little he could do. He gave me customer services number.
I then range customer services and spoke to Kelly, she ran through my policy details again, I explained that I had zero no claims and also the multiple phone calls and problems I had had. She was great and assured me that my policy would be sent and would be correct.
This morning (11/01/2012) I received the policy document in the post and it state that I have 9 years no claims and I need to provide proof. I called Be Wiser Customer Services at 10 am this morning to explain that I do not have 9 years no claims and I have stated it as 0 no claims on GoCompare, Be Wiser Insurance websites and verbally over the phone 4 times. I was then told that customer services could not sort this out and I needed to talk to the sales department. I was then transferred (successfully!) to the sales department.
I spoke to a lady called Gemma in sales. Gemma explained that the lady that I needed to speak to wasn’t in until 13:00 and is snowed under with work. Gemma then told me that as I had 0 no claims she would do another credit vet on me. This is the third credit Be Wiser has done, 1. The initial set up, 2. Greg when he did the quotation 3. The amendment to my no claims. I can’t help but wonder if this has negatively affected my credit score?
I expressed to Gemma that as I put zero no claims in to GoCompare and the BeWiser website, plus verbally multiple times, I didn’t see why I should pay more as my original quote of £464.64, it should be honoured. Gemma put me on hold, 5 minutes later she told me that the system had crashed and she promised to call me back to sort out the problem. Guess what? I did not receive a call back.
At 15:00 today I called back, the phone was picked up and then I was hung up on before I could even say hello. At this point I finally decided that I no longer wanted to be a Be Wiser customer. If it is this difficult to take out a policy what an earth would it be like if I did need to claim?
I then called straight back and spoke to a lady who told me it would be £25 to cancel the policy. I tried to explain that because the policy was never correct I hadn’t used it (eg not dared to drive the car). She kept telling me she was “helping” me to cancel it by charging me the £25 cancellation fee. I would say that for the first time in my life I did indeed get very angry; £25 cancellation charge for multiple !!!! ups was not “helpful” and demanded to speak to a manager. I was not passed on to a manager; but was told that the policy would be cancelled like it never existed and I needed to send my policy back. I was told I would get a full refund of my £117.93.
So please have your policy back, I will never go with the cheapest deal, but with an Insurance Company with a decent reputation who wants my business. I have to my knowledge had 3 credit vets, I have wasted upwards of 7 hours trying to sort out your mess. And as you can imagine I will never recommend your company.
Many thanks for reading this far, I sincerely hope you can sort out all of companies multiple failings so no other customers have to go through the misery I have endured for the last 3 days.
Kindest Regards
If you've arrived from Google, our fully researched Car Insurance guide may help.
Back to the original post...
Evening Everyone,
Please be aware that although Be Wiser through GoCompare looks like an amazing deal you might not be getting good value for money, I'm sure if you can be bothered to read the sorry tale below (my incredibly long letter of complaint to Be Wiser) you will indeed "be wiser" and give your hard earned cash to an Insurance Company with a better reputation.
You have been warned and any advice would be great!
Have a good evening.
LETTER OF COMPLAINT
11th January 2012
Be Wiser Insurance Ref: Wxxxxxxx/x
To Whom it May Concern,
I hope you are sitting comfortably, or may I suggest you grab a coffee before reading this letter of complaint?
I used the GoCompare website on 8th January 2012 for a Car Insurance comparison for my recently purchased Volkswagon Lupo. Be Wiser was not only the cheapest, but also offered RAC Breakdown and Legal Cover was included. As I trusted GoCompare and seeing that the breakdown was with RAC I went through the “buy me” tab to the Be Wiser website.
When I filled out the online forms on GoCompare and then the Be Wiser website I declared that I had zero no claims and that I do have a company car. I paid a £117.93 deposit and then 9 payments of £44.61. At this stage everything was going according to plan, Be Wiser website gave me a ref number and an email arrived telling me I would have my policy documents within 24hours. If not, give customer services a call.
Within the hour after receiving the email, I got a phone call from 01264 336161, the man on the phone told me he was from the Be Wiser Insurance broker and he could lower my quote, he then read out and checked all of my details, then put me on hold and hung up on me. I called back but the message told me, “our offices are shut please call Monday-Friday”.
I then two hours later received another call from 08444999417, I answered the call, then the women spoke to me briefly and hung up! I rang back and got the same “our offices are shut” message.
I did not receive my policy documents.
The following day (9/01/2012) I rung Be Wiser 5 times and received 3 calls. As you can imagine I lost 4 hours of my day. All I simply wanted was my policy documents.
I firstly called Be Wiser Customer Services and was told I needed to speak to sales and I would be transferred, they hung up on me.
I called back, and was told who I needed to speak to was not at her desk and I would receive a call back.
I received a call back at around 13:00 and then was told, “Oh sorry she’s just popped to lunch I’ll get her to give you a call in 10 minutes”. Guess what? I received no call back.
