Insurance Rip-off

[Dirty Gertie]

[rant]
I am absolutely fuming!!! Today, I rang my insurance Co; yes, the one who covers HL, and with whom I was very happy (never had a problem)- until now!!! It would appear that they "did not receive" the proof of my no-claims bonus, which I posted to them over a month ago, so they have simply cancelled my policy!
 I called to get it sorted out today, 1st chance I've had, since I've worked 13 days out of the last 14, and the only day I got off was a sunday!
I'm told by a bloke who claimed to be the manager (although if that's the standard of customer care training he's received, it's pretty poor!!) that the fact that they now plan to keep the 75% of the annual premium I have paid thus far, all bar 20 quid; is, apparently all legal and above board, arranged by the FSA - a self-governing body!! And there is NOTHING I can do about it. What recourse does the customer have?
As I asked him, short of hand delivering my documents to Cambridge myself, I did all that could be reasonably expected of me, as a customer??: I put them into an envelope, stuck on a first class stamp, and put it in the post box; When I received another reminder a couple of days later, containing the words "If you have posted these documents within the last 7 days, please ignore this letter" I did just that.
I have now received notification that my policy is cancelled; damn good job the skip is unuseable at the mo, isn't it??? What is really getting my goat though, is the principle of the matter; what right does any company have to keep premiums paid for goods and services, if they decide to withdraw said services through no fault of the customer; the only explanation I could get out of the ignoramus, was the repeated mantra "The policy cancellation procedure was explained in your policy document, you had 14 days in which to cancel if you disagreed with the policy" - my protestations that I DIDN'T have an issue with it within that 14 day period, since I did not anticipate their cancellation of my paid-for policy at that time, fell on deaf ears, and rather than listen to my point, he then resorted to the old "If you're not going to listen to me, I'm going to terminate this call" chestnut!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!


And yes, I will be writing  letter of complaint, both to the company and the FSA.
[/rant]

[Bob696]

insurance ombudsman?

[Evilgoat]

Had the same with Esure

In my case the proof I had was supposedly too old (6 months)

[landroverkeith]

isnt all insurance a rip off ??

as a younger driver i think wat they ask me to pay to drive a diesel discovery is daft

[muddysteve]

i had a similar thing with sureterm a few years back on my old mondeo

i was self emplyed at the time and they worked out cheapest as i needed comercial use

after 3 months they phoned to cancel due to not being able to insure "allied trades"

i told them i was an electrician when i took out the policy but i took them 3 months to work out they couldnt insure me and to add insult to injury they only refunded me for 6 months worth of policy  

will never ever ever deal with them again


Steve

[Dirty Gertie]

Well, I've just got the name of the person who handles their complaints from the ombudsman website, and sent them this:
  Dear Ms xxxxx,

Today, I called your office to enquire about the cancellation of my motor policy ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This was, cancelled by yourselves, after you apparently did not receive the no-claims bonus notice from my previous insurers. This was posted, first class, after I received the reminder notice.

I was initially told by one of your operatives, that the policy could be re-started, as a new quote; naturally, I expected this to be at the same price as the original policy; I was therefore not impressed, when I was given a fully comprehensive quote when it should have been TPF&T (this IS a £500 'work hack' we're insuring here!!)

It then became apparent that I would be expected to pay another full 12 months premium, despite having already paid 75% of the original premium, this is when I asked to speak to a manager.

I was put on to a xxxx xxxxxxxx- this man claimed to be the higest-ranking person to whom I could address my issues. I find this claim hard to believe.

Firstly this man has NO customer care skills what so ever: He does not listen to the customer, he is intent on getting HIS point across, in spite of the fact that he has not listened to the customers' issues before launching into his 'spiel'.

xxxx xxxxxxxx assured me that your postroom operative has been in post for 40 years and has NEVER lost an item of post; it's heartening to know that he has memorised that little nugget of company history!!

I terminated the first conversation with xxxx xxxxxxxx, since I found his attitude to be boorish and overbearing; I dialled the company again, and asked to speak to a person in authority to whom I could speak, both about the issue in hand, and the attitude of xxxx xxxxxxxx; I was put through to (same bloke); this is not good customer care practice!!!

