Swinton Home Insurance Marketing Scam

dosh37

I had a letter from Swinton Insurance the other day offering FREE Contents Insurance if you buy Buildings insurance from them. The letter said you had to phone to get the deal and it was not available online.


I was dubious, so I first got a standard online quote for combined Buildings + Contents.


When I phoned, after spending 20 mins answering all their questions, their final quote including the so called 'free' contents insurance turned out considerably more expensive than the online quote!

I found this marketing ploy so annoying, I have decided to go elsewhere.

Pincher

It must be so soul destroying to know that they are wasting their time, because most of the customers will just hang up when the quote is revealed.

I wonder if they develop some kind of multiple personality disorder, to compartmentalise the horror of "working" in a Call Centre.

dunstonh

Was your standard online quote offering the same cover as the phone one? Often with the phone based ones they start by offering the full works and work downwards from there. Whereas with the online quote you started at the bottom.

karvala

Virtually all insurance is a marketing scam in my view.

Had my buildings/contents renewal quote a couple of months ago, including an increased no-claims discount because I've never made a claim. Level of cover identical, circumstances identical, policy identical, and yet mysteriously my "discount" turned out to be a 16% INCREASE. Needless to say I cancelled, went with someone else, and put these guys on my ever-growing blacklist.

Today I had my annual travel insurance renewal. This included a "customer loyalty" discount. Again, no claims, all circumstances, level of cover and policy identical, and this time my "discount" was an 18% INCREASE.

Insurance companies MO is to treat their customers like idiots, which I guess they must be to have paid money to this bunch of criminals in the first place. How it is legal to market a 16% increase as a discount is quite beyond me. Seems that, as in so many other areas, we need far better consumer regulation and protection.

dunstonh

Had my buildings/contents renewal quote a couple of months ago, including an increased no-claims discount because I've never made a claim. Level of cover identical, circumstances identical, policy identical, and yet mysteriously my "discount" turned out to be a 16% INCREASE. Needless to say I cancelled, went with someone else, and put these guys on my ever-growing blacklist.

If you keep buying year one discounted providers then you are going to run out of providers at some point.

Insurance companies MO is to treat their customers like idiots, which I guess they must be to have paid money to this bunch of criminals in the first place. How it is legal to market a 16% increase as a discount is quite beyond me. Seems that, as in so many other areas, we need far better consumer regulation and protection.

You get a discount on the gross premium. If you get a loyalty discount that is lower than the early year discount then the premium will rise but you are still getting a discount. Plus, as said, the discount is on the gross premium. If the gross premium goes up then the discount is still applied.

General insurance is quite adversarial. You are typical of many consumers with an anti general insurance view. However, 8 out of 10 consumers would also happy to defraud insurance companies (which also is a reason why your premiums increase). So, there is a bit of a constant battle going on and usually you find it the genuine people who would not defraud and value loyalty that are the ones that lose out.