can you help me understand insurance please

triade

Hello,

I have adhd and I really struggle with complicated things, I especially struggle when things don't work as expected, so I'm feeling rather frustrated with admiral today as their app is pretty bad.

I'm trying to talk to their customer service but i literally can't see what I'm typing as the keyboard covers the typing window and the window doesn't get pushed upwards by the keyboard as it does in pretty much every other app. aside from that, it seems like the agent just doesn't even understand what I'm saying. I just wanted to update the contents for my policy and i have no option to do so in my account and was told i must contact by message, but the agent just told me I have to do it manually in the account screen.... so this is all too chaotic for me so i just asked him to cancel it. I can't deal with a company with this level of contradiction, uncertainty and unreliability.

I'm also aware that if you ever do have to make a claim, they can often fight you on it, make you jump through hoops and you even have to pay a fee up front before you can get a payout. it seems to me, in a situation where I need to claim, I will already be under a massive amount of stress and will be struggling to cope with basic stuff so I can't imagine I would be capable of dealing with that, and I don't think I'd be able to pay whatever fee it is that you have to pay before you can claim.

I'm just thinking perhaps this is just not good for me and maybe I should not bother, but people say insurance is really important... so how do I find a company who can actually look after me in times of need and who will provide a good website and customer support? The most important things for me are to be stress free, I don't mind paying a bit more for something if it is less stressful and non manipulative.

DE_612183

What sort of insurance are you talking about?

• House
• Car
• Medical
• Pet

Some of those are things you need to have - some legally.

Have you got or are you a member of an ADHD support group?

triade

Sorry, it's the home insurance. Just the contents part, I'm not a home owner. I also don't drive. No pets.

I'm not a member of a support group, I've looked around for one but they don't exist anywhere near me, but I do have a weekly support worker.

DE_612183

I think there are a national ADHD groups - a quick google search will help.

Do you rent? If so contents insurance maybe part of your contract with the landlord - although I'm guessing you could get away without having it - however if anything happened without insurance you have to foot the bill for any damage done.

Give one of the support groups a ring and ask them, or perhaps your support worker - what did you want to do with the policy?

Admiral are ( in my opinion ) one of the better companies. 

triade

Thanks, yes I think there might be Facebook groups or subreddits. That's probably worth a try.

I am a council tenant. I was under the impression I don't have contents insurance as part of my contract but I will take a look.

I wanted to increase my policy as I had an email about my plan coming to and end and I looked at the cover and it said £700 and I was like... That seems a bit low, so I just wanted to increase it, but it seems like it's way too complicated to do what seems like a very simple ask.

If Admiral are the best, then I am thinking this is perhaps not for me. 

Unless there is some non-profit or cooperative type insurance. I realised I really like my bank, nationwide because they are in service of the members most of all.

DullGreyGuy

triade said:

I have adhd and I really struggle with complicated things, I especially struggle when things don't work as expected, so I'm feeling rather frustrated with admiral today as their app is pretty bad.

I'm trying to talk to their customer service but i literally can't see what I'm typing as the keyboard covers the typing window and the window doesn't get pushed upwards by the keyboard as it does in pretty much every other app. aside from that, it seems like the agent just doesn't even understand what I'm saying. I just wanted to update the contents for my policy and i have no option to do so in my account and was told i must contact by message, but the agent just told me I have to do it manually in the account screen.... so this is all too chaotic for me so i just asked him to cancel it. I can't deal with a company with this level of contradiction, uncertainty and unreliability.

I'm also aware that if you ever do have to make a claim, they can often fight you on it, make you jump through hoops and you even have to pay a fee up front before you can get a payout. it seems to me, in a situation where I need to claim, I will already be under a massive amount of stress and will be struggling to cope with basic stuff so I can't imagine I would be capable of dealing with that, and I don't think I'd be able to pay whatever fee it is that you have to pay before you can claim.

