First Quote Insurance

[Frost]

Timeline of events:

July 08 - Insured a bike with them for £78
June 09 - Sold bike
July 09 - Policy automatically renewed without notifying me, new policy price : £76, cancellation fee: £80, so i leave it to run.
June 10 - Phoned up to cancel policy, told it was too early and that i must do it on the first day of the policy renewing.
July 10 - Phoned up to cancel policy to be told that as it had already started (at £70) it would cost £85 to close. Disgusted at the policy hardly dropping in price and their cancellation fees going through the roof i told them to get fucked. They had already taken a £35 down payment
Today - Phone call from them saying i owe them £90 due to failure to pay the policy and that i have failed to reply to the numerous letters that they have sent out. I've not received a letter from them since the original policy was sent out. I've not failed to pay a thing. Lots of shouting at them has reveled that one of their customer service people have cancelled the policy rather than cancellation due to non payment, yet they still want the £90.

In short, they are an absolute DISGRACE an utter JOKE of a company who appear to be legally allowed to steal money directly from your bank account under the pretense of "Well, we sent you a letter.".
As if paying for a second years insurance after selling the bike weren't bad enough, they seem to have fucked that up and be demanding yet more money from me. I fully expect that this time next year more letters won't arrive and they will have another excuse to take more money from my account, or phone me up complaining that they have been unable to.

They always seem to offer the cheapest quote, but seriously, its not worth it. My original £78 quote was probably only a few quid cheaper than the rest, but now it looks like its going to cost me: £78 + £76 + £35 + £90 = £279

Avoid them like the plague, also tell your friends.

[Andy C]

I was with first quote when I was about 19 and when I went to have the insurance not be renewed (realised 1 week before so rang them) they insisted that the money was coming out of my account unless a signed letter was posted to them.

They wouldnt accept a printed letter faxed or scanned back in and emailed.

Would never go with first quote ever again
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[Frost]

Either their phone system is broken or they don't know how to use it, as when they pass you between departments you can hear them talking and insulting you, but they can't hear you telling them you can hear them.

I've yet to speak to an employee who didn't sound like a 16 year old chav girl on work expirence who hates you and really doesn't give a damn aboit showing it.

[iooi]

What was the date the policy renewed on ?
Have you moved since you took the policy out ?
Have you recived any doc's for the policy ?
How have you paid for the policy.

I would send a letter by recordered/special delivery (needs to be signed for) to their complaints dept, see quote below for info
Stating everything you have here and the fact that, they say you cannot cancel till the policy is in force....
That is bullshit.
You have to cancel a policy before it is due to start and they know that....
Any letter you get on policy renewal states you must cancel before start date or it will auto renew.

[Frost]

They say they will look into it, but then they also said their manager was in a meeting and would phone me back in 10 minutes. that was quite a few hours ago now.

[skatefreak]

Write a short, concise, polite letter telling them to basically refund you for this past year (and/or last years if your feeling lucky), or they can face you in small claims court.

If you can put together a convincing case then they will settle as it would cost far more for them to face you...

Jst a thought...

-Jvr

[weegieblue]

OK, here's what to do.

Call and ask for their Compliance Manager, and failing that, the Director, as you wish to make a verbal complaint. State that the call is being recorded (regardless of whether it is or not).

Tell the person the details of your complaint. They have until the end of the next business day to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction. If they haven't, they have to write to you by the end of day 5 to confirm they are investigating your complaint. You they have resolved it by day 20, you should get an explanation as to why. Then, if they still haven't resolved it by day 40, go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I worked at the FOS for 9 months on a project, and based on what you have told me there, I would say that there is a very high probability that you will get at least this year's premium back, plus interest on that amount at a rate of 8% simple. You may also get a an amount of between £50 and £250 for the distress and inconvenience. Finally, they will get hit with a £500 bill for FOS looking at the case.

PM me if you need any help - I've worked on complaint projects for over 2 years, with a fair amount of that working for a large motor insurer, so I'm more than happy to give you some pointers.
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Suzuiki EN 125-2a - July 2010 to August 2010
Suzuki SV650s, 1999 model - August 2010 - now

[iooi]

[Bloke]

For future info: If you have an email address for the complaints department then use it.

You do not have to send a posted letter, providing you can fulfill your needs of notifying them.

The FSA ICOB States:

[willis1337]

[Frost]

I was told i would be rung back ASAP by the manager, he never did attempt to do so. 2 days went by and i phoned up myself. I was told that the policy had been cancelled by them, not me, and that i owed them £94.something, up from the £90 2 days previous.

The said they had sent me out a bunch of letters advising me that they were cancelling the policy (no reason given) and that i would have to pay a fee. My insistence that i had received no letters since the original policy documents 2 years ago were brushed aside with "uh huh, yeh, well we sent the letters out so..." Which is basically just calling me a liar.

The amount i owed them was going up an a daily basis and my credit rating was going down. I thought it best to get the policy ended so i never had to deal with the fucking pricks ever again, even if it did cost more than leaving the policy to run.

I could have tried to blag them that i was recording things, had evidence etc, but i actually had nothing, and i'm sure their legal department does this sort of thing all the time, so i wasn't keen on court. So yet again the evil empire wins again through intimidation and threats.

So they cancelled the policy for me without telling me, leaving me uninsured, i've lost 2 years no claims from them not sending out any documentation, and paid £94 for the privilege. But on the bright side, i'll never have to deal with the fucking cunts again.

This thread will get bumped by me from time to time in the hope that no one else has to deal with them either.

[iooi]

[jdm]

Understand why you paid them off to settle things but would still contact the FOS and try get your money back and maybe humble apology, can't hurt to write and see how things stand!
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Good women make me happy, bad one's even happier!
Current Bike = '97 YZF600R Thundercat

[Frost]

From what i've seen online i'm not the only one having problems:

https://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews88132.html

Looks like getting any kind of customer service out of them is basically impossible. They are so bad that they put you on hold for 15 minutes when they ring YOU up
I would say i'm glad to be rid of the fuckers, but i know deep down inside that this isn't the last i've heard of things, that one day when i'm 60 i'm going to get the shit kicked out of my by debt collectors as the have made another admin error 40 years ago and i now owe them more money than there is on earth.

[itsallgood]

More importantly if its damaged your credit rating and you sort it out in your favour you can get it wiped from your credit files, that's what id be more worried about tbh

[Cheeseybeaner]

I would have thought that technically you could simply remove the direct debits from your account preventing any further payments to them on your ebanking page. Instructing your bank not to allow payments might also help.
If they've taken your money illegitimately you should go through the small claims court, they're unlikely to contest it and you will more than likely have the unwanted premium refunded. I wouldn't let it lie myself.

[Andy C]

[Cheeseybeaner]