Misleading advert

Emily_Joy

Okell said:

Emily_Joy said:

Okell said:

I'm not sure how you've been misled. Are you arguing that if you'd known you couldn't access it overseas you would have renewed before you left the UK, or what?

I am arguing that I was calling them precisely because I could not manage it online, while the prerecorded message was saying that I can. 

What the pre-recorded message said when you phoned from Australia is irrelevant as you had already left the UK at that point. What is important is what the renewal email in May said. Did it say you could renew online from "anywhere"? Or did it just say you could renew online and you assumed that that meant you didn't need to be in the UK? And were you still in the UK at that time?

Perhaps I unintentionally wrote something confusing. In May I received an email asking me to register for online services so that I can manage my insurance from anywhere. The renewal quote was sent by post at some point in August, as I have not subscribed to email communication. At the time it was delivered I was abroad already, but I could see it on my account online (once I managed to login via a ssh tunnel). 

Emily_Joy

user1977 said:

For what it's worth, their conditions here include:

"Website access and account usage

Our Website is designed to be used by people residing in the United Kingdom only. We do not represent that content available on or through our Website is appropriate for use in other locations."

Has anyone checked whether their website would be available via a VPN spoofing a UK IP address?

The website is available from Oz (and from continental Europe, as far as I understand). Here is a screenshot, as I see it: 

born_again

MyRealNameToo said:

Emily_Joy said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Emily_Joy said:

Please relocate if this is not the right Section of the Forum. 

Our house insurance is with Safeguard. Back in May I got an email saying that I can register on their online portal and manage the insurance/submit claim online. 
The trouble is the customet section of their "online portal" is not available neither from France, nor from Germany, nor from Australia. 
So in order to renew the policy I had to spend 20 minutes on the phone (while in Australia) listening to prerecorded message saying that "I can manage my policy online from anywhere at any time". *sigh*. 
I tried online chat and their friendly online agent explained that 1) yes, it is not possible to login from abroad; 2) they cannot help me to renew and I have to call. 
I just want to register a complain because of the inconvenience it all caused. 
Are there any regulations I should refer to when registering the complaint? 

There is the potential for regulatory issues if they sell to someone in the EU even if the insured risk is in the UK unless they have a licence to sell insurance in France or Germany etc. Since Brexit UK firms have lost their passporting rights and now have to setup a branch in the country if they want to do so. 

This is most likely why they are IP filtering to stop them from breaking their licensing rules. 

The answer is to get a VPN, its not a golden bullet as some will also block the IP addresses used by the most common VPN softwares but in principle it will make you appear as if you are still in the UK and circumvent their restrictions. 

There arent really any regulations to refer to, there are more that justify why they should be blocking overseas sales. 

Most insurers give notice of renewal about 28 days in advance, were you really gone for over a month that you couldn't have done it before or after the holiday? 

Was the policy not set to auto-renew such that it would have renewed anyway had you not made contact and thus removed your need to contact them?

Well, most UK banks would offer current accounts only to residents, but if you already have an account, you can login to online banking actually from nearly anywhere in the world and almost 24/7, subject to scheduled maintenance.  

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Even if customer is on holiday. We will not open any new account. So a very valid point. 👍

Emily_Joy

MyRealNameToo said:

Emily_Joy said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Emily_Joy said:

Please relocate if this is not the right Section of the Forum. 

Our house insurance is with Safeguard. Back in May I got an email saying that I can register on their online portal and manage the insurance/submit claim online. 
The trouble is the customet section of their "online portal" is not available neither from France, nor from Germany, nor from Australia. 
So in order to renew the policy I had to spend 20 minutes on the phone (while in Australia) listening to prerecorded message saying that "I can manage my policy online from anywhere at any time". *sigh*. 
I tried online chat and their friendly online agent explained that 1) yes, it is not possible to login from abroad; 2) they cannot help me to renew and I have to call. 
I just want to register a complain because of the inconvenience it all caused. 
Are there any regulations I should refer to when registering the complaint? 

There is the potential for regulatory issues if they sell to someone in the EU even if the insured risk is in the UK unless they have a licence to sell insurance in France or Germany etc. Since Brexit UK firms have lost their passporting rights and now have to setup a branch in the country if they want to do so. 

This is most likely why they are IP filtering to stop them from breaking their licensing rules. 

The answer is to get a VPN, its not a golden bullet as some will also block the IP addresses used by the most common VPN softwares but in principle it will make you appear as if you are still in the UK and circumvent their restrictions. 

There arent really any regulations to refer to, there are more that justify why they should be blocking overseas sales. 

Most insurers give notice of renewal about 28 days in advance, were you really gone for over a month that you couldn't have done it before or after the holiday? 

Was the policy not set to auto-renew such that it would have renewed anyway had you not made contact and thus removed your need to contact them?

Well, most UK banks would offer current accounts only to residents, but if you already have an account, you can login to online banking actually from nearly anywhere in the world and almost 24/7, subject to scheduled maintenance.  