I called back an hour later and spoke to Greg, he told me that the GoCompare website and Be Wiser are, “a nightmare” and he didn’t agree with how your company, “does it’s business” He explained that he was from another part of the company and he would send me my policy documents within 10 minutes and he would ring me back within 15 minutes. I had full access to email, I then received:-
Your Reference: Wxxxxxxxxx/x
For Instant Cover or To Discuss this Quotation
Call Us Free On
0800 8401941
Dear Miss xxxx,
Thank you for your enquiry for your Volkswagen Lupo.
We are pleased to confirm:
Our Quotation for your policy is £468.89.
Payment methods:
1. Full payment by Credit/Debit Card.
2. Deposit of £118.78 followed by 9 payments of £46.68.
Schedule of Covers
Insurer Provident Insurance
Cover Comprehensive
Voluntary Excess £500
Other Excess £225
Drivers Named Drivers Only
Use Pleasure Only
No Claims Bonus 9 years
RAC Cover Included
Legal Assistance Included
Policy Frequency 12 months
We look forward to welcoming you as a new client.
Yours Sincerely,
(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)
This was not what I asked for, firstly I didn’t want another quote which was different from the GoCompare quote (which I had already paid a deposit on) and suddenly I had 9 years no claims?! I had told Greg, GoCompare and the Be Wiser Insurance website I had zero no claims.
No insurance documents turned up and no call back from Greg Jackson.
I then rang back 30 minutes later, I spoke to a man called Ryan, Ryan basically said that Greg had cocked up and that there was little he could do. He gave me customer services number.
I then range customer services and spoke to Kelly, she ran through my policy details again, I explained that I had zero no claims and also the multiple phone calls and problems I had had. She was great and assured me that my policy would be sent and would be correct.
This morning (11/01/2012) I received the policy document in the post and it state that I have 9 years no claims and I need to provide proof. I called Be Wiser Customer Services at 10 am this morning to explain that I do not have 9 years no claims and I have stated it as 0 no claims on GoCompare, Be Wiser Insurance websites and verbally over the phone 4 times. I was then told that customer services could not sort this out and I needed to talk to the sales department. I was then transferred (successfully!) to the sales department.
I spoke to a lady called Gemma in sales. Gemma explained that the lady that I needed to speak to wasn’t in until 13:00 and is snowed under with work. Gemma then told me that as I had 0 no claims she would do another credit vet on me. This is the third credit Be Wiser has done, 1. The initial set up, 2. Greg when he did the quotation 3. The amendment to my no claims. I can’t help but wonder if this has negatively affected my credit score?
I expressed to Gemma that as I put zero no claims in to GoCompare and the BeWiser website, plus verbally multiple times, I didn’t see why I should pay more as my original quote of £464.64, it should be honoured. Gemma put me on hold, 5 minutes later she told me that the system had crashed and she promised to call me back to sort out the problem. Guess what? I did not receive a call back.
At 15:00 today I called back, the phone was picked up and then I was hung up on before I could even say hello. At this point I finally decided that I no longer wanted to be a Be Wiser customer. If it is this difficult to take out a policy what an earth would it be like if I did need to claim?
I then called straight back and spoke to a lady who told me it would be £25 to cancel the policy. I tried to explain that because the policy was never correct I hadn’t used it (eg not dared to drive the car). She kept telling me she was “helping” me to cancel it by charging me the £25 cancellation fee. I would say that for the first time in my life I did indeed get very angry; £25 cancellation charge for multiple !!!! ups was not “helpful” and demanded to speak to a manager. I was not passed on to a manager; but was told that the policy would be cancelled like it never existed and I needed to send my policy back. I was told I would get a full refund of my £117.93.
So please have your policy back, I will never go with the cheapest deal, but with an Insurance Company with a decent reputation who wants my business. I have to my knowledge had 3 credit vets, I have wasted upwards of 7 hours trying to sort out your mess. And as you can imagine I will never recommend your company.
Many thanks for reading this far, I sincerely hope you can sort out all of companies multiple failings so no other customers have to go through the misery I have endured for the last 3 days.
Kindest Regards
2010 Challenge
A Best Western Short Break! C D E Flash Cleaner G H I J Koala Lucozade/Lip Balm/lipstick M N O P Q Reebox Easytone Trainers S Tea U V W X Y Z
A Best Western Short Break! C D E Flash Cleaner G H I J Koala Lucozade/Lip Balm/lipstick M N O P Q Reebox Easytone Trainers S Tea U V W X Y Z
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Comments
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Shocking service you received there :O Bunch of idiots from the sounds of!!0
-
Seen many issues with the NCB being incorrect after using comparison websites. If your like me you might do many quotes
with different information so thats understandable.
But some companies are a bit sneaky to get to the top of those lists. Adding policy excess on after is a common one. Many dont realise
until the final paperwork arrives or worse after a claim they find the excess is £500 not £50.
I wouldnt be expecting the policy documents to arrive on the 9th having only done the quote on the 8th though. Especially if the calls
about the policy were after hours, Meaning its missed the post.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
I was awaiting the policy details/covernote to be emailed as it should have been, but sadly wasn't.
