Car Insurance Companies
Created | Updated Mar 9, 2004
I'm with the Holy one, DNA on Insurance Companies. I'm of the opinion that they are more interested in advertising their services rather than providing them.
Example A:
I was waiting at some traffic lights on my way to work. I was about 9 cars back and I was suddenly aware that the rapidly approaching car in my rear view mirror wasn't going to stop. It didn't. A loud bang followed, I got out and we exchanged details. Normally, the other person's insurance company pays out straight away - there was no question of fault, and their company can't write my car off. Right?
Wrong... His insurance company told my insurance company, who acted "on behalf of my best interests", as I had fully comprehensive cover. Apparently my best interest was to have my car written off and not repaired. I disputed that and after much complaining, they let me keep my car. How gracious of them. I cashed my cheque and got the car fixed up at my own expense.
Example B:
I was coming home from work, in the third lane of the motorway, and the two cars in front of me crashed. I stepped on my brake pedal and skidded into the rear of them. We exchanged details, and I left my insurance company to get on with it. Apparently, despite the fact that the two cars in front of me had stopped in the fast lane, the accident was my fault, and both the other drivers were blaming me for the crash. I got a telephone call from my insurance company demanding to know why I hadn't booked my car into a garage for an estimate. So I took it to the specified garage, whereupon it waited for their assessor to come back from holiday - three weeks passed before he even bothered to turn up. A month later I discovered that my car had been towed away from the garage, and no-one had told me. I haven't seen my car for over 6 months. I asked about a courtesy car and was told that "It is not company policy to provide a courtesy car". So I contacted my broker (with whom I'd bought insurance specifically due to the adverts saying that they would guarantee a courtesy car if mine was out of action) and they duly provided one. I had that car for two months. Current car hire charges are approximately £30-£40 per day in London, where I live, so they spent between £1800 and £2300 on a hire car for me. That money could have been used to repair the damage to MY car, AND give me enough to pay for the next years premium.
Example C:
I received a letter from my broker, asking if I wanted to renew the insurance on my car (which I hadn't seen for 6 months). So I called them and they told me that the policy was still running, and that I could transfer the policy to another car. 6 months later... I went ballistic. "You mean to say that instead of you spending £2000 on a hire car, and me having change my working hours, so that a friend could pick me up and take me to work and back every day, having to borrow a van from my company, I could have transferred the insurance onto another car and driven that?" "Yes" they replied meekly...
Example D:
I'm trying to get insurance for my new car, which is 10 years younger than my old one, and has a whole litre less engine. It's two insurance groups lower than my previous car, and has fewer miles on the clock. Yet the best insurance quote I got was higher than one for my previous car! I asked them why this was, and was told that because there were more of them on the roads, it was more expensive. This puzzled me, because when getting quotes for my previous car a year ealier, I had been told that "It's expensive because it's a rare car, there aren't many of them on the roads". I'm bewildered...
Example E:
I was told off by my current insurance company because I hadn't declared the first accident. I told them that it wasn't my fault, I hadn't claimed on my insurance and that the other person had paid for it all. The insurance company told me that I had to declare it because it was part of my driving record. My premium went up because I was hit by someone else, and claimed off their insurance. Apparently I'm more likely to be hit by other people.
My advice is this: Don't drive a car. If you do, don't crash it. If you must, pay for the repairs yourself. If you can't, then the last and final option is to tell your insurance company, but don't say I didn't warn you...
Example A:
I was waiting at some traffic lights on my way to work. I was about 9 cars back and I was suddenly aware that the rapidly approaching car in my rear view mirror wasn't going to stop. It didn't. A loud bang followed, I got out and we exchanged details. Normally, the other person's insurance company pays out straight away - there was no question of fault, and their company can't write my car off. Right?
Wrong... His insurance company told my insurance company, who acted "on behalf of my best interests", as I had fully comprehensive cover. Apparently my best interest was to have my car written off and not repaired. I disputed that and after much complaining, they let me keep my car. How gracious of them. I cashed my cheque and got the car fixed up at my own expense.
Example B:
I was coming home from work, in the third lane of the motorway, and the two cars in front of me crashed. I stepped on my brake pedal and skidded into the rear of them. We exchanged details, and I left my insurance company to get on with it. Apparently, despite the fact that the two cars in front of me had stopped in the fast lane, the accident was my fault, and both the other drivers were blaming me for the crash. I got a telephone call from my insurance company demanding to know why I hadn't booked my car into a garage for an estimate. So I took it to the specified garage, whereupon it waited for their assessor to come back from holiday - three weeks passed before he even bothered to turn up. A month later I discovered that my car had been towed away from the garage, and no-one had told me. I haven't seen my car for over 6 months. I asked about a courtesy car and was told that "It is not company policy to provide a courtesy car". So I contacted my broker (with whom I'd bought insurance specifically due to the adverts saying that they would guarantee a courtesy car if mine was out of action) and they duly provided one. I had that car for two months. Current car hire charges are approximately £30-£40 per day in London, where I live, so they spent between £1800 and £2300 on a hire car for me. That money could have been used to repair the damage to MY car, AND give me enough to pay for the next years premium.
Example C:
I received a letter from my broker, asking if I wanted to renew the insurance on my car (which I hadn't seen for 6 months). So I called them and they told me that the policy was still running, and that I could transfer the policy to another car. 6 months later... I went ballistic. "You mean to say that instead of you spending £2000 on a hire car, and me having change my working hours, so that a friend could pick me up and take me to work and back every day, having to borrow a van from my company, I could have transferred the insurance onto another car and driven that?" "Yes" they replied meekly...
Example D:
I'm trying to get insurance for my new car, which is 10 years younger than my old one, and has a whole litre less engine. It's two insurance groups lower than my previous car, and has fewer miles on the clock. Yet the best insurance quote I got was higher than one for my previous car! I asked them why this was, and was told that because there were more of them on the roads, it was more expensive. This puzzled me, because when getting quotes for my previous car a year ealier, I had been told that "It's expensive because it's a rare car, there aren't many of them on the roads". I'm bewildered...
Example E:
I was told off by my current insurance company because I hadn't declared the first accident. I told them that it wasn't my fault, I hadn't claimed on my insurance and that the other person had paid for it all. The insurance company told me that I had to declare it because it was part of my driving record. My premium went up because I was hit by someone else, and claimed off their insurance. Apparently I'm more likely to be hit by other people.
My advice is this: Don't drive a car. If you do, don't crash it. If you must, pay for the repairs yourself. If you can't, then the last and final option is to tell your insurance company, but don't say I didn't warn you...
