RIP OFF BRITAIN continues

Steveo277

Hi all i'm new but would like to share my experience with KWIK FIT insurance company.

First of all I am an honest person when it comes to insurance as we know many lie.
So the insurance seemed fine on the first sight, it was middle of the road price (not the cheapest as normally it ends up costing more in extras) it seemed to cover me properly and with breakdown. Ok to clarify I'm 28 it was a 1.0 litre car and group 1, 6 years no claims . Initially the price was £350 not bad full comp, but it was a way of luring me in. I moved from a medium risk, high population area to a low risk rural area with 0% crime in the previous year. But as was enevitable i phoned KWIK FIT to change address and they charged me somewhere in the region of £35-40 just for the change of address. I wanted to add someone also which was another £35-40 but that wasn't all they also asked for an extra £150 approx for the premium increase :( so i went with it being fair and honest having waited on the phone for some 20-30 mins.

Right i decided i wanted a slightly faster car so i went and got a 1.4 fiat, I had some quotes for £500 from other companies after KWIK FIT said they'd have to cancel my policy F.O.C and start a new one but lose my years no claims even when it had been 11 months of the 12. They wanted £1300 :rotfl: it was disappointing so decided to go elsewhere. Anyway i got it for £500 with a better company. I phoned them to cancel at which point they charged me further £50 approx to cancel it with a month to go.

So in total my insurance with charges went from £350 to nearly £600 so almost doubling. They proceed to be rude on the phone saying 'Ill have to learn to speak clearly' SORRY but i don't have your accent in my database of listening ability basically, me being southern her being Scottish. I said i didnt want to talk to them anymore at which point they kept on about the proper complaints procedure. Having then asked for my previous no claims proof they then proceeded to tell me off for that they had the wrong postcode and that my postcode doesn't exist. Right tell my postie that, also having the wrong county too. :rotfl:

Has anyone else been ripped off by charges from an insurance company, why do banks have these strict laws about there charges yet insurance companies don't??????


IN ALL NEVER EVER USE THE OVER CHARGING AND RUDE KWIK FIT INSURANCE PROVIDERS!!!!

Quentin

You cancelled your policy, thus they would be entitled to charge their cancellation fees as will have been set out in the policy.

If they weren't agreed at the start of your policy, then you do have a legitimate complaint and should pursue it along their complaints procedure as the rep advised.

custardy

so all the fees as per the policy i assume.
They didnt make you move house,buy a 'faster' car or add other drivers.

dunstonh

First of all I am an honest person when it comes to insurance as we know many lie.

True. Research has found as many as 8 out of 10 people will lie to insurers.

I moved from a medium risk, high population area to a low risk rural area with 0% crime in the previous year. But as was enevitable i phoned KWIK FIT to change address and they charged me somewhere in the region of £35-40 just for the change of address.

That seems fair enough. Many insurers now explicitly charge for changes rather than factoring it into the premium. It is one way to reduce the premium on comparison sites. Nothing wrong with that as they do publish their charges.

I wanted to add someone also which was another £35-40 but that wasn't all they also asked for an extra £150 approx for the premium increase so i went with it being fair and honest having waited on the phone for some 20-30 mins.

Again, nothing wrong with that. Another batch of admin work and the increased risk reflected in the premium change.

Has anyone else been ripped off by charges from an insurance company, why do banks have these strict laws about there charges yet insurance companies don't??????

It appears your problem is that you are buying without research and dont understand what you are buying. No wrong doing has been done here by the company.

You agreed the fees when you took them out and you made the changes. So, what exactly have they done wrong?

paddedjohn

How do you figure that you've been ripped off? You had a cheap price based on the details you gave them at the start of the policy and then you moved to a less desirable address, added another driver and changed your car, hardly being ripped off more like being not prepared. Should have waited 1 months before changing cars.

forgotmyname

Why swap your car at the 11th month if you knew it would lose that years no claims?

