tesco refused to quote me, are they right?

whoopdedoo

hi all, tesco just refused to quote me for private car insurance due to the fact in my last job (2 years ago ffs!!) I was self employed in PR

what is the story with not being eligible now for car insurance cos of a job I worked in 2 years ago??

so confused!!

Helix

no company is obliged to give you a quote if they don't want to. though its a bit surprising they didnt toe the usual line and give you an obscenely high quote on the off chance you decided to pay them for it

not sure why a self employed pr job would have such an effect on an insurance quote though

whoopdedoo

cheers for that, I am stumped here!!

Yakuza

Helix wrote: »

no company is obliged to give you a quote if they don't want to. though its a bit surprising they didnt toe the usual line and give you an obscenely high quote on the off chance you decided to pay them for it

not sure why a self employed pr job would have such an effect on an insurance quote though

Possibly because the car would be used for the course of your business, which is not allowed under a personal policy. You can use your car to drive to and from work / meetings etc and to carry say, a briefcase or laptop. However, you can't carry, say, a box of flyers or trade materials etc under a private policy. With self-employed folks, they (Tesco) probably see the line blurred between personal and professional use and hence refused to quote for a policy (I think they only quote personal business (and as far as I know it's actually an Aviva policy just rebranded - or at least it used to be).

Vicxas

Thats a bit odd.. maybe you could fib and say youre still in PR?

whoopdedoo

I told them I was unemployed at the mo and when I was asked what I last worked at they refused to quote me after that!

I just filled out the quick quote online and got a quote for €323 but when I filled out the full quote it refused me again and said I have to ring them

WTF IS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY!!!

whoopdedoo

Yakuza wrote: »

Possibly because the car would be used for the course of your business, which is not allowed under a personal policy. You can use your car to drive to and from work / meetings etc and to carry say, a briefcase or laptop. However, you can't carry, say, a box of flyers or trade materials etc under a private policy. With self-employed folks, they (Tesco) probably see the line blurred between personal and professional use and hence refused to quote for a policy (I think they only quote personal business (and as far as I know it's actually an Aviva policy just rebranded - or at least it used to be).

it says written down by the RSA and I'm currently unemployed too

Anan1

whoopdedoo wrote: »

I told them I was unemployed at the mo and when I was asked what I last worked at they refused to quote me after that!

I just filled out the quick quote online and got a quote for €323 but when I filled out the full quote it refused me again and said I have to ring them

WTF IS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY!!!

Did you ring them? If not do so; if you rang them and they refused then just try elsewhere.

Yakuza

whoopdedoo wrote: »

it says written down by the RSA and I'm currently unemployed too

Ah ok, it was defo Hibernian when it launched, I got a quote from them back then (about 6-7 years ago iirc). If you're not working /self employed now then I'm genuinely stumped as to why they'd refuse.

Have you tried to ask for a supervisor when on the phone - i.e. someone who won't blindly follow a script?

Mr Benevolent

whoopdedoo wrote: »

it says written down by the RSA and I'm currently unemployed too

There's your problem. Quotes are much harder to get when you're unemployed.

whoopdedoo

Anan1 wrote: »

Did you ring them? If not do so; if you rang them and they refused then just try elsewhere.

I rang them b4 doing the online quote and now that I have I will be persueimg them even more now!

the cheapest quote I got elsewhere is with no-nonsense.ie and they're coming in at €800

Quinn quoted €2300 ahahahahahahahahahahaha

I can afford tesco no problem even being on the dole so I'll just call again when I've got credit

thanks for all your helps

mathepac

Confab wrote: »

... Quotes are much harder to get when you're unemployed.

Agreed. No disrespect to OP or other unemployed persons, but they may have difficulties collecting premiums or direct debits.

The other issue is your (former?) profession. When I worked in car-hire many moons ago, certain trades and professions were on our "black-lists" e.g. jockeys, actors, publicans, advertising & PR gurus, etc. We would not rent cars to people whose job was listed.

Vicxas

mathepac wrote: »

Agreed. No disrespect to OP or other unemployed persons, but they may have difficulties collecting premiums or direct debits.

The other issue is your (former?) profession. When I worked in car-hire many moons ago, certain trades and professions were on our "black-lists" e.g. jockeys, actors, publicans, advertising & PR gurus, etc. We would not rent cars to people whose job was listed.

Any reason why?

mathepac

Vicxas wrote: »

Any reason why?

