Warning about E&L Insurance (Equine & Livestock Insurance)

rbdavis

I want to make Money Saving Expert members aware of extremely deceptive and borderline fraudulent(-seeming) behaviour by seemingly reputable insurer Equine & Livestock Insurance Co. Ltd.

I set up bicycle insurance with E&L in July 2013 and in July 2014 I received my 1-year renewal. I was surprised that the cover letter made no mention of the renewal cost, but digging within the 15-page policy document I was able to find confirmation of the £75.99 premium on page 7. This price was also confirmed on page 8, which detailed the payment schedule for my credit card charges.

I assume all was OK until about a month later I received a call from HSBC fraud prevention which queried the charge by E&L of £106.99. They advised that I call E&L to investigate.

The E&L operator stated that £106.99 was the correct charge. He asked me to look at some tiny print on page 7 of my policy document which said “the premium (…) excludes Optional Benefit charges (…) and an additional premium collection charge”. He then asked me to look at tiny print on page 8 which stated that “Optional Benefits” of up to £75 per year may be added to my premium. Finally he asked me to look at page 18, which stated that I had been given free access to an “exclusive” additional service (which I hadn’t requested) and I would be charged £25 per year for it from my next renewal.

So despite the fact that even following the confusing trail of small print implied that they would’t charge the additional fees until the next renewal, they had still charged me an additional £31 of fees.

I immediately cancelled my policy and am hoping to have a full refund (it hasn't yet arrived), however I am sure many of their customers do not notice these hidden charges. I am also reporting this to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Conduct Authority.

This is terrible behaviour by an insurer. How on earth are they allowed to do this?

forgotmyname

They are not nicknamed E&HELL for nothing.

dunstonh

I am also reporting this to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Conduct Authority.

The FCA do not handle consumer complaints and the FOS will only consider the complaint if you reject the outcome of the complaint from E&L. You cant go straight to the FOS. The FOS have no regulatory powers. They will just make sure E*L have considered your complaint fairly.

dacouch

If you think their renewal process is bad, try making a claim....

rbdavis

dacouch wrote: »

If you think their renewal process is bad, try making a claim....

Relieved it didn't come to that!

rbdavis

forgotmyname wrote: »

They are not nicknamed E&HELL for nothing.

Lesson for me: Search forums like this BEFORE I buy insurance.

rbdavis

dunstonh wrote: »

The FCA do not handle consumer complaints and the FOS will only consider the complaint if you reject the outcome of the complaint from E&L. You cant go straight to the FOS. The FOS have no regulatory powers. They will just make sure E*L have considered your complaint fairly.

FOS did allow me to go direct as they said my verbal complaint consituted first stage. They are now taking it up with E&L and sending me complaint form.

David_InsDef

Wow, that's a surprise - thought they had to wait for the insurance provider to issue a 'final response' to your complaint. Unless E&L have already done so?

dunstonh

rbdavis wrote: »

FOS did allow me to go direct as they said my verbal complaint consituted first stage. They are now taking it up with E&L and sending me complaint form.

No they havent. You have misunderstood.

What has happened is the person you have spoke to at the FOS has scribbled some notes onto a complaint form about what they interpret your complaint to be. The FOS will now post that to the E&L complaints team who will interpret the notes written by the telephone person at the FOS. it is a very ineffective way to complain as it means your complaint is passed to E&L with a third party interpretation and takes longer. It does not mean the FOS are involved.

Anyone who has worked in complaints will tell you that what the unqualified FOS telephone handler scribbles on their form can often differ greatly from the actual complaint being made. It may get the ball rolling at E&L but check to make sure E&L have actually understood the complaint correctly (they will send out what they believe your complaint to be in their acknowledgement)

rbdavis

I thought you might be interested to see E&L's justification of why they charged me an additional £31 on renewal for "optional" services I didn't request:

I would draw to your attention the following provision (found in the first column of the same page in the Policy Wording)

“Renewals
These terms and conditions include a provision that your insurance cover will automatically renew at the end of the insured term unless you specifically tell us that you do not wish for your insurance to renew.

By agreeing to these terms and conditions, you are also confirming that upon each renewal of your policy, unless you tell us otherwise, you want us to make the following changes to the terms of your insurance:

(a) Such changes as we believe, in good faith:
(i) are appropriate for the type of policy you hold with us; and
(ii) will produce an overall benefit for you.

Those changes may include changes to the scope of the insurance cover (i.e. what is insured), the benefits which your policy provides, and associated changes to the cost of insurance.

(b) Such other changes which we believe, in good faith, we have a valid reason to make.
Those changes may include:
(i) changes made to clarify the terms of the policy;
(ii) changes which are necessary to reflect changes in applicable laws and regulations; and
(iii) changes to the cost of the insurance cover to reflect changes in our own costs and other economic considerations.

We do appreciate, however, that when the time comes you may not want us to make those changes, and we explain below the protections we will put in place to ensure that you have an opportunity to consider those changes and to refuse them, should you wish to do so, before your insurance is renewed.

We will always provide you with full written details of any changes which we intend to make to the terms of your insurance cover at least 21 days before your policy is due for renewal, which is when those changes would be due to take effect. We will not be entitled to make any changes unless we provide you with those details within that time-frame.

You will then have the right to tell us, within 14 days of receiving those written details, that you do not wish your policy to be changed in the manner notified to you. If you exercise that right, we will give you the opportunity to either:
(a) renew your policy without any changes;
(b) renew your policy subject to any alternative changes which we may offer to you; or
(c) not renew your policy at all.
You can cancel your policy at any time in any case. Full details relating to your cancellation rights are set out in the policy terms.”

Insofar as you refer to being given the ‘opportunity’ to upgrade, you may have misunderstood the membership. Policy+ is not an upgrade to your policy; rather it is the renewal of your policy on enhanced terms.

I am satisfied therefore that the company has not acted inappropriately or outside of its regulatory framework and that the Policy+ offer was made to you in accordance with the policy terms and conditions as detailed above..

They seem to have offered me an additional £69 refund, equal to my first year premium, if I sign a form confirming whether or not I "wish to pursue my current complaint further at this time".

Though they don't say, I guess if I say I AM still pursuing a complaint, they will not give me that refund.

dunstonh

They seem to have offered me an additional £69 refund, equal to my first year premium, if I sign a form confirming whether or not I "wish to pursue my current complaint further at this time".

Though they don't say, I guess if I say I AM still pursuing a complaint, they will not give me that refund.

That is normal for a goodwill gesture. You either accept it or you put it at risk if you decide to pursue the complaint further.