www.thisismoney.co.uk/insurance/car-insurance/arti...5
Not very nice if you're currently on your holidays!
MVP
|
Maybe what you get if you insure with a bucket shop?
I would imagine the larger, and admittedly more expensive, insurers would take the error on the chin.
|
"The regulator refused to comment"
Says it all, really, doesn't it!
|
It wasn't very nice when Fire Auto & Marine went out of business. These things happen.
--
L\'escargot.
|
Why doesn't contract law apply to insurance policies?
Insurers can set whatever premiums and conditions they wish, once they've accepted an application for a year's insurance and received the money why aren't they obliged to fulfill their side of the contract?
|
Very shabby service, one to avoid me thinks.
Another example of one rule for the big boys, another for the customer.
MVP
|
Being a layman when it comes to law I can't understand how two parties can agree on a price and a contract entered into, only for one party to then back out. I don't think I would like it if I was pushing my shopping to my car when Mr Tesco came running after me to snatch back a tin of beans that they sold to me at a "wrong" price.
Not very good PR for Hastings - much better to take it on the chin and fire the person who made the mistake.
|
|
My house contents and buildings is with them - it won't be next year!
|
|
|
It seems like Hastings are doing pretty well the best they can to retrieve the situation. They gave advance warning (although admittedly more than 7 days would have been better for people on holiday who might receive the letter too late) and they're refunding premiums pro-rata. Selling one tin of beans too cheaply doesn't have the same financial consequences as taking the risk of 2600 people making a claim on their insurance. As far as I know the profit from motor insurance is very low and some companies subsidise motor insurance from their domestic insurance income.
--
L\'escargot.
|
Very poor affair, IMO. You can be fairly certain that it's 2600 policy holders who won't be using that broker again. They might have the law on their side but it's very poor PR in my view. Far better to send out a letter saying that if you happen to put in a claim, you will be asked to stump up the difference in the premium. That way the vast majority of the 2600 will still be happy.
If profits from motor policies are low, then all the more reason to let this one go. Afterall, they won't be losing much profit.
|
|
Not only do the 2,600 policyholders have the hassle of finding alternative arrangements, they also have to answer yes when asked if they have previously had insurance cancelled and possibly suffer a further increased premium.
|
they also have to answer yes when asked if they have previously had insurance cancelled and possibly suffer a further increased premium.
Not a problem - the question is "have you ever been refused insurance". A lot different to a cancellation.
|
|
|
|
|
What terrible service. When I was insuring two cars, Lloyds TSB made a mistake of almost £100 in my favour, and honoured it as it was their fault.
|
|
This>>>>tinyurl.com/24yahk makes interesting reading too!
|
This tinyurl.com/24yahk makes interesting reading too!
The company came bottom in a table of 45 insurers after receiving low marks on value for money and the quality of its foreign call centers.
Norwich spokesman David Ross said: 'Independent customer research has shown there is little difference in the quality of service offered from our Indian call centers to our UK ones.'
When you are in a hole, stop digging?
|
|
All I can say is that NU must be rubbish in the uk as well then. When talking to the ICC, the A3 Sportsback I have is not a car, it does not exist, even as I read out the details from the V5C. After the usual "You are not understanding me" I decided to politely terminate the call. NU are now wasting lots of money with direct mail which only gets opened so that I can shred my name and address. This is one of many companies that choose to use ICC's that I now refuse to deal with. They are not offering enough of a cost saving to make it worth my while
|
|
|
|
NU Direct's (Indian) Call Centre assured me on three separate occasions that 3 points I'd picked up when driving the car did not need to be declared when taking out motorbike insurance. They wouldn't even record it on the application "for information". Despite them being cheapest the followng year I switched to another company, just in case they were wrong - it felt so contrary to everything I expected.
|
|
|
|
|
Can't say I'm surprised at this - after being stung by them (not as bad as arbitrary policy cancelling though) I decided to give them a wide berth.
That was nearly 5 1/2 years ago : www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=5403&m...e
|
HD's sad adverts with puppets in chain mail but wearing shades don't help and for the number of times they appear on Sat TV they must represent a huge outlay. Their adverts also used to state something like " VotedBest Value car Insurer 2005 and 2006" without saying what the 'value' was and who voted!
|
|
|
|
I'm really amazed that Hastings Direct can do this - if they've made the error, they should be made to stand by it. Giving 7 days notice is outrageous - I'm willing to bet that a number of drivers have inadvertently driven without insurance as a result (especially with it being holiday season) - I'd have said that 30 days notice should be a minimum.
Another case of biased contracts - customers would never be allowed to walk away wih just paying the pro-rata rate and with 7 days notice in the middle of the insurance contract.
|
You would think a broker would have underwritten for a catastrophe like this with a 3rd party insurer for just such a calamity and then written it off at the year end,
Dammed poor show and so unbritish-what.
|
|
The legal rights are on the side of the customer here under both tort and contract law, but as most people can't be bothered to use their rights, they can't complain when they are breached.
|
|
Then please tell us of these rights so that we can be bothered.
|
|
It will be covered by the law of contract under the rules of mistake - it needs a group action as I can't see anyone taking HD to court on a civil matter which will cost £000s to recover a few hundred pounds. I pity anyone who might be away and has an accident - during the summer 7 days notice is simply not long enough. I would hope HD are calling all those affected too.
|
Yup I'm another who won't be using HD. They don't extend my Class 1 cover to Europe, which to be fair quite a lot of the cheaper end of the market don't. Documented on a different thread on here.
So cancelled & have gone to AA who were quite surprised when I asked the question! Cancelled HD & was promised a refund, been around 8-9 days so far & chased it on Friday... "Oh about a fortnight sir" & that was from my phone call not when I originally cancelled.
One of my TiPEC members got caught out when insuring his Boxster with HD as well. They gave him a good quote which he accepted. When the proposal form was returned they said they wouldn't cover the options in that premium, these would be extra. Needless to say the quote for the options was a large sum indeed. Another cancelled HD policy. The options all Porsche factory fitted items. I doubt any Porsche leaves the factory as a basic price car.
Norwich Unions ICC's are a joke. I hate to think how much business they lose through their very poor performance. s
|
|
|
|
Happened to my 19 year old son just a few weeks back.
I arranged his policy,Hastings having given by far the cheapest quote.Paid a humungous credit card deposit,and we thought everything was hunky dory.
They took the first regular premium a month later,then literally the day after, the dreaded termination letter arrived,pulling the rug from under him.
A friend of his who works for Direct Line said that,yes,THEY would have honoured that first years premium,absorbed the cost and clawed back any mistake in the second year of insurance.
Nil Points,Hastings--"Insurer of the Year", my Aunt Ada.
|
Slightly inaccurate recollection above.My son had a very apologetic phone call the day after his first premium was taken,THEN the termination letter,which would be rather harshly worded,he was told,and apologies for that.
To be fair,they were relatively quick with the refund--but not quick enough for me not to have to pay another large credit card deposit to set up alternative insutrance with Direct Line.Is it not true that if you pay by credit card for goods and agree a refund,the company involved can return your money direct to your card,rather than waste time by posting a cheque?
A poor show overall,and the little guy in the chainmail gets my toenail clippings right in the eye next time he ventures onto my TV
|
|
|
|
