Elephant.... unfair charges, and for what? : (

Rochdale_Guy

Warning: do not buy car insurance from Elephant.

I finally got my £1,000 plus quote down to £751 by adding a named driver, and paid for my insurance online with Elephant.co.uk

I got an email confirmation asking me to check my documents online, but nothing in the post.

I had problems accessing these until I noticed Google Chrome was blocking pop-ups, but couldn't access them at work either using Internet Explorer.

Anyway, I registered and gave them proof of my 2 years no claims, which they acknowledged, via email.

I then got an an email saying:

"A system check of your policy has highlighted that you gave different licence or conviction details when you obtained a quote from Elephant prior to taking out this policy.

In order for us to ensure we have the correct information noted, please forward a copy of your driving licence (front & back of photocard and counterpart) within the next 7 days".

Confused and worried by this, I then printed out my documents at work and was apalled to see that they had my licence down as a "FULL UK with PASS PLUS", despite my putting AUTOMATIC licence.

(To anyone who only drives an automatic with a PASS PLUS certificate, good luck in finding any online insurance company that'll let you have BOTH).

I also noticed they had the incorrect date down of my one and only accident claim as 1st Nov 2009, and not the correct 18th Nov 2009.

So, I explained all of this to the Welsh chap on the phone, and he reassured me I didn't have to send in my driving licence as they could check with the DVLA. He actually said not to worry about that wrong accident claim as it was still Nov 2009..... unbelievable

He then put me through to someone else, a non-UK call centre lady. I explained all of this, and she put me through to someeone else, again, non-UK lady. (I since found out they have an Indian call centre. I'll refrain from making any Indian elephant jokes here....).

I finally spoke to this lady who grilled me about my licence and tried to tell me an PASS PLUS certificate means I can drive both a manual and an automatic car... they obviously don't know what PASS PLUS is in India : (

She then said they can change my policy to show I have an AUTOMATIC licence, but they can't input that AND my PASS PLUS course. She also brushed aside my comments about the wrong accident date. She then said I would have to take part in a 3 way conference call with the DVLA and I then felt like a criminal being quizzed about my licence, type, name, address etc by someone from the DVLA then back to the Elephant customer service worker.

Then she informed me there will be a £48 admin charge for changing the policy wording, as having an AUTOMATIC licence effects the policy and the whole documentation. I argued this, got nowhere, asked to speak to a supervisor, she said she was the only one around. So I protested, she went away and came back (I thought she was the only one there?) and said they can scrap the admin charge but I will still have to pay £30.00

I was fuming, and she said they can not charge me anything if I wanted to cancel the insurance, but then I wouldn't be covered to drive (never..d'oh!), or pay the fee then argue it.

I stupidly paid the fee to get off the bloody telephone, and she said they will post me the new documents.

I then had an email with the NEW documents enclosed, and it still has the wrong accident date on, and still has me down as FULL UK licence, in other words, it's EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ORIGINAL POLICY WORDING.

30 minutes on the phone, passed to 3 different people and had a conference call with someone from the DVLA, and charged £30....... for what?

They have done nothing.

What do I do now, please?

And when I phoned up Admiral to tell them I didn't want to renew with them as they were £250 more expensive, they told me they would have just matched it, bloody great eh?

And ADMIRAL also own Elephant, Bell, Diamond and CONFUSED.COM

Bunch of cowboys, steer clear :mad: :wall:

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Rochdale_Guy

Nothing in the post today

FabuLass

Why not cancel Elephant and allow Admiral to price match? At least Admiral have all your details correct.
I appreciate how frustrating calling these companies can be, especially when they seem determined not to understand what you're telling them.

Rochdale_Guy

Thanks FabuLass

Well, there's a hefty cancellation fee too, so I'm stuck whatever I do, cheers though :A

P.S. Still no paperwork in the post.....

FabuLass

Dont you have a 14 day cooling off period, during which if you change your mind you wouldnt be charged a cancellation fee??

real1314

Complain in writing. Keep a copy and proof of posting. Stop messing with the call centres, they will just frustrate you.

If the complain fails, use the Financial Ombudsman.

:cool:

anniecave

As regards dates of accidents or claims..

Back in 2006 I had insurance with Elephant and then the next year with Bell. Back then, they only took a record of what month and year an accident or claim happened. So my dates are listed for example as 07/04 for an accident in July 2004.

My current insurer Tesco does the same thing as you describe, putting dates as the first of the month, even though I specified the exact date when I applied. I assume it's because for their purposes, they don't care when exactly in the month it happened, so the exact date is not a "material fact".

So I wouldn't worry about that.

I would ensure that the automatic only part of your licence is recorded, as this is important. I've checked via a quote on the admiral website, and I think your correct category should be UK Full - Automatic Only

Good luck in getting it sorted - I would go for the confirming in writing approach with proof of posting. I wouldn't waste your time on the call centres.

Rochdale_Guy

Thanks everyone, I will post my complaint letter off today, fingers crossed......

pkey

I've been having a lot of trouble with Elephant too - Can you tell me whether the letter did any good as that's what I'm going to do?

Rochdale_Guy

pkey wrote: »

I've been having a lot of trouble with Elephant too - Can you tell me whether the letter did any good as that's what I'm going to do?

I'll let you know. I should charge them an Admin. charge for my time and effort writing the complaint letter and for the stationery and postage charge :mad:

Grimesy1102

Had the same problem with admiral yesterday.

Told me that I should have picked 'Other' option as I only had an Automatic Licence, explained to the girl on the phone that it is a full UK automatic drving licence and I would have thought 'other' would only be picked if I had a non uk/eu driving licence, she said no I had to pick 'other'.

She changed the policy and said there will be a £33 increase in my policy. I explained to her that she can't justify an increase as surely I can drive fewer cars due to my licence. I then said that the website is unclear and I had a cheaper quote which I would have gone with if I would have known this. She waived the fee but warned me for the future.

I have 12 years no claims bonus and have always quoted my licence as full UK unless there has been an option for automatic only I wonder if I would have been refused a claim by the previous insurers.

Hopefully you'll get your money back.