I'm just thinking perhaps this is just not good for me and maybe I should not bother, but people say insurance is really important... so how do I find a company who can actually look after me in times of need and who will provide a good website and customer support? The most important things for me are to be stress free, I don't mind paying a bit more for something if it is less stressful and non manipulative.

Paragraph 2 - it's more an IT issue than anything, have you tried another web browser to see if it scrolls better? Or maybe tried on a computer rather than a phone/tablet so there is no on screen keyboard? 


Paragraph 3 - I've worked in insurance for more than 20 years now, but I am also a buyer of insurance for myself and have had to make claims in the past. In most cases they are not unreasonable, I mean if someone phoned me up and said they'd lost their Rolex so can I pay them £20,000 I know I would certainly want to do some checks before putting my hand in my pocket. 

There is somewhat of an element of you get what you pay for and if you go for a basic no frills outfit its likely they will be harsher because they have to keep costs down to keep their prices down but if you have a legitimate claim it will pay out. Some others aimed higher in the market can take more pragmatic approaches as whilst they are still a for profit company they dont need to watch every penny exactly as closely. 

You also have to remember a lot of people dont bother reading what they have bought etc and so they perpetuate the myth that insurers fight over everything because one bright sunny morning they call their insurers to say tiles have slipped off the roof. The insurer checks the weather report and sees no recent Storms in the area but as the customer is insistent they said an inspector out (at their own expense). They go inspect the roof and as expected its as rotten as hell due to lack of maintenance and the tiles fell due to the rot and not an insured event. That person then goes round telling everyone how terrible insurers are. 

Most people choose to have an excess on their policy as it often reduces the cost of the premiums. An excess is rarely payable up front (when you call to make the claim) but either is deducted from the settlement, if done in cash, or is payable to one of the insurers approved repairers either before or after works.


Paragraph 4 - Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, you exchange the risk of a big loss (eg your house burning down) for the payment of a premium (a small loss). Other than Car insurance, which is a legal obligation, its generally comes down to your attitude to risk and how affordable it would be for you to deal with matters if the worst happened. So, for example, I dont buy insurance on my appliances because I can afford to buy a new dishwasher tomorrow if it breaks down. I do buy contents insurance as I couldn't replace all of that were there to be a big fire. 

People are different and what one person thinks is good service another person may not like or says intrusive. For many people they deal with their insurers once a year to renew their policy and even that may just happen automatically if they are lazy or like the price on the quote to start with. 

Generally sticking with a household name is more likely to give you a better outcome, understanding where brands position themselves though is useful too... Admiral are budget but reasonable, similar with Hastings. Direct Line, Esure are middle market. LV, NFU upper market. Hiscox, Chubb top end. There are some giant companies like Aviva that actually offer the full range from budget no frills to high net worth so you need to more look at the product than the brand

ButterCheese

I wonder if it might be better to go to a comparison site, choose the cheapest 3 or 4 options and just ring them directly.  Explain that you have ADHD and cannot use the App and see if they can do it over the phone.  If it is tiresome, or you can't even get through, or they say "no sorry you have to use the App or website" then just keep going down the list until someone will help you?

You will probably pay a bit more over the phone, they might match the comparison site price but add a few quid on for the call handlers commision.  That's what the AA did to me once (it was only a fiver though).

For what it's worth, I was with Tesco for car insurance and they were not great but not terrible.  They usually come up in the top 5 cheapest when we do our annual hunt for home insurance.

triade

DullGreyGuy said:

Paragraph 2 - it's more an IT issue than anything, have you tried another web browser to see if it scrolls better? Or maybe tried on a computer rather than a phone/tablet so there is no on screen keyboard?

Thanks, I did initially try in my desktop PC web browser, and the chat function is not available, so it seems restricted to the app.  so it's fairly ironic that the app doesn't seem to work right. it seems their app is a crude wrapper for the website and the messaging portion is not the only part with incredibly clunky interface. 

