Direct Line - Again
Discussion
I was asked by Direct Line when changing my policy to the T350 to provide evidence of fitment of the alarm/immobiliser otherwise I wasn't covered for theft. A tad stange you may think - as it's all standard fitment stuff.
My local service place/dealer did this, prvoding a letter saying my t350 was fitted with the standard kit blah blah.
No reply weeks later so I called Direct Line. They told me the letter wasn't good enough. They needed to know the exact make/model/thatcham category. I searched PH and got the same letter that everyone else has used (from TVR factory) to prove OE fitment. (see other threads - search not working)
I called DL back saying I had this letter, would they like a copy and would they like me to read it out for them?
Now - here's the weird bit: the person told me as I started reading they'd seen the letter before and it had been sent in from other people, and that it was no good either as it did not specifically mention my registration number.
This means that:
i) they knew already what make/model/thatcham cat the OE fitment alarm was. They'd seen the data before!
ii) everyone who goes through them needs to get the same letter and go through the same procedure, via the same office and staff irrepective of where you are in the UK.
iii) the dealers and the factory must be well peed off with the paperwork load every time someone needs insured on any one of thousands upon thousands of vehicles. Must every single vehicle have the same letter specifically with it's registration number mentioned - UTTER MADNESS.
iv) it looks like this has been going on for years, maybe 6 or 7.
v) I ended up laughing down the phone at the ridiculousness of the whole sorry episode.
I contacted my service dealer again, who is now providing the correctly worded letter.
To me it's a waste of everyone's time and effort.
I will be changing companies at my next renewal. Apparently Priveledge are much cheaper anyway.
If I were Direct Line I would change the approach used for TVR, otherwise risk losing a huge amount of business.
I was asked if I wanted to be put through to customer complaints - and I'm thinking of going down that route if only to make it easier for others in the future. By trade I am in electronics and I would say that the Meta kit fitted as standard is pretty comprehensive so I don't know why the problem exists with the insurance company.
Very very annoying red tape rubbish.
J
My local service place/dealer did this, prvoding a letter saying my t350 was fitted with the standard kit blah blah.
No reply weeks later so I called Direct Line. They told me the letter wasn't good enough. They needed to know the exact make/model/thatcham category. I searched PH and got the same letter that everyone else has used (from TVR factory) to prove OE fitment. (see other threads - search not working)
I called DL back saying I had this letter, would they like a copy and would they like me to read it out for them?
Now - here's the weird bit: the person told me as I started reading they'd seen the letter before and it had been sent in from other people, and that it was no good either as it did not specifically mention my registration number.
This means that:
i) they knew already what make/model/thatcham cat the OE fitment alarm was. They'd seen the data before!
ii) everyone who goes through them needs to get the same letter and go through the same procedure, via the same office and staff irrepective of where you are in the UK.
iii) the dealers and the factory must be well peed off with the paperwork load every time someone needs insured on any one of thousands upon thousands of vehicles. Must every single vehicle have the same letter specifically with it's registration number mentioned - UTTER MADNESS.
iv) it looks like this has been going on for years, maybe 6 or 7.
v) I ended up laughing down the phone at the ridiculousness of the whole sorry episode.
I contacted my service dealer again, who is now providing the correctly worded letter.
To me it's a waste of everyone's time and effort.
I will be changing companies at my next renewal. Apparently Priveledge are much cheaper anyway.
If I were Direct Line I would change the approach used for TVR, otherwise risk losing a huge amount of business.
I was asked if I wanted to be put through to customer complaints - and I'm thinking of going down that route if only to make it easier for others in the future. By trade I am in electronics and I would say that the Meta kit fitted as standard is pretty comprehensive so I don't know why the problem exists with the insurance company.
Very very annoying red tape rubbish.
J
wiz 1 said:
Check out A Plan, Heard they do a lot of TVR stuff.
Must recommend A Plan. Very efficient and beat any quote I threw at them. When I realised the other day I might go over my allocated 3,000 miles for the year, I phoned them and they DOUBLED it to 6,000 miles p.a. for just £60 plus a small admin fee. Can't fault that in my eyes. Have been with the more well known insurers plus some brokers, the majority are a pain in the arse.
desolate said:
had to reply to this
direct line, priv, tesco, all ultimately the same. And Churchill. and Others.
direct line, priv, tesco, all ultimately the same. And Churchill. and Others.
I never needed this when covering mine through Priv, and as they all use the same call centre/web front end I can't see why they'd treat DL customers any differently. Strange.
basil brush said:
desolate said:
had to reply to this
direct line, priv, tesco, all ultimately the same. And Churchill. and Others.
direct line, priv, tesco, all ultimately the same. And Churchill. and Others.
I never needed this when covering mine through Priv, and as they all use the same call centre/web front end I can't see why they'd treat DL customers any differently. Strange.
i'm with priv too - they asked what was on it - i explained factory fitted and they were fine - perhaps you got through to one of the unhepfull non uk based call centers?
And I had to reply to this one.
DL, Tesco Car Ins, Priv, Churchill are indeed all the same company (RBS) and all use the same computer systems, just set up slightly differently, depending on the type of policy they sell. They are however, different call centres, and therefore different actual staff. By the way, all of them are UK based, there are no call centres outside these shores... bit like the Natwest advert, which is of course also RBS!
DL, Tesco Car Ins, Priv, Churchill are indeed all the same company (RBS) and all use the same computer systems, just set up slightly differently, depending on the type of policy they sell. They are however, different call centres, and therefore different actual staff. By the way, all of them are UK based, there are no call centres outside these shores... bit like the Natwest advert, which is of course also RBS!
from me. They saved me £400 and as already been mentioned they are very fast and very much on the ball.
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