Churchill - Misleading information provided by agent

HeehawD

Churchill are asking for an addition 30% on top of my policy for changing my vehicle to a new vehicle less than a month after renewal. This is probably not surprising, but I only decided to renew my policy with Churchill after speaking to an agent about fees and policy changes for changing the vehicle as I had expected to have a new one within the next month or so. The agent informed me that there would be no fees and that the policy would be cheaper as it's a new vehicle. When I contacted Churchill today to provide the new vehicle details, they said the policy would go up by £104.16 which would need to be paid today. When I mentioned the previous conversation the agent I was speaking to completely dismissed me and said that they checked the chat logs and couldn't find any record of this. I asked for a copy of all chat logs from August, but they said they couldn't provide them and I'd need to put in a request that may take up to 30 days. The agent knows that I need to make these changes before Saturday, so this is not helpful. Given that the policy has already started I can't switch to another insurer as I'd need to pay a cancellation fee, although this might actually be cheaper than continuing with Churchill. What options do I have in regards to an agent providing misleading information and then being gaslit about it? Do I agree to the changes, request the chat logs, and then put in a refund request? My conversation with Churchill started at 9:51am and is still going now at12:16pm. In that time the first agent left me hanging for 30 minutes before being replaced with another. I've now asked for a full breakdown of the policy changes and costs, but I'm still waiting for the response. 

XRS200

I would find a new insurer

HeehawD

XRS200 said:

I would find a new insurer

Thanks, I think I'm heading in that direction. 

Mildly_Miffed

HeehawD said:

...I only decided to renew my policy with Churchill after speaking to an agent about fees and policy changes for changing the vehicle as I had expected to have a new one within the next month or so. The agent informed me that there would be no fees and that the policy would be cheaper as it's a new vehicle. When I contacted Churchill today to provide the new vehicle details, they said the policy would go up by £104.16 which would need to be paid today. 

Did you give them the full details of the car to be purchased at the time? Because, otherwise, they would have no way of knowing if the risk was the same.

Say you took out a policy for a Hyundai i10, then bought a BMW M5... MUCH higher risk, much higher premium.

DullGreyGuy

HeehawD said:
This is probably not surprising, but I only decided to renew my policy with Churchill after speaking to an agent about fees and policy changes for changing the vehicle as I had expected to have a new one within the next month or so. The agent informed me that there would be no fees and that the policy would be cheaper as it's a new vehicle. 

So was this a Live Chat or over the phone?

Did you do this whilst logged into your account or after giving your policy number and going through DPA or were you just talking "in general"?

Did you give the specific details of the new vehicle or just broad details?


It sounds like you were talking in general rather than getting an actual quote in which case the agent may be right assuming its a similar vehicle to your current one but the problem with rules of thumb is that they dont apply to everyone in all circumstances. 


Ultimately you will need to register a complaint, provide as much detail as you can of the time/date/mechanism of the discussion to increase the chances of them being able to find it (eg what number you called from and to, time, date, or how the chat was triggered, what details you entered etc). 

Did you get a transcript of the conversation? If so it's worth re-reading to ensure it says what you recall it saying. If it still supports your complaint include a copy but dont be tempted to try and doctor it

HeehawD

Mildly_Miffed said:

HeehawD said:

...I only decided to renew my policy with Churchill after speaking to an agent about fees and policy changes for changing the vehicle as I had expected to have a new one within the next month or so. The agent informed me that there would be no fees and that the policy would be cheaper as it's a new vehicle. When I contacted Churchill today to provide the new vehicle details, they said the policy would go up by £104.16 which would need to be paid today. 

Did you give them the full details of the car to be purchased at the time? Because, otherwise, they would have no way of knowing if the risk was the same.

Say you took out a policy for a Hyundai i10, then bought a BMW M5... MUCH higher risk, much higher premium.

Yes, I provided full details with the exception of the registration as it hadn't been registered yet and was a new car. 

HeehawD

DullGreyGuy said:

HeehawD said:
This is probably not surprising, but I only decided to renew my policy with Churchill after speaking to an agent about fees and policy changes for changing the vehicle as I had expected to have a new one within the next month or so. The agent informed me that there would be no fees and that the policy would be cheaper as it's a new vehicle. 

So was this a Live Chat or over the phone?

Did you do this whilst logged into your account or after giving your policy number and going through DPA or were you just talking "in general"?

Did you give the specific details of the new vehicle or just broad details?


It sounds like you were talking in general rather than getting an actual quote in which case the agent may be right assuming its a similar vehicle to your current one but the problem with rules of thumb is that they dont apply to everyone in all circumstances. 


Ultimately you will need to register a complaint, provide as much detail as you can of the time/date/mechanism of the discussion to increase the chances of them being able to find it (eg what number you called from and to, time, date, or how the chat was triggered, what details you entered etc). 

Did you get a transcript of the conversation? If so it's worth re-reading to ensure it says what you recall it saying. If it still supports your complaint include a copy but dont be tempted to try and doctor it

The conversation was via web chat, however, the chatbot states that it's "not an instant messaging service" and that "your message has been placed in a queue" which might explain the slow pace of correspondence. I'm not certain whether I was logged in at the time of the conversation, but I certainly had to provide my details before being able to speak to anyone and discussed this in relation to my renewal while weighing up the decision to continue with them or switch. I provided the agent will full details of the new car, with the exception of the registration as it hadn't been registered yet. I believe the agent simply said this to get me to complete the renewal. It certainly wasn't just a general conversation. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a transcript of the conversation, and I'm kicking myself as I usually do save them for things like this. I'm a little confused by your suggestion that I might be tempted to try and doctor a transcript. I'll request the transcripts from Churchill and hope that it turns up sooner rather than later. 

Car_54

Even if the first "agent" with whom the OP dealt was able to see a comparative quote for the hypothetical new car, he/she would not have been in a position to predict what the premium might be in a few weeks (or even days) time.

Whatever training he/she had - probably  inadequate - it would not have included clairvoyance.

DullGreyGuy

HeehawD said:
I'm a little confused by your suggestion that I might be tempted to try and doctor a transcript. I'll request the transcripts from Churchill and hope that it turns up sooner rather than later. 

Some people, when rereading what was actually said/was said back, may realise its not as a clear cut as their memory said it was and therefore may "tweak" the script (and some will out and out edit it) to make it appear as if it supports their argument more than what was actually said.  25 years ago there may have been a reasonable chance that the company wouldn't have spotted what you submit isn't genuine but these things are much easier done now and as soon as they spot it you'll be massively disadvantaged. 


Given they did actually view your policy then they should be able to see who accessed it and when and work backwards from there to find the transcript.