He DID NOT listen to the questions I was asking, he wanted only to trot out that "The terms and conditions of the policy are contained in your policy document, if you did not agree with them you had 14 days to cancel with a full refund"

As I  repeatedly tried to tell him : I HAD NO ISSUE DURING THAT 14 DAY PERIOD, nor did I anticipate that my policy would be cancelled, as I HAD supplied all the documentation and information requested of me.

xxxx xxxxxxxx is of the opinion, that the onus for everything rests squarely upon the customer: WRONG!! When I pay for a service, I do not expect to be told "YOU should have done this.. or that..."

This man IS NOT GOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS!! He is rude and ignorant and his favourite sound appears to be that of his own voice!

Now, bearing in mind that I, the customer, did all that was required of me, and I now find myself potentially out of pocket, due to what I consider to be an unfair practice, I would like to know what you intend to do to rectify this situation, since I consider name of company Insurance as an agent; to be presently in posession of monies to which they have no right: If I pay for goods and services, I expect to receive them; if the supplier cannot, for whatever reason fulfil the contract to supply said goods and services; I expect a FULL refund.

Please notify me of what you intend to do to reimburse me, within 5 days.

If I do not receive a satisfactory conclusion, I will not be renewing my other policy currently held by yourselves, and I will also make sure that your practices are known among the Land Rover/ 4x4 community; which brings you a substantial amount of business, I will also take this issue to the FSA and Trading Standards.

Kindly reply using like medium, as it appears the postal service cannot be trusted to deliver.

Yours Sincerely"

watch this space



 :?

[mark.yellow.series.3]

insurance companies are worse than double glazing salesmen.
i dread the time when i have to deal with them.

i feel your pain  

[Bulli]

keep your chip up, call back on Monday..there will be a different pratt in charge who might just listen to you!
Normally when you mention the FSA they crap themselves as they can impose huge fines.... i have found that faxing/emailing them info or sending registered is the only safe option.
Very bad customer service..im amazed you didnt blow up at him!

[Karen696]

You just have to keep on complaining, so many people get wound up but don't follow through the full complaints procedures (which do involve so much   red tape after all) that the companies get used to getting away with it.

Push it, become a real pain in the *** to them, and the ombudsman, and your local trading standards people, and your MP (just say its car insurance - don't mention its a 4x4!  LOL).

Having just paid 100 percent of my new insurance premium upfront, on a policy with the same 14 day wording I am now getting worried in case they try to weasel out of it for any reason.

Its bloody crazy what these insurance companies get away with, lets face it - just listen to their advertising, you can save up to.... with us, how come they all claim that?

[EvilEd]

AF did the same to me... this was after I had still not recieved any paperwork despite several requests and being told it was in the post. took 5 weeks to get any paperwork from them and they cancelled my policy the following week as I had not sent them proof.

Took me 3 years to get my refund from them too (only a few weeks back)

[Dirty Gertie]

and your MP (just say its car insurance - don't mention its a 4x4!  LOL).

Karen; fortunately, it's NOT my Landy insurance; it's the cheapo Astra "Passion Skip" which is currently a non-runner, due to the cam belt/water pump self-destruct scenario - I'd be REALLY peeved if I was relying on the car for transport!! But it IS the same company as HL is insured with!! As I've told them, I will not be renewing if they don't sort this out satisfactorily!
I've just sent a copy of the e-mail to the BBC Watchdog site, asking them to take no action at present, but to hold the info on file pending a response; hmm, looks like I'm going to have to dust off my old law skills here! :?

[Jim-Willy]

Am i missing summat on account of the amount of Beer i have consumed or have you not said who your insurer is?

[Dirty Gertie]

Am i missing summat on account of the amount of Beer i have consumed or have you not said who your insurer is?

No, J-W I've not named them, since I have posted this on another LR forum, and it's usually a good way of getting threads pulled due to potential legal action etc, but I'll happily tell anyone who wants to PM me, unless of course Tim or Daz (or any other demi-Gods) want to give me the nod