Motorcycle insurance - BENNETTS - buyer beware

[jimbothe]

Sorry everyone,i apologise in advance for my bad behaviour but i need to vent some anger somewhere...


Let me just start off with saying i was extremely happy with Bennets motorcycle insurance until today.

I have had a policy with them for over a year on my kawasaki ninja and never had a single problem.I rang up just over a month ago to confirm that it would be ok to add a second bike to my original policy to turn it into a multi-bike policy and was told it would be fine with no problems at all.

Well thats where it all went tits up

Chuffed as a fat kid with a chocolate doughnut i got on the train and various buses lugging all my bike gear 85 miles up the road to pick up my new Fj1200.Got there,checked the bike over and started it up (you know,all the usual things).

Everything superb.Paid,said goodbye then rang Bennets.

"Sorry sir the system is currently down and we cant add a new bike to the policy"

WTF!

After a few choice words and trying my best to sort things out, bearing in mind i wasnt going to ride 85 miles home with no insurance and i certainly wasnt going to leave my new bike all the way up here to then come back again,my last and only option was to take out a new policy which the computers strangely had no problem with sorting out at all.A phone call to my dad to borrow his credit card as mine were at home resulted in another bill of 84.92 for a hefty deposit just so i could ride it home.

I got home,straight on the phone the next day to cancel within my 14 days for full refund i was told "we are trying to sort it out now sir,we will ring you within 5 days"

5 days pass - no phone call,6th day i ring again."Sorry sir we are still waiting for the system to come back online to change over the bike to your existing policy.We will ring within 7 days to confirm and then it will all be changed over and the fj policy cancelled."

7 days pass - no phone call,8th day i ring back again and the whizz kid on the phone (top notch btw ) says "no problem mate,i can see what you want.Lets do it now for you.I dont know why this couldnt have been done before"

By now i am over my 14 day threshold.Anyway all cancelled,fj on ninja policy all lovely

Today i get a letter from Bennets saying i owe them a further 15.80 and i have lost all of my 84.92 deposit and please pay within 7 days or it will be sent to their internal recovery dept


On the phone straight away to explain that it was their computer error in the first place that started all this and it was their lack off communication skills that led to me being over my threshold for a cancellation.All this to be told "sorry sir but you cancelled the policy so we have charged you the 30.00 cancellation fee and you have now used up your deposit for time on cover."

I DIDNT WANT TO BE ON COVER.I WANTED IT TO BE CHANGED THE NEXT DAY!!!!!!!

The battle still goes on.....

Im not paying it out of principle now.
I am still on cover but i can assure you all that i wont be when the policy is up.I will go back to carole nash.

Sorry peeps rant over


BENNETS
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[Trixie]

What a nightmare!

Hope you're putting all this in writing to the Top Bod there...
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Dead nobodies in company cars...

[jimbothe]

They wont let me speak to anyone above the representatives

I asked to talk to the underwriter but apparently they dont have them there.
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[Adam_P]

Next time you speak to them mention 'trading standards', 'watchdog' and the 'motorcycle media'

See if that helps.
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[jimbothe]

lol adam,i actually mentioned this popular forum and the lady said she has been on here.I said watch for the complaint then....



im actually back on the phone to them right now
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[shaun_04]

That sounds very unlucky, although I haven't heard much praise of Bennetts, despite their huge profile.

[jimbothe]

Ive just been told it wasnt their fault,it was the systems and they cant be held accountable for that.


I said if my bank system went down and didnt pay you a direct debit then you would just shrug and forget it would you?

They replied no
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[Minty]

Dont bother with watchdog et al.

The first letter that comes through from Bennetts, write a letter to the FSA (Financial Services Authority) and the Insurance Ombudsman and enclose a copy of Bennetts letter along with all the details. Also send a copy to Bennetts with a note advising that you will pay nothing until the FSA / Ombudsmen have advised of their decision/ruling.

It will cost Bennetts £360 for every FSA/Ombudsman investigation that occurs irregardless of any decision they later come to.

Do the above and Bennetts will be a bit more keen to show a smidge of customer service.

On another note - Devitt (biased)
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[WavyGravy]

wont help you now, but for future reference these people insure you for a week for free in order to collect a bike, no doubt you'll have to get a full quote to qualify, but hey its free, and as long as people dont abuse it i think its a good combination of marketing and service


https://www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk/short-term-insurance/

no i dont work for, or have any connection with them!!!
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[jimbothe]

RESULT


Of a kind anyway....

Just got off the phone to another representative who by the way was excellent and very helpful.

She is going to arrange it that the cancellation fee is knocked off and that i will only pay for the amount of days of actual cover (from when taken out to when i phoned and told it was going to be cancelled)

This should actually see me in for a small refund


Power to the masses everyone - give yourselves a pat on the back
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[Mudskipper]

Bennetts =

I won't be renewing with them.

Very surprised what useless, money grabbing sods they are considering their profile.

Obviously they must get away with the bad word-of-mouth (so far)else surely they'd try to improve.

Best of luck getting it sorted out

Mudskipper

edit: nice one!
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"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[Kara]

The other option is, they are based near me, I can go burn the building down for a fee of 84.92.
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[jimbothe]

I shall still be changing at renewal time.


Once bitten.... and all that


84.92 for burning down the depot,thats not bad.How much for the nearest yamaha dealership for extortionate new part prices?
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[Kara]

10.99 with 14 day money back offer if you find it cheaper.
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[akaDAVE]

I just F'ing hate those:

"Bennets............................bike insurance" (in northern tosser accent) adverts that you get at the start and end of ad breaks on various sky channels, god they wind me up.
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[Phil_C]

How about some more recommendations? I am with Bennets (first policy, new rider) and after this I'd consider changing too. I'd rather pay a little more for top-class service and no frigging around.

[Mudskipper]

[St0rmer66]

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=110157&highlight=bennetts
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=112184&highlight=bennetts

Those are just some of the more recent problems with Bennetts...

Can't fault Carol Nash so far .
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[Kal]

[Tarmacsurfer]

Bennets have always been tossers as far as I am aware. I've certainly never had a decent quote off them, and to be honest I can't say I've ever heard a particularly good word said. Carole Nash can be pricey, but you don't hear many horror stories. I'm currently using Footman James, and can't recommend them highly enough.

[Dom]

Insurance companies are all scum in my experience. The FSA trick is well worth remembering though, as is contacting the financial ombudsman.

When I wanted to switch my SV insurance to the DRZ I rang up CIA assuming it'd be a nice simple transfer across to the new bike. Not so. Apparently the underwriter didn't 'do' DRZs therefore it would be impossible to swap the policy. This was annoying but not really their fault. What was a complete piss take was that they refused to give me a pro-rata refund on the policy and of the £330ish it cost I was only going to get peanuts back, even though there was about 6 months left and I wasn't even cancelling through choice.

After lots of phone calls and mentioning that the financial ombudsman had said it sounded like I had a case they gave in and I got my pro-rata refund.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

I've had no problems with Bennetts so far, I do have to change my bike over in a week or so though, so expect a long and abusing thread soon.
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[jimbothe]

I will wait for your lengthy moan soon then
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[St0rmer66]

[Kal]