Woould it not have been better to wait a month to swap? Why would kwikfit not cover the new car?

Or did you just cancel because other companies were cheaper?

Doesnt sound like ripoff britain to me, Sounds more like you made a few poor choices.

bratfud_lad

Stevo, as a fellow newbie don't expect any sympathy from the MSEs on the forum. I posted about my insurance company of 5 years standing trying to rip me off and got a similar response.......the company has done nothing wrong, it's up to the buyer to shop around etc etc. The fact that they act unethically is irrelevant to the regulars, it's all about the business.
Stands by for a similar blast..........

dunstonh

Stevo, as a fellow newbie don't expect any sympathy from the MSEs on the forum.

People who deserve sympathy will get it.

People who buy a contract without knowing what they are doing or reading the terms and then try and blame someone else will not get the support of most sensible people.

Stands by for a similar blast..........

Absolutely deserved too. If the company had done wrong then they deserve the bad comments. However, to slag a company off for doing nothing wrong is just silly.

opinions4u

bratfud_lad wrote: »

Stevo, as a fellow newbie don't expect any sympathy from the MSEs on the forum. I posted about my insurance company of 5 years standing trying to rip me off and got a similar response.......the company has done nothing wrong, it's up to the buyer to shop around etc etc.

The company exists to make money. Getting that message across to posters is absolutely crucial.

Some may make their money by relying on repeat business and issue competitive renewals. Others may make their money by offering a high level of personal service and not charging for incidental administration and amendments.

Others will apply a pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap and charge them a lot of money to do anything that takes us time.

The customer needs to understand the difference and shop around accordingly. The balance of price, convenience and service differs for each individual.

Many will buy due to convenience. Auto-renewal being the most obvious example. If you are lazy and choose to accept this that's up to you. But expect to be exploited for profit. Either gradually or in one big premium hike.

Others will buy on price alone. While I advocate shopping around you do need to understand what else you could eat charged for. Insurers usually make this clear. Policy buyers usually ignore it.

The fact that they act unethically is irrelevant to the regulars, it's all about the business.
Stands by for a similar blast..........

Well that's the reality. The insurer is not there to wipe the customer's backside. They exist to make a profit. Bleat away about ethics or care or whatever all you like. But it's time people like you got a grasp of reality and understand that individuals can, if they want to, seek out the best deal for themselves if they can be bothered.

Sympathy for the OP? A bit perhaps. But pointing out that reading paperwork, shopping around a timing decisions better is more use to them. If they want to act on such wild suggestion.

I've just read your previous post where you also used the phrase "rip-off Britain". Oddly, because Saga increased their premium to you so you shopped round and saved £150. If all companies were forced to charge the same premium I'd hazard a guess that nobody would pay less than the most expensive premium.

_Andy_

So the usual use of 'rip off' where there is none.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Niksan

This, I fell fowl through my own fault for not reading the list of charges for changing, but at the time I didn't care as I didn't plan on changing vehicles (it was in the none large print toc on site so not ROB at all), not that it would have mattered anyway as a cancellation charge far outweighed changing the vehicle, but the charges don't usually go to the insurers per se, depending on your definition of the term.

As in, my insurance premium increased £44 with the underwriter, the £25 was an insure.co.uk(Hastings) charge, I see hastings as a broker, so not sure if a single party in the above, or both are considered the insurer.

Either way your point is pretty much spot on regarding comparison sites as with most, you can see the broker and the underwriter, so you'd expect the cost at the underwriters end would be the same (rightly or wrongly) and the brokers additions would need to be competative to be noticed but still be-able to make a profit and that gives you your end price.

I look at experiences like these as a lesson learnt for the next time around, and Martin even says in his parliament rant [sic] that the cheapest is not always the best.

dunstonh wrote: »

That seems fair enough. Many insurers now explicitly charge for changes rather than factoring it into the premium. It is one way to reduce the premium on comparison sites. Nothing wrong with that as they do publish their charges.