Van insurance renewal higher than a new quote with Directline?

m_c

I'm just off a chat with Directline over this.
My (personal) van insurance renewal came in last week, with a quote of just over £1400.
I just ran the exact same details through as a new quote, and it came in around £1075.

Apparently my renewal is the best price they can give me, and they wouldn't budge on the renewal quote.

I've obviously cancelled the renewal, but given that it's illegal to give a new customer a lower quote than an existing customer, I want to take this further.
So what's the best approach, put a complaint in via Directline's complaint page, and see what they say?

MeteredOut

If you are 100% sure they are like-for-like, I'd be getting the evidence of the renewal quote alongside the new quote, and raising a complaint with Direct Line with that evidence. I'd then take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service if not happy.

But, I suspect Direct Line will find a way to show they are different, or at the very least claim that.

Have you managed to find a cheaper quote elsewhere?

MyRealNameToo

m_c said:

I'm just off a chat with Directline over this.
My (personal) van insurance renewal came in last week, with a quote of just over £1400.
I just ran the exact same details through as a new quote, and it came in around £1075.

Apparently my renewal is the best price they can give me, and they wouldn't budge on the renewal quote.

I've obviously cancelled the renewal, but given that it's illegal to give a new customer a lower quote than an existing customer, I want to take this further.
So what's the best approach, put a complaint in via Directline's complaint page, and see what they say?

The law requires them to sell the same product via the same channel at no more than the new business price. 

So... how did you buy the renewing policy originally? How did you get the quote for the new business policy? If say you signed up over the phone for the original and got the quote online for the new one then there is no breach as you've used a different channel. It's worth noting that the regulations also consider aggregators sites (eg confused.com) as a different channel to going directly to the insurers website. 

Secondly, are you sure it's the same product? Direct line used to retire products each time a new version came out so at renewal everyone moved to the latest version but not all firms do this, some people keep people on legacy products. There are different rules in place if the product you are offering a renewal on is no longer sold as new business. 

Mark_d

m_c said:

I'm just off a chat with Directline over this.
My (personal) van insurance renewal came in last week, with a quote of just over £1400.
I just ran the exact same details through as a new quote, and it came in around £1075.

Apparently my renewal is the best price they can give me, and they wouldn't budge on the renewal quote.

I've obviously cancelled the renewal, but given that it's illegal to give a new customer a lower quote than an existing customer, I want to take this further.
So what's the best approach, put a complaint in via Directline's complaint page, and see what they say?

You know that new quotes can land you a better deal than renewals.  It happens everywhere you look.   At a high level it is illegal but there are so many loopholes.
Personally I would check multiple insurers and then make the decision as to where you get your new policy from.  You don't have to stay with Directline.
Some companies boast about giving the same deals to new and existing customers.  This rewards people who don't review their position each year or aren't prepared to switch but are a disadvantage to those of us who do switch every year. 
If you are prepared to make the effort to get a new policy, with Directline or someone else, then take the saving a
and don't waste your time.

m_c

I sat down when I came home today, and filled in the new quote details using the Statement of Fact Directline created as part of my renewal quote, so the details should be identical.

I've now filled in the complaint form, so will wait and see what they come back with.

I have had cheaper quotes, but by the time you actually get them to a similar level of cover as Directline, at best they're £100 cheaper, and given I've actually experienced the Directline claim/repair process, I'd be quite happy if Directline would match the new quote.

MyRealNameToo

m_c said:

I sat down when I came home today, and filled in the new quote details using the Statement of Fact Directline created as part of my renewal quote, so the details should be identical.

I've now filled in the complaint form, so will wait and see what they come back with.

I have had cheaper quotes, but by the time you actually get them to a similar level of cover as Directline, at best they're £100 cheaper, and given I've actually experienced the Directline claim/repair process, I'd be quite happy if Directline would match the new quote.

You didnt answer my questions but if it is via a different channel then you'll get a response in a week or two explaining the above. Maybe if you enjoy complaining it's worth it but if you are obviously outside of the rules all you're doing is using up your own time. 

m_c

MyRealNameToo said:

m_c said:

I sat down when I came home today, and filled in the new quote details using the Statement of Fact Directline created as part of my renewal quote, so the details should be identical.

I've now filled in the complaint form, so will wait and see what they come back with.

I have had cheaper quotes, but by the time you actually get them to a similar level of cover as Directline, at best they're £100 cheaper, and given I've actually experienced the Directline claim/repair process, I'd be quite happy if Directline would match the new quote.

You didnt answer my questions but if it is via a different channel then you'll get a response in a week or two explaining the above. Maybe if you enjoy complaining it's worth it but if you are obviously outside of the rules all you're doing is using up your own time. 

Sorry, the original policy would have been taken out online, but was changed over the phone when I bought the new van last year.

As far as I can tell, DL don't do different products. It's all just Van Insurance, with whatever options you add.

I'm willing to waste some time chasing them for an answer over why the two prices are different.
I've got a few quotes saved with different providers, so I'll give them a few days to respond before making any final decision.

MyRealNameToo

m_c said:

MyRealNameToo said:

m_c said:

I sat down when I came home today, and filled in the new quote details using the Statement of Fact Directline created as part of my renewal quote, so the details should be identical.

I've now filled in the complaint form, so will wait and see what they come back with.

I have had cheaper quotes, but by the time you actually get them to a similar level of cover as Directline, at best they're £100 cheaper, and given I've actually experienced the Directline claim/repair process, I'd be quite happy if Directline would match the new quote.

You didnt answer my questions but if it is via a different channel then you'll get a response in a week or two explaining the above. Maybe if you enjoy complaining it's worth it but if you are obviously outside of the rules all you're doing is using up your own time. 

Sorry, the original policy would have been taken out online, but was changed over the phone when I bought the new van last year.

As far as I can tell, DL don't do different products. It's all just Van Insurance, with whatever options you add.

I'm willing to waste some time chasing them for an answer over why the two prices are different.
I've got a few quotes saved with different providers, so I'll give them a few days to respond before making any final decision.

so when it changed last year did you just do a mid term amendment and switch the vehicle on cover or did you cancel the original policy and buy a new 12 month policy on the new vehicle? If so then the renewing policy would be a telephone purchase and hence they can differentiate the pricing to an online purchase. 

The one people fall foul of is doing a quote online but then actually buying over the phone and forget to equate that the purchase was made on the phone.


Products are more nuanced than that... insurers can't change just one word and claim its a different product but changes can be fairly modest, its how the likes of aviva have 50+ products all sold as "Home" plus who knows how many retired products which may have renewing customers still on them. Traditionally DL didnt do it so as an advisor you just needed to know this years policy wording and last years because all old customers will renew onto this years terms at renewal but others keep renewing people on old terms so end up with dozens of versions still in force depending on when the customer first bought them. 

For these the rules are different because no one can buy the old product as a new customer so no direct comparison to new pricing can be made but at the same time the regulator didnt want to leave a gaping loophole which would allow insurers to make modest changes each year and avoid the rules. They would however be taking on the operational expense of having to manage so many different products so even if someone is trying it its not all plus side

m_c

To follow up on this, DirectLine phoned in response to my complaint, and FCA protections only apply to purely consumer insurance policies. If you have any kind of commercial/business use on the policy, then FCA protections don't apply.

He said he wasn't aware of why there was such a price discrepancy, as all the details appeared identical, and could only put it down to the pricing when the renewal quote was generated. He said that DirectLine are happy for you to cancel and take out a new policy, if that is the better option.