Sure Thing Insurance - what a PITA!

[Ken Figenus]

Anyone else used these? Chose them for my missus 1 series - good premiums yes, but they hit you with a request for ALL your documentation for all drivers as soon as you take a policy out. This means licences, counterpart driving licences and V5's etc etc

They also CANCELLED my missus' insurance without telling her as she was still waiting for a replacement V5 and hadn't sent the b reams of paper requested in yet. They apologised and took the blame but that is a pretty shocking thing to do. Only found out about it as the MID sent us a scammy looking letter saying the car wasn't insured.

Anyone else with similar experiences as I am still pretty outraged.

[B'stard Child]

That's what worries me about cheap cover... Cheap service

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Pay peanuts and get monkeys.

[The Turbonator]

I've been with AXA for 3 years now and I really can't fault them. Sure, I pay more for my premiums but in my opinion it's worth the money for the superb customer service.

They've also been great at sorting everything out for me, when I recently had a bump. The cars even been sent to a main dealership for repairs, without me even asking.

[ZOLLAR]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Pay peanuts and get monkeys.

I thought you had a firm grasp of insurance practices?

Premiums are risk based, I know plenty of horror stories relating to "bespoke" insurers so paying a high premium doesn't give you a perfect service.
It comes down to the standard of the training and experience of the staff members.

[Ken Figenus]

I did check them out and the policy fine print - part of a big group and run by Mr Kwik Fit. Still, really wish LV hadn't got chancy on the renewal as many insurers do - they might have kept the business...

[750turbo]

Ken Figenus said:

...Only found out about it as the MID sent us a scammy looking letter saying the car wasn't insured.

...

And when did they start doing this?

[Ken Figenus]

750turbo said:

And when did they start doing this?

Dont know mate and was initially VERY suspicious - especially given its 'careful' wording. Bloody glad they did though.

[feef]

The Turbonator said:

I've been with AXA for 3 years now and I really can't fault them. Sure, I pay more for my premiums but in my opinion it's worth the money for the superb customer service.

They've also been great at sorting everything out for me, when I recently had a bump. The cars even been sent to a main dealership for repairs, without me even asking.

Yup, another vote for AXA here, both in terms of general customer service but also claims handling.

[Dan_1981]

Sky insurance for me. (not the TV company)

Been really impressed - originally had them for the Evo as a "specialist"

When I changed to a boring diesel mobile they promised to match any quote I could find.

Now on renewal they offer a "beat any price" guarantee - which they've managed twice now.

Very pleased.

Also dealt with a non fault claim quickly and professionally.

[geeks]

750turbo said:

And when did they start doing this?

about 12 months or so from memory, had letters for stuff i had sorn'd they do look very scammy though...

[Riknos]

Dan_1981 said:

Sky insurance for me. (not the TV company)

Currently with them and used them a few times - They seem good and the premiums normally come out the cheapest - BUT - You have to mess around telling them you're going elsewhere / found a cheaper quote elsewhere before they actually budge. My "Lowest possible" they could do dropped a further £200 when I mentioned going elsewhere, funny how that works...

[Dan_1981]

Riknos said:

Dan_1981 said:

Sky insurance for me. (not the TV company)

Currently with them and used them a few times - They seem good and the premiums normally come out the cheapest - BUT - You have to mess around telling them you're going elsewhere / found a cheaper quote elsewhere before they actually budge. My "Lowest possible" they could do dropped a further £200 when I mentioned going elsewhere, funny how that works...

Agreed - the "beat any quote" thin only works if you can find a cheaper quote, they don't actually send out their cheapest offer in the first place which is still annoying but i'm yet to find a company that does do that.

[B'stard Child]

ZOLLAR said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Pay peanuts and get monkeys.

I thought you had a firm grasp of insurance practices?

Premiums are risk based, I know plenty of horror stories relating to "bespoke" insurers so paying a high premium doesn't give you a perfect service.
It comes down to the standard of the training and experience of the staff members.

However to counter that view - if premiums are cheap in a price competitive market then savings have to me made somewhere. Staff training, fringe benefits on policies, admin cost charges etc etc

I agree paying an expensive premium might not get you any better service but I'd probably bet a few quid that paying a really cheap premium would walk you into service issues

[TwigtheWonderkid]

B'stard Child said:

ZOLLAR said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Pay peanuts and get monkeys.

I thought you had a firm grasp of insurance practices?

Premiums are risk based, I know plenty of horror stories relating to "bespoke" insurers so paying a high premium doesn't give you a perfect service.
It comes down to the standard of the training and experience of the staff members.

However to counter that view - if premiums are cheap in a price competitive market then savings have to me made somewhere. Staff training, fringe benefits on policies, admin cost charges etc etc

I agree paying an expensive premium might not get you any better service but I'd probably bet a few quid that paying a really cheap premium would walk you into service issues

Exactly. You can't guarantee great service with a high premium, or crap service with cheap one. But I would bet there's a correlation between cheap premiums and poor service in general terms.

Especially so with these unheard of insurers that pop up on aggregator sites.

Survey 100 customers of Aviva/Allianz/LV/ et al, and 100 customers of CheaperPreems.com, and see who is the most satisfied.

[ZOLLAR]

B'stard Child said:

ZOLLAR said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Pay peanuts and get monkeys.

I thought you had a firm grasp of insurance practices?

Premiums are risk based, I know plenty of horror stories relating to "bespoke" insurers so paying a high premium doesn't give you a perfect service.
It comes down to the standard of the training and experience of the staff members.

However to counter that view - if premiums are cheap in a price competitive market then savings have to me made somewhere. Staff training, fringe benefits on policies, admin cost charges etc etc

I agree paying an expensive premium might not get you any better service but I'd probably bet a few quid that paying a really cheap premium would walk you into service issues

Staff training is a continuous exercise, depending on the department it can take many months to get a new starter trained into a role.
Premiums fluctuate far to often for it to have a direct impact on training budgets.
Much of the training will be in relation to system use and changes in company procedure not something that would require large amounts of money, many of the courses would have been developed over years of trading.

[EnthusiastOwned]

Am I missing something here? Don't most insurers require documents to be sent / sent back at the start of the policy? I'm pretty sure it's standard practise they'll cancel if you don't.

[Ken Figenus]

EnthusiastOwned said:

Am I missing something here? Don't most insurers require documents to be sent / sent back at the start of the policy? I'm pretty sure it's standard practise they'll cancel if you don't.

Never had to send both parts driving license and V5's before - ever. Usually this type of checking is reserved for when you actually make a claim - and even then only sometimes.

[ZOLLAR]

Ken Figenus said:

EnthusiastOwned said:

Am I missing something here? Don't most insurers require documents to be sent / sent back at the start of the policy? I'm pretty sure it's standard practise they'll cancel if you don't.

Never had to send both parts driving license and V5's before - ever. Usually this type of checking is reserved for when you actually make a claim - and even then only sometimes.

It'll vary per insurer.
My previous one didn't need that and my current one did, I usually find that Brokers request it more often that direct insurers.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

ZOLLAR said:

Premiums fluctuate far to often for it to have a direct impact on training budgets.

I'll wager a pound to a penny that Aviva or Allianz have a higher training budget per head than Sure Thing Insurance.