Direct Line - car insurance....Any good?

DCFC79

Dr_Michael wrote: »

Shocking. Lazy. Incompetent. I was rammed from behind by a maniac overtaking me on a narrow country road at night before a 90-degree bend. The 3rd party apologised & admitted responsibility at the time. He'd previously written off another car in a similar way. And yet Direct Line would not fight my corner. They held me responsible, & were lethargic & patronising in their response. I'd previously not had an insurance claim entered against me in 32 years of driving. I strongly advise everyone to avoid this wretched company. Their motor policies might be cheap, but there's a reason for this. They will abandon & betray their customers at the slightest opportunity. And you can forget any notion of accountability.

Id use them again if the price offered was suitable.

Quentin

DCFC79 wrote: »

Id use them again if the price offered was suitable.

Price isn't always the way to buy insurance

Over 60% of reviews on the trust pilot review site for DL rate them bad or poor

Marvel1

Quentin wrote: »

Price isn't always the way to buy insurance

Over 60% of reviews on the trust pilot review site for DL rate them bad or poor

I take reviews with a pinch of salt, people are more likely to leave a bad review than a good one.

JJ_Egan

Likewise as newbie posts above bet they have multiple identical posts on the web.
Fact is mostly we buy insurance on price and not claiming have no idea how good or bad the actual service of claiming is .

TCP100

In April my mother died, and my father has since become confused, stopped driving and moved into a care home. So I called Direct Line to cancel the car insurance policy. They say I need a ‘power of attorney’ proving authority just to cancel it. This could have easily been resolved in a few minutes if as I suggested they would call the care home for confirmation. Instead they say I have to have this legal document prepared and agreed, which takes 8-10 weeks and will cost £680 in legal and registration fees, whilst they continue to charge my infirm father for something he does not need and will not use. Other companies have not behaved like this and have enabled me to cancel insurance and other services. Everyone I talk to about this is appalled at Direct Line’s insensitive uncooperative behaviour.

Sandtree

TCP100 said:

In April my mother died, and my father has since become confused, stopped driving and moved into a care home. So I called Direct Line to cancel the car insurance policy. They say I need a ‘power of attorney’ proving authority just to cancel it. This could have easily been resolved in a few minutes if as I suggested they would call the care home for confirmation. Instead they say I have to have this legal document prepared and agreed, which takes 8-10 weeks and will cost £680 in legal and registration fees, whilst they continue to charge my infirm father for something he does not need and will not use. Other companies have not behaved like this and have enabled me to cancel insurance and other services. Everyone I talk to about this is appalled at Direct Line’s insensitive uncooperative behaviour.

I fell out with my father so phoned up his insurers and lied saying he'd been moved into a care home with dementia and got them to cancel his insurance, even had a mate who was going to play the role of the care home manager if they wanted to check he was there... now he's been stopped by the police and is up on charges of driving without insurance... serves him right.

Can you not see the problem of allowing random people, which is what you are to the call centre agent, to call up and cancel peoples insurance and bank accounts etc? The fact you have raised the question of your father's mental capabilities adds to the problem that even speaking to him may be insufficient if he is no longer fit to make informed decisions.

Whilst some other companies have done the wrong thing and just taken you at your word it does sound that you, or someone, is going to require a lasting power of attorney to be able to deal with his affairs for him. Whilst DL may be the trigger for it there will certainly be others that are on the ball and do the right thing even if its not the convenient thing.

TCP100

It would be simple for Direct Line to call the care home (available on the national care home company's website) and confirm the situation. There is no 'mate playing the role of care home manager'.

naedanger

TCP100 said:

In April my mother died, and my father has since become confused, stopped driving and moved into a care home. So I called Direct Line to cancel the car insurance policy. They say I need a ‘power of attorney’ proving authority just to cancel it. This could have easily been resolved in a few minutes if as I suggested they would call the care home for confirmation. Instead they say I have to have this legal document prepared and agreed, which takes 8-10 weeks and will cost £680 in legal and registration fees, whilst they continue to charge my infirm father for something he does not need and will not use. Other companies have not behaved like this and have enabled me to cancel insurance and other services. Everyone I talk to about this is appalled at Direct Line’s insensitive uncooperative behaviour.

