Horrible company

mohammed2

Marshmallow)!

They will let you down when you need them the most and i promise they will base it on the fact that they are an online company.

You will not understand how scam they actually are until you have an active claim with them. They will waste your time and have you suffer even more when you’re already feeling devastated after an accident. It’s like mental torture and i just don’t have a clue how and why they are getting away with this OMG!

I have a premium policy with marshmallow which suddenly became extremely difficult to comprehend having made a claim .

Before my claim, i genuinely understood “marshmallow will keep me moving even if my vehicle has other ideas by providing a manual courtesy car “ as stated on the app until mine is sorted.

I decided to go premium mainly due to that because i absolutely cannot afford to NOT be on the road .

My vehicle was involved in an accident on friday and here we are 5 days later and not a clue when i will be provided a courtesy car. 

I contacted Marshmallow via a very disgusting live chat which they replied hours later and said i cannot get a courtesy car until my car is assessed. 

Why did you not have this visible on the app? Why does it suddenly feel like scam ? 

How do i explain to anyone that i have already spent £145 on transportation and lost over £300 for missing work since my car crash and still not provided with a courtesy car which i have been paying for with my hard earned money?

I have seeked advice from more than 20 people , from my dad who has been driving for 35 years to the veteran taxi driver who brought me home after my accident. They all said i should be provided a courtesy car within 48 hours at max as per their experience.

Nobody seem to be familiar with your so called disgusting policy of waiting for my car to be assessed before i can be provided with a courtesy car. 

If this is the case , why is it not visible on the “ Courtesy Car Section “ on your app?
If this is no scam, why did you not have it in black and white on the app knowing fully well the confusion and misunderstandings this will result to.

I am a family man and currently missing work ( my only source of income) due to this , meanwhile my monthly premium payment with them is due on the 28th . Where do i get the money from if i am not working? Where ? This is real and I’m writing this with total honesty, this is not some chess game . My income is my life, don’t play games with my income !

On a serious note , where is the sense in this ? Why offer the courtesy car option when you do not want to provide it when we need it the most ? It is called ( Courtesy Car ) for crying out loud . 

I am also demanding they should make certain policies very visible the app so people can make the right choices as its not a pleasant feeling knowing you are technically getting scammed by your insurer . 


Extremely Horrible company 

cw8825

Have you actually read the policy?
it’s a common misconception that the courtesy cars belong to insurers and they just have them sitting around

On the main page of the website - Courtesy car if yours is in for repairs (Original and Plus

Have they said when your car is going to be assessed ? This is the most importantly point to pursue right now 

Depending on what time your accident was on Friday. It’s not been 5 days for marshmellow. Realistically it’s a max of 3

Also assuming the car is not driveable - is it even repairable?
as you won’t get a couresty car in that situation 

Penguin_

In their Ts & Cs it states

When will I receive my courtesy car?

You will be eligible to receive a courtesy car once all the parts needed to repair your car are available, the car has been taken into one of our approved garages and the work has been authorised by an engineer. Unfortunately, there are currently nationwide supply chain issues that have impacted garages all over the country. This may lead to a delay in receiving your courtesy car.

Will I get a courtesy car? (marshmallow.com)

born_again

So are you using this car for business (what type?) & Marshmallow are covering this as business policy?

https://www.marshmallow.com/article/will-i-get-a-courtesy-car

When will I receive my courtesy car?

You will be eligible to receive a courtesy car once all the parts needed to repair your car are available, the car has been taken into one of our approved garages and the work has been authorised by an engineer. Unfortunately, there are currently nationwide supply chain issues that have impacted garages all over the country. This may lead to a delay in receiving your courtesy car.

DullGreyGuy

Marshmallow have a in-between model... for most claims they follow the traditional route of it being a courtesy car from the garage which is subject to the garage having one available for you. The garage provide this at their own expense, in principle its built into the hourly rate on labour, and hence if there are none available or there is a long backlog on parts they may not be able to provide you with one.  If the car is unrepairable or is stollen/unrecovered then you have no courtesy car. 

With Marshmallow Plus then they add an extra service on top that for unrepairable and stollen/unrecovered a third party will provide a replacement vehicle. The policy is very light on details of this service to say the least!

