ecarinsurance.co.uk no claims discount proof scam?

fto

I have had no problems with them.
Just emailed a copy of my old statement of insurance.
In fact i changed cars earlier this month & i was very please how little extra it was.

terrydactil

^ I am reading things about their business plan being to target at least 20% of new customers with these attempts to earn easy cancellation fees. By doing this they keep 80% of their customers happy (and hence earn reviews like yours) and yet still make a heck of a lot of easy profit from the 20% who cancel.

Well IMO scheming dirtbag companies have no right of survival in the insurance industry. I am going to war against this company.

Anyone affected in a similar way by this company, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send a strongly worded complaint to the price comparison website that introduced you to them.

Without the backing of these price comparison websites this insurance company will have its air supply cut off and will die a quick and IMO fully deserved death.

olly300

terrydactil wrote: »

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.

You have such little faith in regulators and the civil process in general.

Once a company gets a signed for letter they cannot argue they didn't get the documents you provided and have any regulator or judge believe them.

I've had companies try that on with me before but a copy of one or more signed for delivery slips means they either seriously have some administration issues or they are not telling the truth.

Yes you could send a blank envelope but as both of you will tend to send the regulator the same documents it would be odd for you to send him/her a copy of the documents you allegedly send with your complaint and your special delivery slip, and the other company to send nothing. Also some companies do keep the envelope you send letters in as well.

Special delivery just ensures the letter gets their next day. Record signed-for letters even if they are first class can take 3 days to arrive.

terrydactil wrote: »

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.

I've had to send over documents to at least two other well known insurance companies in the past 3 years within 14 days, plus ecar the year before that. 2 accepted photocopies and one didn't.

They all stated the same question as ecar where they asked me who I was insured with before, before they wrote and asked for the documents. So it's not a scam.

They all just wanted my renewal invite which normally states your NCD or comes with a document stating it. (I just sent them both parts.)

The issue with ecar is in what documents they accept as proof of no-claims. If the documents are clearly from the previous insurer stating the proof then they shouldn't refuse them even if they aren't in their required format, as they aren't treating a consumer fairly. The only one who can sort that out is a regulator.

So I suggest before they cancel your insurance you put in a formal complaint to them. And regardless of the outcome you take it to a regulator.

Complaining to the company or message boards achieves nothing - complaining to the FSA or FOS actually causes the company to change it's behaviour.

The FSA can remove their licence to practice in an extreme case, while the FOS can cost them money.

Oh and the price comparisons are often linked to other insurance companies and they won't start a war on one of their own.

terrydactil

olly300 wrote: »

So I suggest before they cancel your insurance you put in a formal complaint to them. And regardless of the outcome you take it to a regulator.

Complaining to the company or message boards achieves nothing - complaining to the FSA or FOS actually causes the company to change it's behaviour.

The FSA can remove their licence to practice in an extreme case, while the FOS can cost them money.

Oh and the price comparisons are often linked to other insurance companies and they won't start a war on one of their own.

It's all a matter of bad publicity. I am quite sure that if the comparison websites which list companies like this start getting a reputation for listing cheap and nasty insurance companies they will jettison those insurance companies rather than risking their own futures.

Only two of the comparison websites I used listed this company, and two didn't, which suggests to me that two may have already pulled the plug on them.

I have already put in a formal complaint to both ecarinsurance and the comparison site because they refused to accept my renewal notice from my previous insurer on very odd grounds. Their aim appears to frustrate people into cancelling. My aim is not only to ensure that they don't get away with it in my case, but that if this is their business plan they will go out of business, quickly.

They have tried to screw the wrong person this time.

terrydactil

olly300 wrote: »

Oh and the price comparisons are often linked to other insurance companies and they won't start a war on one of their own.

You are seriously stating that insurance companies try to help out their competitors? :rotfl:

terrydactil

olly300 wrote: »

They all stated the same question as ecar where they asked me who I was insured with before, before they wrote and asked for the documents. So it's not a scam.

Lol

What is the purpose of them asking for the name of your insurer and your policy number during the quote if they are then going to demand documented proof? They could just ask for the proof, the questions in the quote serve no purpose.

But in fact they do - they serve to make you think that ecarinsurance will use this information to run a check on you with that insurance company (to build up their image as an efficient and effective business), when in fact they will do nothing of the sort as they expect you to do all the running around, thus giving them this opportunity to scrutise the docs, reject them on invented technicalities, and make a lot of money out of quick and easy risk-free cancellation fees rather than long drawn out high-risk insurance policies....

terrydactil

I advise anyone dealing with this outfit to cc complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk on all email correspondence

Mrsflowerpot

We took out insurance with ecar via a price comparison site. Their quote was he cheapest! We soon realised cheapest is not the best, we paid the initial deposit over £120. Within days we had 5 emails stating if we did not send driving license & no claims proof we would have insurance cancelled & have to pay £75 cancel fee. We sent the documents straight back via email.
We changed cars a week later to a newer car with smaller engine. Ecar decided to double our premium, so we cancelled the policy within the 14 day period. We sent the motor insurance certificate back straight away via post. Ecar received this on the 2nd March 2012.
We were told we would get a refund as we had paid all that money & I believe some premium had been direct debited from my husbands account.
Today I rang Ecar to see when we would be getting our refund. The call centre is only contactable on a 09 number which is £1.02 a minute firstly after 3 minutes listening to options when it got to refund it cut off, so I called back thinking it could have been my phone or a technical hitch. When I called back the same happened again the word refund was mentioned & the phone line went dead! Another 3 minute phone call costing over £6 so far! I called yet again & pressed any option to enable me to speak to an advisor, I spoke with someone who transferred me to a lady called Louise Williams allegedly, she said we will not be getting a refund & broke the calculations down. It didn't make sense so I asked to speak to a manager. Louise said I couldn't speak to a manager as there isn't a manager on site. I didn't believe her & said id wait on hold for one to speak to me, she put me on hold for 5 minutes 36 seconds then came back & said the manager said they will call you back within 48 hours. I said oh so there is a manager on site now, I'll wait on hold to speak with her, what's her name. I was told her name was Laura but she didn't have a surname which I find ridiculous! Louise told me she was going to put the phone down as I couldn't speak to the manager, then proceeded to end the call. I can't begin to imagine how much the 3rd call cost me but I know it will be extortionate.

KatyB_3

How I wish I had read the reviews beforehand!

I received a letter on Saturday stating that my insurance would be cancelled by midnight tonight (!) because they hadn't recieved documentation. Not only is this incorrect, it is extremely short notice for me to sort anything else out - especially 4 days before payday when funds are low!

I am so frustrated.

darrenk1q

Guys, please don't use that phone number to call e-car.

This one is free, well at local call rate:

01454 636940

I had that off of 'say no to 0845'

I have also had problems with e-car insurance.