Car Insurance Article Discussion

dacouch

Speak to a local broker (Not Swintons), they should be able to find a company that will allow an introductory no claims bonus equal to your fathers claim free driving assuming he has a good claims / convictions record

goldriver

Having previously had motor insurance with swinton I thought that it would be a good idea to receive a quotation for my motor insurance renewal.

On the 17th August 2010 I requested a quotation for a fully comprehensive motor policy with protected no claims bonus that was due for renewal in the next few weeks. I had had a quotation from my current insurer and wanted to receive a quotation from Swinton.

I called the Chatham call centre and spoke to a salesman who took all the details of my requirement.

He gave me a cost of £326.32 which I accepted. However when I received the documentation in the post the following day I noted that the quotation was for comprehensive cover without the protected no claims bonus.

I immediately contacted them by telephone and he said that there must have been a misunderstanding. He said that I would need to pay a higher figure. I told him that I would not go ahead with the new quotation that was something like an additional £30.

I feel that the saleman intentionally got me to accept the original quotation because of the attractive quote offered and clearly did not expect me to read the policy document and spot the error.

He has now advised me that there is a cancellation charge to be paid of £50. They got the policy wrong and want me to compensate them?


In addition I received in the post on the 20th August another policy document for Personal Accident . This was not required nor requested. When they told me about the personal accident cover which I thought he was referring to the drivers legal protection shown on the motor policy document. At no time did I understand that he was talking about a completely different policy.


I feel that I have become a victim of some very sharp practice.

I have looked at various web site forums that have a common thread about mistakes on policies by Swinton and that this is always put down to clerical error or misunderstanding. It is also noted on the forums that the complaint team are well versed in this type of complaint and it is the customer who ends up on the wrong side of this.

Should I take this to the FSA and Citizens' Advice + go for any money they take from me vis the small claims court?

goldriver

Having previously had motor insurance with swinton I thought that it would be a good idea to receive a quotation for my motor insurance renewal.

On the 17th August 2010 I requested a quotation for a fully comprehensive motor policy with protected no claims bonus that was due for renewal in the next few weeks. I had had a quotation from my current insurer and wanted to receive a quotation from Swinton.

I called the Chatham call centre and spoke to a salesman who took all the details of my requirement.

He gave me a cost of £326.32 which I accepted. However when I received the documentation in the post the following day I noted that the quotation was for comprehensive cover without the protected no claims bonus.

I immediately contacted them by telephone and he said that there must have been a misunderstanding. He said that I would need to pay a higher figure. I told him that I would not go ahead with the new quotation that was something like an additional £30.

I feel that the saleman intentionally got me to accept the original quotation because of the attractive quote offered and clearly did not expect me to read the policy document and spot the error.

He has now advised me that there is a cancellation charge to be paid of £50. They got the policy wrong and want me to compensate them?


In addition I received in the post on the 20th August another policy document for Personal Accident . This was not required nor requested. When they told me about the personal accident cover which I thought he was referring to the drivers legal protection shown on the motor policy document. At no time did I understand that he was talking about a completely different policy.


I feel that I have become a victim of some very sharp practice.

I have looked at various web site forums that have a common thread about mistakes on policies by Swinton and that this is always put down to clerical error or misunderstanding. It is also noted on the forums that the complaint team are well versed in this type of complaint and it is the customer who ends up on the wrong side of this.

Should I take this to the FSA and Citizens' Advice + go for any money they take from me vis the small claims court?

dacouch

Ring up and ask for a superviser, be polite with them and explain the situation, request they listen to the tape of your call and advise them if they do not honour the premium they quoted you then you will make an official complaint and also request a copy of the telephone call.

Let us know how it goes

cardigan

I have just received my renewal for my car insurance with Saga. Nothing has changed since last year and the new premium is up by 21% !! I called them and they confirmed that the increase was not because of a claim or other changes simply because all their premiums were up by between 21% and 33% this year. Surely that's madness?

nigelsmith

Yesterday I used the moneysupermarket screenscraper, and declared 3 points on my licence and received quotes, the best being £507.32.
Today I get another email from moneysupermarket, offering new quotes from all the same insurers, the best being £431.72.
wow - £75 cheaper 1 day later I thought!
However when I bother to check the fine details this quote is based on, I find that they have omitted the 3 points on my licence.

I double-checked the quotes from yesterday using the link given and they definitely include my licence points.

This is not only misleading - it very nearly persuaded me to take out cheaper insurance that would be invalid and dishonest.
Dodgy or what?

dacouch

nigelsmith wrote: »

Yesterday I used the moneysupermarket screenscraper, and declared 3 points on my licence and received quotes, the best being £507.32.
Today I get another email from moneysupermarket, offering new quotes from all the same insurers, the best being £431.72.
wow - £75 cheaper 1 day later I thought!
However when I bother to check the fine details this quote is based on, I find that they have omitted the 3 points on my licence.

I double-checked the quotes from yesterday using the link given and they definitely include my licence points.

This is not only misleading - it very nearly persuaded me to take out cheaper insurance that would be invalid and dishonest.
Dodgy or what?

That's interesting Nigel and somewhat concerning, try posting it on the moneysupermarket forum as they have senior staff answering these types of queries. It would be interesting to see their reply, in addition they often take action so you may prevent someone having a problem due to this http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/insurance-103.aspx

nigelsmith

nigelsmith wrote: »

Yesterday I used the moneysupermarket screenscraper, and declared 3 points on my licence and received quotes, the best being £507.32.
Today I get another email from moneysupermarket, offering new quotes from all the same insurers, the best being £431.72.
wow - £75 cheaper 1 day later I thought!
However when I bother to check the fine details this quote is based on, I find that they have omitted the 3 points on my licence.

I double-checked the quotes from yesterday using the link given and they definitely include my licence points.

This is not only misleading - it very nearly persuaded me to take out cheaper insurance that would be invalid and dishonest.
Dodgy or what?

Sorry folks - My bad mistake :embarasse
I forgot that I received several quotes from Moneysupermarket yesterday, including one that didn't list my speeding points. I had wanted to see how much it changed the premium [about 5% as was suggested on this website].

I'm still puzzled why only that particular quote was chosen as the one to offer further discounts on though?

Gatser

Daughter just passed driving test.

Has anyone found that PASS PLUS results in lower car insurance premiums?
Not sure if its worthwhile paying out for it, other than the motorway experience with a trained instructor...

upsadaisy

I really think that the regulations in the insurance industry need a real overhaul.

For example, if you have points on you liscence that are erased after 3 years, why do the insurance company have the right to penalize you for up to 5 years? Not only that why should they have the right to penalize you for this in the first place? You have already paid a fine and recieved points.

If you are a named driver on a policy and have an accident it should be your insurance that is affected, however, it is not it is the policy holders.

And when it comes to claims, they seems to come to decisions randomly about who is at fault. In our case we were told 50/50 when a man drove up a 1 way street (the wrong way) into our car.

Also been told that I was at fault when a coach hit me from behind in a merge lane. I told the insurance company that I had right of way and this would have been obvious if they viewed the cctv from the coach. But wait, they didn't request the cctv!

If the government mandates we must have insurance to drive on the roads, then it is the governments responsibility to ensure that the pratices in the industry are ethical and affordable!