Several other insurers now offer a "enhanced courtesy car" or can be various other names like guaranteed CC etc. This replaces the garage provided courtesy car with a hire car. The plus point is that you always get it and aren't dependent on the repairs progressing. The downside is it's normally limited to somewhere between 14-28 days and so if there are long delays on parts it may have to go back before the repairs are done. Some offer a higher tier of than this of a small 5 door car rather than the typical Corsa/UP 3 door. 

mohammed2 said:
I have seeked advice from more than 20 people , from my dad who has been driving for 35 years to the veteran taxi driver who brought me home after my accident. They all said i should be provided a courtesy car within 48 hours at max as per their experience.

You have been very lucky/unlucky in your selection of the 20 people. 

Anyone with 35 years experience will certainly have been buying insurance before anything but a basic courtesy car was available. The only route around this in the "good old days" was to be a regular customer of a garage so you are on good terms with them and they'll prioritise giving you a courtesy car but that has nothing to do with the policy but your relationship. 

My old policy didnt give a courtesy car but because I had an expensive vehicle bought from the local dealership they provided one FoC each time in the same way they did during services. 

sheramber

Did you choose Marshmallow because it was the cheapest?

liveletlive

I regret that I may not be of much assistance, but I sympathise with your situation. More needs to be done to hold insurers accountable, and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is currently insufficient.

There are legal mechanisms designed to protect consumers, such as the key facts document and the principle that ambiguity in contracts should favour the insured. However, these laws are not adequately enforced by the FOS, and most people cannot afford the time or fees required to pursue legal action.

Based on multiple experiences, it is clear that the FOS needs to align more closely with the law. Instead, it seems to operate by its own set of rules, often favouring insurers. It is noteworthy that the executive teams of many insurance firms, including LV, are predominantly composed of solicitors. This raises the question of whether the FOS is hesitant to challenge these legal professionals, which could hinder future career opportunities within the industry.

In conclusion, insurance companies are engaging in deceptive practices, and the FOS is failing in its duty to regulate them effectively.

XRS200

liveletlive said:

In conclusion, insurance companies are engaging in deceptive practices, and the FOS is failing in its duty to regulate them effectively.

The FOS doesn't regulate insurance companies

dunstonh

In conclusion, insurance companies are engaging in deceptive practices, and the FOS is failing in its duty to regulate them effectively.

And to be fair, in your scenario, they don't appear to have done anything wrong.   You don't like their decision but it appears to be the correct decision both in fairness and in law.  I know its hard for you to accept and I sympathise with your situation but the insurer has acted correctly.

liveletlive

XRS200 said:

liveletlive said:

In conclusion, insurance companies are engaging in deceptive practices, and the FOS is failing in its duty to regulate them effectively.

The FOS doesn't regulate insurance companies

Does FOS not work under the FCA and PRA to provide people with an ADR?

DullGreyGuy

liveletlive said:

XRS200 said:

liveletlive said:

In conclusion, insurance companies are engaging in deceptive practices, and the FOS is failing in its duty to regulate them effectively.

The FOS doesn't regulate insurance companies

Does FOS not work under the FCA and PRA to provide people with an ADR?

Not the PRA no, the PRA is about financial stability and so not relevant to the FOS

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Part 16 created the FOS however they work in tandem with the FCA. The FCA and PRA are regulators of insurers, the FCA are also regulators of insurance intermediaries and the FOS is an ADR service but not a regulator. 

liveletlive said:

There are legal mechanisms designed to protect consumers, such as the key facts document and the principle that ambiguity in contracts should favour the insured. However, these laws are not adequately enforced by the FOS, and most people cannot afford the time or fees required to pursue legal action.

Have you actually looked at the policy book in question @liveletlive before getting on your soap box? 

https://assets.marshmallow.com/docs/marshmallow/motor-insurance-policy-wording.pdf

If a valid claim is made under this policy, and the insured vehicle is to be repaired by one of our approved repairers, the repairer will provide you with a courtesy vehicle (subject to availability) for the duration of the repairs.

If the parts required to repair the insured vehicle are not immediately available to our approved repairer we reserve the right to withhold the provision of a courtesy vehicle until such time as the necessary parts are available and repair work can proceed.

What part of the above are you alleging are unclear? The OP states their car isn't in for repair yet, its unknown if its going to be repaired yet nor if the parts are available immediately yet.