Budget Home Insurance - Avoid At All Costs

anadin_2

When I renewed my Budget home insurance (contents and buildings) with last April, I changed my previous arrangements (the previous year I'd paid by monthly direct debit from my current account) and asked to pay by lump sum from my credit card. They took *both* a DD from my account and the lump sum from my card. When I cancelled the DD and contacted them about a refund, I received a threatening letter saying they knew the DD had been cancelled and they were going to take action. More hassle which took much time and trouble to sort out - it was sorted in the end but then last April (2007) their call centre seemed to be here in England.

Then the other day I tried to make some changes to my Budget home insurance (had treated myself to a nice "valuable item" with money saved thanks to moneysavingexpert ). Had to phone Budget's South African call centre 5 times and in the end gave up in desperation. Each operative contradicted the last, calls back were promised and never made, the change I'd requested to my insurance was charged for but never appeared on my new insurance documents. Plus the call centre operatives treat customers like you're a nuisance and an idiot. Just an awful experience. I still haven't managed to get any service out of them, but there's not long to run on the policy and so I'm thinking just sod it and go with someone else.

So my message is: avoid Budget Home Insurance unless you can be sure (!) you'll never need to contact Customer Services or to make a claim.