Car Insurance - Without Drive Assist!

dacouch

Drive Assist normally pay the introducer around £150 in commission for giving them a client as its lucrative business for them (I guess the hire costs for the month you had the car were between £2000 and £3000).

I would not be surprised if the RAC officially pass on details and are given the commission themselves or someone at the RAC passed on the details unoffocially and made themselves a drink.

With regards to CaptainHaz these are not courtesy cars, they are credit hires and they can sometimes cost the policyholder a lot of money (See post 148 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=552905&page=8) please also read post 132 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=23648789 who coincidently also had a drive assist car recommended by the RAC.

Also have a word with Matt Florendine who works for the RAC (Quite high up is my guess) as he won a prize at one of Drive Assists Golf Days.

If you are going to state as a fact something on behalf of the company you work for please ensure the information you post is correct,

clare123456_2

Thanks for the heads up.
I am unimpressed that the RAC passed on my details whether officially or unoficially. I do not recall giving them my explicit permission which begs the question of breach of data protection.
Had Drive assist not conveniently attached their name and relationship to the RAC I would not have even spoken to them.
As a Marketing Director myself I simply could not equate the deal value to inevitable brand value damage. I am surprised this goes unchecked by their heads of marketing.
Whilst no company is perfect, there are limits. The threads I read are not simple matters of dispute more blatant and crude mis-selling and mis-representation. It seems to me that Drive Assist's business model is based on a fundamentally warped way of making everyone pay, or perhaps the 'weaker' party pay. I am at odds with their electronic PDA forms too, a cop out and convenient way of not showing the whole picture.
Be aware that Drive Assist will have an in house team or agency that attempts to surpress the search results for Drive Assist complaints. So don't hold back in complaining. Though I'm sure this won't be a problem.

dacouch

They are not doing a very good job of surpressing the negative posts on the internet http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=drive+assist+problems&meta=&fp=1b311284ac0b25f6

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=drive+assist+&meta=&fp=1b311284ac0b25f6

They did get Steve Binch (Their MD) posting on here defending them for a while and saying it was the customers fault. He gave up after Crowman, UKtyler and I gave him a hard time which he did not like. It was a shame he went as he was great to wind up. For a laugh have a read of his posts here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=552905&page=3

clare123456_2

hmm I see his grammer, spelling and editorial pose are as inelegant as his company's ethics.
I love the way he cites his customers' lack of listening powers. If we all have such poor listening skills then clearly there is a problem. Perhaps he should introduce introduction by formal letter only. This way he wouldn't have to put up with our listening problems. I see too he cites that people only complain on forums/review sites. He states this as a fact - that everyone knows. Well the fact is the OPPOSITE of this. The vast majority of people who contribute to review forums post positive reviews. Perhaps he has a natural low self esteem and expectation issue here.
I also note the way he talks about 'you' as though we're all ganging up on him--aaah. And if he quotes the number of customers he deals with then lets have a count of complaints for balance. Perhaps we could benchmark him and see how he stacks up against the industry standard. Maybe the insurance companies may take note at this evedential crossroads. Though of course this figure will never materialise.
If only I could re-write his website copy for just one day!;)

dacouch

Its a shame you did not see Drive Assist when they were on BBC Watchdog, you would think a big company like Drive Assist would have learnt since being outed on TV.

http://www.google.co.uk/#q=drive+assist+watchdog&hl=en&start=0&sa=N&fp=1b311284ac0b25f6

Clare try writing or posting on Honest Johns website (He actually reads the website and posts on their). He is the Telegraph's motoring agony aunt and has a pet hate of credit hire companies. You may find some useful info on their and he might even take your case up through the paper

DrScotsman

Hi guys, I have a quick question.

I don't want to give any details away, so I just want to know, if I cancel my debit card before Drive Assist charge it (illegitimately), can they affect my credit rating? (Other than by taking me to court and winning)

Thanks a lot

dacouch

I'm not sure but suspect it could.

Crowman is the expert on this part.

However I believe if you register an official complaint then they will put charging your card until the complaint is resolved. If you have no joy with DA's complaints system you can then go to the Ombudsman

http://www.driveassist.co.uk/complaints.html

clare123456_2

dacouch wrote: »

Its a shame you did not see Drive Assist when they were on BBC Watchdog, you would think a big company like Drive Assist would have learnt since being outed on TV.

It strikes me that they have no appetite to learn or improve. Their eye is on the numbers only. I believe they see their customers as the insurance companies and the end users as irritants and or cash cows. No doubt their top bods corporate service is well oiled to win these lucrative contracts. The only real pain they would feel were if they were to loose some major contracts with an outing of reasons why.
It would be useful to list insurance companies who don't use them, ironically giving them a unique selling point. Marketing in the car insurance market is as agressive as it gets. There are only 2 brands searched for, the rest have to fight it out. Might be good to see one of the comparison sites adding a more detailed column on replacement vehicles enabling people to make an informed decision.
Bye the way I have discovered that Dire Assist, sorry Drive Assist have lifted my signature on the PDA form and applied it to various other areas that I have not seen and without my knowledge.
Taking them seamlessly from malpractice to fraud.
I will pursue.

dacouch

They do this trick with the signatures to every one, it was picked up on the Watchdog program, it is covered in a bit of detail on Honest Johns forum or Moneysupermarkets forum. They also have some posts from ex drivers which explain why its fairly common for them to charge for damage on the return of the cars

Crowmanuk

I registered an official complaint but they still tried charging my card, they claimed they'd sent me a letter (they hadn't) and wondered why their payment wasnt honoured, that was because there was no money in the account, so if you do register a complaint make sure you phone them every week or so to find out how it is progressing and keep an eye on your bank account. Once they've got their hands on your cash it'll be awkward to get it back. I dont think it would affect your credit rating and I was on the point of cancelling my card if they had said that they were still taking the payment after I protested my innocence.
It might not have been the RAC that passed on your details either, my insurance company didnt pass the details on, the other persons insurance company didnt either and the only other person who could have done it was the company in charge of getting the repairs done to my car, that might be worth checking out.