admiral insurance - unbelievable but true

[fogman]

its a long story but stick with it lol

i recieved an email from my car insurance company ( my vectra & not my fronty ) confirming a change to my policy & that a charge of £17.50 will be debeted from my account to cover admin etc. now having only renewed it just 2 months ago & not changing any details from the previous year which were also the same for the year previous to that i was a bit surprised to say the least. i got straight on the phone to them this morning for an explination, the operator checked my details & informed me i had received quotes from a certain comparisson site before renewing , 1 of the companies that quoted me belonged to uea which apparently also owns admiral ( my insurers) & the details i had submitted to go compare showed id asked for non standard wider wheels & tyres to be taken into consideration. i then log into my go compare acc to check the details i submitted.
the penny dropped because sure enough in the modofication section the non standard wider wheels & tyres boxes had been ticked. i should point out that i hadnt used go compare for over a year since i last insured my b series which did at the time have a series offset & 31s so i assume that i had changed the car details to my vectra etc but missed the mod section completly when getting quotes. but the main the point is ive never changed the wheels on my vectra & i didnt accept any of the quotes offered from go compare anyway , they were used by myself for comparrison purposes only, i eventually decided to stay with admiral and accepted the renewal policy which i recieved via post and so dealt with them directly paying via a phone call. so nothing to do with the go compare what so ever, any quotes i recieved are dorment & unused.
the upshot is admiral want to charge me £17.50 for receiving a quote from another company
i rang them back to explain & i was told i would have to visit a vx garage to get a letter confirming i had standard wheels fitted & the matter would be dropped , i refused on the grounds that i hadnt changed the wheels in the first place & had at no point asked for non standard wheels etc be taken into consideration and hadnt contacted admiral in any way or form to change my policy details, i also told them it would be a 20 odd round trip to visit my nearest vx dealership & i wasnt prepared to do it, now you really wont believe this bit - he then suggested i visit any garage in my local area to get a letter of confirmation of original wheel fitment who apart from a vx dealership would be able to confirm that ffs ? it just beggars belief it really does. needless to say i am currently on various comparrison sites now and will be terminating my dealings with admiral asap, ive been insured with them for quite a few years now but never again, what a bunch of conning money grabbing w.....s

[fudge]

well i would ring them back up
and stating if you was proven right would all costs encured because of there fault be covered

so £20 for fuel, 1h off at £60ph and then wear and tear on the car of £20
then see what they say. as you have said you will do it, but once proven right you want compansasion for the costs you have had

[PaulHooligan]

Swinton rang me because its renewal time. Now had the car 3 years nothing has changed all the details are exactly the same BUT going through the list of questions the little plank on the phone asked me

Do you have ANY criminal convictions.... Not DRIVING but criminal.

I replied I had but it was as far as I know "spent".

His reply was awesome.............. I'm sorry we cant insure you

Oh he got the sharp end of tongue I can tell you

I do believe insurance companies are a law unto themselves and we are all at risk of their whims due to the requirement to have insurance

[mickh]

You'll probably find if you cancel the policy with Admiral you will have to pay an extra charge to get out of it. You may well be better off to stick with them until your renewal next year.

[BadBoy]

I would put it to them in writing, that you have not changed the wheels (take a photo and enclose it, but make sure they can see the reg number too), and that nowhere on your renewal for your current policy have you stated you have. You could say if you wanted that you were just shopping and entered details as you were considering changing the standard spec of the car.
Also point out, that they can only base any premium on the information supplied, and should they not back down, then come next renewal you no longer wish to hold a policy with them.
I'd personally also try the valued customer bit too. If your not a valued customer then you know what you should do

As per the above, cancelling part way through will probably cost you more than the £17.50

[Drift]

Chuck this in for good measure, see what happens
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/p ... rance.html

[RatCav]

Financial Ombudsmen will only get involved if you have pursued the official complaints department of the relevant company to its full extent with no success. Most people give up way before that stage which is why the to$$ing w4nk1ng f**king money grabbing, thieving, extortionist insurance companies, and all associated who let them get away with it, do as they please.

As you can guess I hate insurance companies and brokers. I can see the need these days, but they have no independent monitoring body to keep them in check.

Rant over and I will walk away before I offend someone.

[gregster]

You aint alone in your thinking...

Its compulsory for a massive chunk of the population, yet they operate like a monopoly, and legally price fix....

Its wrong, so wrong but they have us by the nuts and they now it, so they will twist and squeeze our gonads to extract every last ££££.

[Drift]

Reread, the intention is to let the insuranve company how far you will go, , they don't.want them poking around

[RatCav]

Problem is people threaten Financial Ombudsmen all the time and only 0.001% of them actually go through with it. The threat often falls on deaf ears.

[adyclemo]

I've also had problems with Admiral earlier on in the year and can definitely say that non of our cars will ever be insured with them again, also if you ever need glass fitting expect to wait 3 days and weekends are a no no even if the vehicle isn't secure, a shattered windscreen making visibility near on impossible but don't worry, take it in to the fitters in the morning they will sort it and the glass is laminated so won't fall in on you. I could go on all day about them.

Them changing the policy to reflect what they have technically renders you uninsured when driving the vehicle as the vehicle is not to spec of the policy

[gpssti4]

I have had a policy with these crooks for two years now and each year they try something on. The first year they quoted me a price and then a few weeks later increased my policy (I forget why now!) I told them to cancel the policy as they were in breach of contract, which they then did. I then went onto a few comparison sites and they came out cheapest again, even cheaper than the first policy (due to my wife having only just passed her test - first policy after 2 weeks, second after 1 month). Yes, I used them again but made sure I printed every page. They accepted my payment and then a few weeks later tried it on again - I think the girl on the phone was shocked when I told them I had proof of their original offer. They quickly backed down and said they'd honor it this year as a good will gesture, beggars belief.