I have just taken out The Post Office Car Insurance and I got the policy document in under 10 seconds after paying for the policy... no stress and no phone calls!
Thanks heavens for that!!!2010 Challenge
A Best Western Short Break! C D E Flash Cleaner G H I J Koala Lucozade/Lip Balm/lipstick M N O P Q Reebox Easytone Trainers S Tea U V W X Y Z0 -
Hi everyone
I have a simillar story, contacted the AA by phone there quote was to expensive, they put me through to Bewiser (this is still the same phone call) spoke to sales agent Glen gave him all my details including at fault claim. I paid the premium by Debit card and asked if there was auto rewal he said no i recorded the conversation and Bewiser have a copy, Glen said he would email & post my documents to me. Email never arrived phoned Bewiser email was sent to wrong address, they said they would resend once again never arrived phoned again they said they would resend never arrived. Two unknown email recipints have my insurance certificate & details. To date i have made 10 phone calls & 12 emails to Bewiser and Two first class letters. I received a letter from Bewiser demanding extra payment for at fault claim this claim was mentioned at time of taking out the policy. Bewiser asked for driving licence and proof of no claims bonus, i emaild the in formation as requested and each time you phone them they ask you to resend. twice i have asked to cancel my policy and they have talked me out of doing so by promissing me every thing will be sorted out. Based on my experience i would not recomend anyone to use Bewiser. I have never experienced service this bad from anyone.
Frustrated
Robsie0 -
Unfortunately price is often the biggest consideration when choosing insurance cover. The comparison sites focus on price and some other basic things like excess, legal fees, courtesy car, etc.
What you should do and the vast majority of us don't is to read the prospective policy documents from cover to cover and make sure you are happy with the non-negotiated legally binding contract you are considering entering into. Rest assured there are a bunch of conditions and exclusions that might have a considerable effect on a claim should you be unlucky enough to have an accident. You don't know how good the policy is until you have to claim!
You should also check for consumer reviews of the insurer and look at stats on the number of complaints that the FOS look into.
http://www.ombudsman-complaints-data.org.uk/Mr Straw described whiplash as "not so much an injury, more a profitable invention of the human imagination—undiagnosable except by third-rate doctors in the pay of the claims management companies or personal injury lawyers"0 -
We've agreed to give Be Wiser a right of reply to help resolve the issues:
Dear MrTom2009 and robsie,
We would like to take this chance to apologise for the bad experiences you both had in 2012. Be Wiser prides itself on strong customer care, and we’re sorry to hear our high standards were not met in these instances. Please do email dawn.g@bewiser.co.uk directly.
Dawn would very much like the opportunity to look into your concerns further.
Kind regards,
Be Wiser
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Flag up a news story: news@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
But this was started January 2012 LOL
Well done..Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
Hi forgotmyname,
The posts were made some time ago, but we’d still like to hear from you if you want to discuss the problems you had.
Thank you.“Official Company Representative
I am the official company representative of Be Wiser. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"0 -
Hi MrTom2009, robsie and forgotmyname,
I have had a terrible experience with Be Wiser too! Spent many hours at much cost and many sleepless nights as well. To add insult to injury i have been left with a Default Notice for a credit agreement that had been canceled, as a result of dealing with this company.
The whole experience with BeWiser has put me off driving all together. My dealings with BeWiser are enough to drive a man to get sloshed on BudWiser!
Has anyone taken their complaint to the FOS and if so whats the process? Perhaps there are ways of taking a group action against them?
I have set up my own thread on the MSE site too you can view it hear.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/44601610 -
Quite possibly the worst company I have ever had to deal with.
I bought a vehicle (my 4th so very rarely to be used) and insured it on its own policy, it sat insured and unused for 14 days and then my main car decided to give up so I started to use it, though as my main policy had several years worth of no claims it was no longer worth keeping a two week old policy active so I cancelled the policy and that is where the trouble began.
I received a reply to tell me that I was one day out of the cooling off policy so I would have to pay £115.09 and was this ok.
I replied saying yes please go ahead, from then on I have had several dozen different emails from several dozen different members of staff, asking me various questions such as why is my direct debit not working, would I like to cancel, am I sure I am sure I would like to cancel, am I positive ? am I sure that I am positive? and we will work out how much you owe us once you respond!!!
even though I have already been told I owe £115.09 for being a day out :O
I replied to the original advisor twice asking what on earth is going on and received no response.
I do however get emails telling me that my email never got through to the team (even though I have the replies from the team!!!).
I don't think any of the departments communicate with each other at all in any way.
by god I wish I had cancelled a day earlier and still been in the cooling off period - I have never known anything like it in my life.
I am seriously considering just sending them copies of the emails and a cheque for the £115 odd and saying look guys just sort it out in a fight at the office.
They also signed me up to some accidental death policy with another company that I never asked for and had to cancel as well !! What on earth :eek:
I would steer clear if I were you guys !!!!!!!
and an extra !!!!! as well on top !0
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