Paragraph 3 - I've worked in insurance for more than 20 years now, but I am also a buyer of insurance for myself and have had to make claims in the past. In most cases they are not unreasonable, I mean if someone phoned me up and said they'd lost their Rolex so can I pay them £20,000 I know I would certainly want to do some checks before putting my hand in my pocket.
There is somewhat of an element of you get what you pay for and if you go for a basic no frills outfit its likely they will be harsher because they have to keep costs down to keep their prices down but if you have a legitimate claim it will pay out. Some others aimed higher in the market can take more pragmatic approaches as whilst they are still a for profit company they dont need to watch every penny exactly as closely.
You also have to remember a lot of people dont bother reading what they have bought etc and so they perpetuate the myth that insurers fight over everything because one bright sunny morning they call their insurers to say tiles have slipped off the roof. The insurer checks the weather report and sees no recent Storms in the area but as the customer is insistent they said an inspector out (at their own expense). They go inspect the roof and as expected its as rotten as hell due to lack of maintenance and the tiles fell due to the rot and not an insured event. That person then goes round telling everyone how terrible insurers are. 

Most people choose to have an excess on their policy as it often reduces the cost of the premiums. An excess is rarely payable up front (when you call to make the claim) but either is deducted from the settlement, if done in cash, or is payable to one of the insurers approved repairers either before or after works.

Thanks for the perspective, I appreciate it. It does seem wholly reasonable. I have to be honest, I've had stuff happen like my washing machine broke and people asked me why I didn't claim under my home insurance and I just didn't consider it. I think of it as more for like.. a fire or a break-in or something. Something that would cripple me.

Paragraph 4 - Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, you exchange the risk of a big loss (eg your house burning down) for the payment of a premium (a small loss). Other than Car insurance, which is a legal obligation, its generally comes down to your attitude to risk and how affordable it would be for you to deal with matters if the worst happened. So, for example, I dont buy insurance on my appliances because I can afford to buy a new dishwasher tomorrow if it breaks down. I do buy contents insurance as I couldn't replace all of that were there to be a big fire.

That makes sense. There's a lot that I could do without for a while or could buy second hand, etc. if I keep it simple it keeps my premiums low and then i can reduce the excess. I understand how that works now.

Generally sticking with a household name is more likely to give you a better outcome, understanding where brands position themselves though is useful too... Admiral are budget but reasonable, similar with Hastings. Direct Line, Esure are middle market. LV, NFU upper market. Hiscox, Chubb top end. There are some giant companies like Aviva that actually offer the full range from budget no frills to high net worth so you need to more look at the product than the brand

That is really useful, thank you. Most important to me is ease of use so I'll try to check on the quality of their IT and how their customer service performs.

triade

ButterCheese said:

I wonder if it might be better to go to a comparison site, choose the cheapest 3 or 4 options and just ring them directly.  Explain that you have ADHD and cannot use the App and see if they can do it over the phone.  If it is tiresome, or you can't even get through, or they say "no sorry you have to use the App or website" then just keep going down the list until someone will help you?

You will probably pay a bit more over the phone, they might match the comparison site price but add a few quid on for the call handlers commision.  That's what the AA did to me once (it was only a fiver though).

For what it's worth, I was with Tesco for car insurance and they were not great but not terrible.  They usually come up in the top 5 cheapest when we do our annual hunt for home insurance.

seems like a good plan, but I am really bad with the phone, waiting around is intensely uncomfortable for me.

I could adapt the strategy in other ways though.

Hoenir

Do you have an insurance broker locally with a bricks and mortar store. They'll be ble to talk through the options available impartially. 

triade

Hoenir said:

Do you have an insurance broker locally with a bricks and mortar store. They'll be ble to talk through the options available impartially. 

I think there may be quite a couple actually. I feel a bit cautious though, how would I vett them... I suppose I could just visit and go off instinct. I am usually a pretty good judge of character.