Definition of "new customer"

Ialwaysgetdone

hansi wrote: »

There is a simpler solution. Try another Company. There are loads out there all vying for your business and of course there's the cashback! Also, never have automatic renewal on you CC. Very difficult to cancel.

I know there are other companies out there, I've looked but Direct Line was the cheapest for what I want, that's why I bought it from them. Year after year I check to see if anyone can beat them but they can't.* (*Yes others can beat them on price but I've not found any yet that gives the exact same cover with the exact same excesses that does. All those that say they guarantee to beat your current quote usually just up your excess to do so.)

Re the cancelling, I don't cancel, I simply tell them to allow it to expire and I've never had any problems doing so. If you cancel an insurance policy insurers will normally charge you a 1/12 of your premium to do so unless it's within the first 21 days

silvercar

Got a renewal quote from directline and it was expensive, so I phoned to cancel it. The CA told me to get a new directline quote online as a new customer, ring them back and they will match the price. Saved £300.

gocat

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

I have a possible solution; I'll phone the Financial Ombudsman Service next week and set up a new post with their response on this forum. I'll not have a chance to do so until Thursday and I propose to ask them 2 specific questions:

1. If someone allows their policy to expire and then takes up a new policy with the same insurer, would the FOS consider them to be a new customer?

2. If an insurer offers a discount to "new customers only" and their website allows existing policyholders to obtain new policies with this discount, would you consider this to be a breach of utmost good faith by the customer or poor programming by the insurer?

If anyone has any suggested changes to these questions, please post them on here and I will review them on Wednesday evening.

Please remember that advice given by the FOS when asked for technical assistance is just that; advice. Their advice is intended to give direction without a "decision", as they cannot give a full response without all the facts of a case.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I've just received my renewal quotes for building/contents and car insurance from Direct Line and both are way higher than equivalent online quotes from the Direct Line website.
Wondering if Oscar got a reply to the questions he was going to put to the Financial Obudsman Service or if anyone can point me in the right direction to get answers .