ecarinsurance.co.uk no claims discount proof scam?

terrydactil

I recently took out car insurance with online-only insurer ecarinsurance as they were much cheaper than my current online-only insurer.

When I filled in the quote page the ecarinsurance website stated that my no claims discount would be checked so I had to enter my previous insurer's name and my policy number into the quote. I thought was a reasonable request (although I couldn't recall having been asked for this on quotes obtained elsewhere) so I entered the details before proceeding with and accepting the quote and then paying for the policy.

After paying for the policy and receiving cover confirmation I received an email telling me that in addition to having to send a scan of both parts of my driving licence I had to submit proof of my no claims discount within a few days or my policy would be cancelled and I'd be charged a £75 cancellation fee and have to admit on future insurance quotes that I'd be declined insurance which would drive up the quote price.

I found this demand to be both inconsistent with the quote process which implied that my insurance details would be checked by ecarinsurance having been entered into the quote rather than me then having to submit my own proof and an unpleasantly aggressive change of attitude once this company had got hold of my payment

Anyway, I logged into my previous insurer's website, looked through all of the policy documents, and managed to find a single document which stated my current NCD which was a downloadable PDF called "Renewal Schedule" which included all my details and stated when my renewal could start (a few days beforehand) and a statement of my NCD earned to date. I downloaded it and emailed it to ecarinsurance.

The next day I received an email from ecarinsurance stating that my document could not be accepted as it didn't show the expiry date of my previous policy and was not a "renewal invitation" and again warned me that if I didn't submit the correct document my policy would be cancelled, I'd be charged £75, etc etc and if I wanted to talk on the phone I'd have to called their £1 per minute 09 number.


It seems highly possible to me that ecarinsurance are intentionally offering very low quotes to win custom simply in order to then be as misleading and pedantic as possible with the veiled aim of getting as many cancellations (and £75 cancellation fees) as possible, as this would be far more profitable than actually providing the insurance.

I'll update with the outcome, but in the meantime is there any news of any similar circumstances out there?

terrydactil

I have just found this http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/t/beware-of-ecar-insurance-21081.aspx

terrydactil

And this http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.ecarinsurance.co.uk

I am going to track this company down and confront them face to face

adamc260

terrydactil wrote: »

And this http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.ecarinsurance.co.uk

I am going to track this company down and confront them face to face

Should be pretty easy to do, their office is looking over the old severn bridge heading into Wales =]

olly300

Firstly other insurers do the trick of ecarinsurance and make it look like they are going to verify your insurance details automatically.

They will only generally do so if your previous insurance was with a company in the same group of companies. Otherwise they contact you about a week later asking you to post in your renewal document within 14 days or they will cancel the policy.

Secondly ecarinsurance have a postal address so you can make a printable copy of all documents you have from your previous insurer mentioning your NCD, and send it to them by special delivery to ensure it gets there in time and they can't deny they didn't get the documents if you can't go to Wales and hand them into them in person.

At the same time attach a formal complaint to your documents (make sure it has the heading "Formal Complaint") outline your observations using slightly less overt language, and tell them you will be taking them to a regulator if they don't give you a satisfactory answer about their actions.

You can take it to the FOS if they force you to cancel and go elsewhere, and to the FSA if they don't but don't give you a satisfactory answer.

Both will take 6 months to deal with it but if you end up going to the FOS and they take up your complaint the insurer pays for the investigation. If the FSA gets involved then how they deal with documents will be looked at to ensure it's fair to consumers.

BTW I think ecarinsurance has been in trouble with one of the regulators already, as their website really changed in one year to make it clear that you couldn't contact them easily by phone.

terrydactil

and this http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews103920.html

terrydactil

olly300 wrote: »

Secondly ecarinsurance have a postal address so you can make a printable copy of all documents you have from your previous insurer mentioning your NCD, and send it to them by special delivery to ensure it gets there in time and they can't deny they didn't get the documents if you can't go to Wales and hand them into them in person.

I don't see how this works. A special delivery letter just proves that they received an envelope from you. It doesn't prove what was inside the envelope and it doesn't prevent them from weaseling an excuse to not accept the documents due to some invented technicality.

I have yet to figure out whether their aim is to use anal pedantic-ness and misleading statements about received documents in order to pressure new customers into cancelling and incurring charges, or to simply spin things out until the 14 day cooling off period has expired and then cancel the policy themselves.

They claim to charge £75 if they cancel a policy but they keep very quiet about how much they charge if the customer cancels within the 14 day cooling off period. They do mention a charge though. This silence over the within 14 day cancellation fee appears to be fully intentional, and all part of the manipulation process.

I have a lot of spare time on my hands at the moment and am going to dedicate some of it to investigating this company, in-depth.

InsertWittyName

I was with eCar Insurance for 4 years (it was my first 4 years so didn't have any NCD!)

They were pretty good to be honest, I had a few mid policy changes to make over the years, a non-fault claim and I had to use the included breakdown service too.

I never had a problem with them.

terrydactil

Perhaps they are legit, but they are really winding me up with their tactics of making everything as difficult as possible and going on and on about policy cancellation fees. It's pretty obvious to me that these fees are at the top of their agenda and business plan.

terrydactil

I'm wondering on what legal basis they set the amount of cancellation fee once they have manipulated people into cancelling their policy due to frustration. I haven't agreed to a set amount anywhere and they can't just pluck a figure out of the air.

I'm gonna get to the bottom of this company and then make sure they are fully investigated by the authorities, Watchdog etc.

terrydactil

Any suggestions?

The crux of this issue is that ecarinsurance are claiming to not accept the format of the renewal schedule document I received from my previous online-only insurer. They even claimed it states NCD in an incorrect format when it clearly doesn't.

Due to the vast amount of online review evidence about them doing similar things to many others, and safe in the knowledge that getting documents from a previous insurer that fit their particular requirements is impossible, it's obvious why they are claiming this.