A query about Churchill car insurance

Melvinsmum58

I have been doing quotes for my daughter via MoneySupermarket.

Churchill came out very competitive, but when I went to their actual website to check all details were correct, they ask how many vehicles are registered at the address, rather than just cars, as other companies ask. 

There was no note at the side of the question to indicate whether all vehicles or just cars had to be declared.

Since we have 4 cars and 2 leisure vehicles (motorhome/camper), I changed 4 to 6 and was told the quote was invalid!

I have had an online chat with Churchill and been assured that it is just the no of cars that have to be declared for a car policy, the customer assistant double checked that. 

However, I did similar with Direct line (as they are in the same group and have same quotation form) and was told the opposite.

Not sure what or who to believe now!

Is there anyone who has had experience of this, or who works for Churchill and can advise? 

Brie

which ever provider you go with make sure you have a record of who you talked to when and what they said.  So if Bob from Churchill told you just use the cars and someone comes back in 6 months when you make a claim and say that's not correct you can ensure that Bob gets blamed and not you trying to do a fiddle.  

Melvinsmum58

Thanks, I have a WhatsApp conversation with a name from Churchill. I also sent them an online query.

I have had a response from that, from DL customer services (no mention of Churchill!) saying that I need to declare all vehicles that are kept at the address. The motorhome isn't kept here, never comes back, but is registered here for DVLA.

The response  from the online query also completely ignores the Churchill WhatsApp chat that I sent a screenshot of.

Very frustrating, looks like we won’t be using Churchill!

DullGreyGuy

Historically Churchill and Directline were totally independent businesses despite them being owned by DirectLine Group. Just before Fred was fired from RBS, the ultimate parent company at the time, he forced a restructure so the company outside of Marketing became product centric rather than brand centric. Ops was left a bit in limbo as many agents were multi-product skilled and so in theory worked for two verticals. 

RBS was forced to sell its shared in Direct Line as part of the 2008 rescue package and must admit after that somewhat lost contact with people working there but still, different brands in the same stable can maintain fairly different approaches despite the same shareholders/bosses. 

Ideally you speak to one person, go by that one person says and screenshot etc to confirm that it is the advice they gave you. Obviously you cannot lucky dip, ask 5 agents the same question and only save the one who's answer you liked best.  What a Direct Line, Privilege, Darwin or any other DLG brand says is irrelevant as they aren't representing Churchill. 

Melvinsmum58

I understand what you are saying DullGreyGuy, but I sent an online query via the Churchill website, whilst waiting for their WhatsApp chat. 

The response to that has come from Direct Line, there is absolutely no reference to Churchill, even though it was sent from the Churchill web form! The email address responding to me is customerrelations@cr.directline.com. So it sounds like all online queries for Churchill are routed through DL.

I will probably err on the side of caution and go elsewhere, but it’s very frustrating - if they had a note at the side of their “vehicles” question, it would be clear.

DullGreyGuy

They could potentially all go through the same Cust Service teams these days, historically claims was merged together much sooner than service... the headset told you the salutation to use depending on the number the person had called but it wouldn't be an isolated incident that someone wasnt paying attention and so had to guess at what brand to say. 

When back in uni did work for a different insurance group that offered a 24/7 claims service for their "gold" customers. No way enough work to support the team overnight so the call centre offered third party call handling services then. You had a manual on the desk (yes its going back a bit) so you're answering the call "Good evening and thank you for calling XXX, this is DGG speaking" whilst trying to look up XXX in the manual to find out who the hell they were and what we were supposed to do with their calls (95% was just take a message and email someone). 

Thankfully customers dont listen, had been in that job for about 4 months when one of the call auditors came across saying that I was consistently getting 99%, I knew the products, actions, great engagement with the customers etc but on every call I had said "thank you for calling BT" but not one customer had noticed. 

Likely a simple error from the agent using the wrong branding but it opens a bit of a rats nest were you to proceed with them and they later have an issue with the answer. 

cannugec5

I have just got an online quote from Churchill and noticed the same thing. In the household we have a car and a van. On the comparison site it asked for number of cars -1. I clicked the link to Churchill where it asked for number of vehicles so I amended it to 2. 

My quote went down buy a further £30! 

I was with Direct line before. Their renewal quote was £495 ( up from £330 last year). Churchill is £303 with equivalent cover. 

I haven’t worried about number of vehicles question! 

DullGreyGuy

cannugec5 said:

I have just got an online quote from Churchill and noticed the same thing. In the household we have a car and a van. On the comparison site it asked for number of cars -1. I clicked the link to Churchill where it asked for number of vehicles so I amended it to 2. 

My quote went down buy a further £30! 

I was with Direct line before. Their renewal quote was £495 ( up from £330 last year). Churchill is £303 with equivalent cover. 

I haven’t worried about number of vehicles question! 

You've answered the question asked using an interpretation that is fully understandable using plain English. The ombudsman will side with the customer where this is the case even if the insurer had meant something other than that. 

jnm21

Having issue renewing - last night my 2FA text from my card was delayed & payment failed - then I could not get into the renewal (policy expired last night) - the Chat bot on Churchill put me through to Churchill branded WhatsApp chat (it has a blue/yellow tick) - the link they gave me to pay was DLG - is this genuine - my provider declined the transaction instantly. 🥴

Have messaged my provider, but support is non-live (Zendesk).

Should I try another card? 

DullGreyGuy

Churchill, Privilege, Direct Line are just a few of the brands the DL Group operates; these days they are all underwritten by UK Insurance too (they used to have 4 underwriting entities). It would be unusual to go off brand but its within the family.