Car insurance - zurich

bobnjayne

We are in the throws of purchasing a secondhand car. I called our current insurer, Zurich who we have been with for 8 + years and just renewed their policy automatically i.e. trusted their advise etc. I was told by a friend to go on the ''compare the market'' website to get quotes which I have never done before and found that the cheapest quote for our 'new' secondhand car is £235 (RAC Insurance). Zurich who I called to ask for a quote offered me £247 for the remaining 6 months on the current policy and to my HORROR found out, I have been paying for Business / Commercial use all these years, making this same policy over £450.00 per year.........I asked Zurich about this and they said ''you should read the policy renewal documents every year to ensure everything is correct''......So, I searched all through every years policies and they do not mention the type of CLASS of cover i hav, it just says ''Fully Comprehensive'' CLASS 1 type cover...........WHAT IS CLASS 1 I ASKED.........the customer service person couldn't tell me and, the supervisor didn't know either !
So for possibly 8+ yrs I have been paying for business / commercial use on my car insurance and I didn't need this type of cover....and on monthly installments as I have to budget my expenditure.......I don't use my car for this type of cover to be added to my policy.........WHAT DO I DO MARTIN ???????
Zurich is calling me on Monday evening to open an official complaint..........need your guidence please and quick????????

Sgt_Pepper_2

Business cover doesn't usually add to the cost.

Sally_A

Zurich has one of the best policy covers going, I reluctantly left them due to price. I used to work for Eagle Star over 30 years ago, and Zurich took their policy definitions when they merged. Hope I'm not too far out with the definitions - but here goes:-

SDP = literally social domestic and pleasure. Some will include commuting, others will not.
SDP + commuting = see above.
Class 1 = SDP and personal business use (excluding commercial travelling, motor trade.
Class 2 = SDP, personal business and business of your employer ( so pre booked appointments).
Class 3 SDP, personal business use, business of your employer and commercial travelling (not motor trade).

I think Zurich gave class 1 as their basic option.

Calm down - you have not been diddled, just got a lot better cover than most on line sites, and if the premium was best - even better.

bobnjayne

Hi Sally
Thanks so much for these definitions......appreciate your assistance.
Spoke to Zurich and the policy I required i.e. SDP excluding business use is £54.00 cheaper annual premium over 8 years (£432) that is quite an astonishing amount of money i gave them for nothing really........plus I made DD payments which also incurred interest on each annual premium to 'pay monthly',,,,on £432 so I will be planning to ask for this money to be refunded...........I'll involve the Insurance Ombudsman should they not play ball..........Thanks again

ossie

I was going to go with Zurich as they included European cover. It was only when I read the small print that the European cover was for a maximum of FOUR days and should I wish longer cover I was to contact them. I felt that this was sharp practice so took my business elsewhere!

raskazz

bobnjayne wrote: »

We are in the throws of purchasing a secondhand car. I called our current insurer, Zurich who we have been with for 8 + years and just renewed their policy automatically i.e. trusted their advise etc. I was told by a friend to go on the ''compare the market'' website to get quotes which I have never done before and found that the cheapest quote for our 'new' secondhand car is £235 (RAC Insurance). Zurich who I called to ask for a quote offered me £247 for the remaining 6 months on the current policy and to my HORROR found out, I have been paying for Business / Commercial use all these years, making this same policy over £450.00 per year.........I asked Zurich about this and they said ''you should read the policy renewal documents every year to ensure everything is correct''......So, I searched all through every years policies and they do not mention the type of CL
!!! of cover i hav, it just says ''Fully Comprehensive'' CLASS 1 type cover...........WHAT IS CLASS 1 I ASKED.........the customer service person couldn't tell me and, the supervisor didn't know either !
So for possibly 8+ yrs I have been paying for business / commercial use on my car insurance and I didn't need this type of cover....and on monthly installments as I have to budget my expenditure.......I don't use my car for this type of cover to be added to my policy.........WHAT DO I DO MARTIN ???????
Zurich is calling me on Monday evening to open an official complaint..........need your guidence please and quick????????

The Use covered by the policy will always appear on the certificate of insurance in plain English (not "Class 1"). So if you didn't read the documentation all these years that is more your own fault than Zurich's!

adamc260

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

Business cover doesn't usually add to the cost.

Yes it does lol