It sounds like it may be too late for your father to get a power of attorney document prepared since I believe he would need a certain level of mental capacity.

Would it be cheaper just letting the policy lapse at renewal?

Or write to the DVLA, see if you can give them enough information to convince them to cancel his driving licence (e.g. a note from his doctor - which you may need to pay for), then once his licence is cancelled I cannot see how Direct Line can continue his cover.

TCP100

naedanger said:

TCP100 said:

In April my mother died, and my father has since become confused, stopped driving and moved into a care home. So I called Direct Line to cancel the car insurance policy. They say I need a ‘power of attorney’ proving authority just to cancel it. This could have easily been resolved in a few minutes if as I suggested they would call the care home for confirmation. Instead they say I have to have this legal document prepared and agreed, which takes 8-10 weeks and will cost £680 in legal and registration fees, whilst they continue to charge my infirm father for something he does not need and will not use. Other companies have not behaved like this and have enabled me to cancel insurance and other services. Everyone I talk to about this is appalled at Direct Line’s insensitive uncooperative behaviour.

It sounds like it may be too late for your father to get a power of attorney document prepared since I believe he would need a certain level of mental capacity.

Would it be cheaper just letting the policy lapse at renewal?

Or write to the DVLA, see if you can give them enough information to convince them to cancel his driving licence (e.g. a note from his doctor - which you may need to pay for), then once his licence is cancelled I cannot see how Direct Line can continue his cover.

Thank you for your sensible pro active suggestions to try to resolve this  If only Direct Line would take this approach.  Unfortunately they are taking over £100 a month by direct debit for the policy and they have set it to automatic renewal. They can keep taking the money and it will never lapse.  Even worse, given Ive told them my dad's situation I expect the cover is voided.

naedanger

TCP100 said:

naedanger said:

TCP100 said:

In April my mother died, and my father has since become confused, stopped driving and moved into a care home. So I called Direct Line to cancel the car insurance policy. They say I need a ‘power of attorney’ proving authority just to cancel it. This could have easily been resolved in a few minutes if as I suggested they would call the care home for confirmation. Instead they say I have to have this legal document prepared and agreed, which takes 8-10 weeks and will cost £680 in legal and registration fees, whilst they continue to charge my infirm father for something he does not need and will not use. Other companies have not behaved like this and have enabled me to cancel insurance and other services. Everyone I talk to about this is appalled at Direct Line’s insensitive uncooperative behaviour.

It sounds like it may be too late for your father to get a power of attorney document prepared since I believe he would need a certain level of mental capacity.

Would it be cheaper just letting the policy lapse at renewal?

Or write to the DVLA, see if you can give them enough information to convince them to cancel his driving licence (e.g. a note from his doctor - which you may need to pay for), then once his licence is cancelled I cannot see how Direct Line can continue his cover.

Thank you for your sensible pro active suggestions to try to resolve this  If only Direct Line would take this approach.  Unfortunately they are taking over £100 a month by direct debit for the policy and they have set it to automatic renewal. They can keep taking the money and it will never lapse.  Even worse, given Ive told them my dad's situation I expect the cover is voided.

They do have you a bit over a barrel in that they have no duty to be helpful to you (as you aren't the customer or legally entitled to act on their behalf). You could still submit a written complaint but don't make it too demanding since they could just say you are not their customer. Someone in their complaints area may be more helpful.

That said how are you going to deal with bank accounts? I am slightly surprised that the care home didn't encourage you to get a PoA if it isn't too late. I had one for my late Dad and it did help. Could possibly have got by without one but it would have been difficult. Even with a PoA  it wasn't completely straightforward.