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Oh, I see it better now. Well, I know from experience, that some building societies (e.g. Skipton) would not allow you to top up your saving account using your UK debit card from overseas, which seems crazy. 
======
What would be interesting to know is whether using mobile WiFi from a UK operator solves the problem.

Emily_Joy

born_again said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Even if customer is on holiday. We will not open any new account. So a very valid point. 👍

Will you renew a maturing regular saver? 

born_again

Emily_Joy said:

born_again said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Even if customer is on holiday. We will not open any new account. So a very valid point. 👍

Will you renew a maturing regular saver? 

No. As it is a new product.
Customer has to be in UK. 
VPN's also get picked up by the systems, as they do not match users IP.

MyRealNameToo

Emily_Joy said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Emily_Joy said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Emily_Joy said:

Please relocate if this is not the right Section of the Forum. 

Our house insurance is with Safeguard. Back in May I got an email saying that I can register on their online portal and manage the insurance/submit claim online. 
The trouble is the customet section of their "online portal" is not available neither from France, nor from Germany, nor from Australia. 
So in order to renew the policy I had to spend 20 minutes on the phone (while in Australia) listening to prerecorded message saying that "I can manage my policy online from anywhere at any time". *sigh*. 
I tried online chat and their friendly online agent explained that 1) yes, it is not possible to login from abroad; 2) they cannot help me to renew and I have to call. 
I just want to register a complain because of the inconvenience it all caused. 
Are there any regulations I should refer to when registering the complaint? 

There is the potential for regulatory issues if they sell to someone in the EU even if the insured risk is in the UK unless they have a licence to sell insurance in France or Germany etc. Since Brexit UK firms have lost their passporting rights and now have to setup a branch in the country if they want to do so. 

This is most likely why they are IP filtering to stop them from breaking their licensing rules. 

The answer is to get a VPN, its not a golden bullet as some will also block the IP addresses used by the most common VPN softwares but in principle it will make you appear as if you are still in the UK and circumvent their restrictions. 

There arent really any regulations to refer to, there are more that justify why they should be blocking overseas sales. 

Most insurers give notice of renewal about 28 days in advance, were you really gone for over a month that you couldn't have done it before or after the holiday? 

Was the policy not set to auto-renew such that it would have renewed anyway had you not made contact and thus removed your need to contact them?

Well, most UK banks would offer current accounts only to residents, but if you already have an account, you can login to online banking actually from nearly anywhere in the world and almost 24/7, subject to scheduled maintenance.  

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Oh, I see it better now. Well, I know from experience, that some building societies (e.g. Skipton) would not allow you to top up your saving account using your UK debit card from overseas, which seems crazy. 
======
What would be interesting to know is whether using mobile WiFi from a UK operator solves the problem.

I doubt O2UK has wifi in Australia 

Using wifi in Australia would geolocate as you being in Australia. Using a VPN will hide where you are and you can select where your IP geolocates to. 

If you use a well known VPN that probably won't work, at least with big banks,  because whilst they can't see where you are they can see you are using a VPN and so know your location is untrustworthy. There are smaller VPNs that you may bet away with and you can use a home computer as a proxy in which case they won't be able to tell that the traffic is just being bounced through your home setup (almost certainly, dont work in Info Sec). Not all companies go to the same lengths though hence I can watch some US TV really easily from home in the UK and others have to change the VPN settings frequently because they've worked out I am not really sitting in Dallas or wherever I've set as my supposed location. 

user1977

born_again said:

Emily_Joy said:

born_again said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Even if customer is on holiday. We will not open any new account. So a very valid point. 👍

Will you renew a maturing regular saver? 

VPN's also get picked up by the systems, as they do not match users IP.

Who insists that you connect from the same IP address for everything? I've never encountered problems with logging into sites via different networks (broadband at home/work, mobile via personal/work phones give at least four possible IP addresses for a start).

born_again

user1977 said:

Who insists that you connect from the same IP address for everything? I've never encountered problems with logging into sites via different networks (broadband at home/work, mobile via personal/work phones give at least four possible IP addresses for a start).

No one insists (never said they did). It is just another check to ensure that bank is not breaking licence conditions by providing products to non UK people.
Most people will have multiple ip's in their profile.

Emily_Joy

born_again said:

Emily_Joy said:

born_again said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Yes, but the laws around servicing and selling are different. Renewing a policy is legally the sale of a new policy as neither party is legally obliged to offer/accept the renewal. 

Banks can have issues with you applying for a new account whilst overseas, even if you are normally resident in the UK. This is the closer equivalent to renewing an insurance policy. 

Even if customer is on holiday. We will not open any new account. So a very valid point. 👍

Will you renew a maturing regular saver? 

No. As it is a new product.
Customer has to be in UK. 
VPN's also get picked up by the systems, as they do not match users IP.

Hmm. But one can give maturity instructions and then go abroad; so at the moment of account opening they will not be in the UK. So what's the difference? 

I don't think I have ever seen something like "I will be in the UK on the day the account matures" on maturity instruction.