For the first part, one of the ways insurers get scammed is to have a proposer make the initial payment, get the disc for the window and the cert but cancel the direct debit mandate. This gives the appearance of having insurance where the full premium has not been paid. The new ANPR cameras will hopefully be able to detect these fraudsters but for the time being a car with what appears to be a valid insurance cert will pass muster when parked or at a check-point.

On my second point, certain trades and professions, such as those mentioned, were regarded as high-risk for damage to rental cars, so rentals / bookings were refused. I know insurance companies use similar lists when assessing proposer risks. A friend of mine in the UK who is a publican lists his profession as "butcher" for insurance purposes there. He trained as a butcher here and has a shop in England, but his main job really is publican. He uses "butcher" to avoid loading.

whoopdedoo

guess I'm going to have bend the truth about my previous employment to get a quote I can afford.

€300 from tesco is just too good to pass up

Yakuza

whoopdedoo wrote: »

guess I'm going to have bend the truth about my previous employment to get a quote I can afford.

€300 from tesco is just too good to pass up

I wouldn't advise that - if you fail to disclose any material facts (and they are the arbiters of what is material or not), your cover will be void; i.e. you will effectively have no insurance. If you have a claim against you, and the fact you "bent" the truth about an aspect of your history come out in the wash, then you will have two serious problems; the gardai will be after you for driving uninsured, and you will be personally liable for any and all costs arising from the claim.

whoopdedoo

Yakuza wrote: »

I wouldn't advise that - if you fail to disclose any material facts (and they are the arbiters of what is material or not), your cover will be void; i.e. you will effectively have no insurance. If you have a claim against you, and the fact you "bent" the truth about an aspect of your history come out in the wash, then you will have two serious problems; the gardai will be after you for driving uninsured, and you will be personally liable for any and all costs arising from the claim.

oh I understand that but why would it come out I used to work in PR b4 the recession if I had a tip 6/12/18 months from now?

why does it matter what I used to work at over 2 years ago?!?

flipping baffled

mgbgt1978

Surely if you worked in PR you should be able to come up with a "less riskier" job description;)
Just take a decent look at the occupation drop-down on the tesco site and see if you could "reconsider" your previous occupation.
If you did a lot of PR work in one particular area then you wouldn't be lying if you put that down as your previous job.

And before anyone jumps down my throat, the OP is now unemployed which means that he no longer works at his previous occupation, therefore any occupation loading which insurers use does not really apply in this case.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

whoopdedoo wrote: »

guess I'm going to have bend the truth about my previous employment to get a quote I can afford.

€300 from tesco is just too good to pass up

You have rang them and gave them your details to get a quote, or try to get a quote! You will be on their system now, so if you ring back, giving your details again but changing your profession, nothing will be said now. But if you did have to claim somewhere down the line, i'm sure they would try to use you changing your previous profession to get a better quote as a reason not to pay out.

sentient_6

What does it mater what you used to work at? Surely for the purposes of insurance your current employment, or lack thereof, is what matters? Those online questions ask you what your currently employed as, & theres generally an option for unemployed, your not going to select a job you did 2 years ago! I'm confused why they even asked?

johnmcdnl

what does it matter what your previous job was - as was pointed out earlier insurance companies look at the numbers and see that people who work in PR or used to are more likely to cause problems...

just like why it's next to impossible for say a 17 year old boy who wants to drive a ferrari on a provisional license...

who's to say that kid isn't the next Michael Schumacher and is the best driver in the country and would be the safest driver in the country - but the statistics say otherwise...

it's bull**** but what can ya do i suppose... I'm paying through the roof for my insurance now because i'm a young male driver - what can I do... I try to drive as safely as possible and have no interest in fast powerful cars or anything like that... but despite me being as safe as driver as i can be the statistics say i'm going to crash so the insurance companies rip me off...

the stats must say that PR workers are likely to crash or as was pointed out do a runner and not pay for the whole premium so the insurance companies won't take a shot with you... maybe ring them up and see can they do a deal over the phone...

johndaman66

OSI wrote: »

Also, as far as I'm aware, they are required to give you a quote.

Incorrect. Believe me I got more than enough refusals for motor insurance quotes when I was starting driving. They are compelled to quote you when you are already a named driver under someone elses insurance with that company but otherwise they are under no such obligation.

Also to mention RSA now underwrite Tesco Insurance or at least were last February when I was renewing. Used to be Hibernian Aviva or whatever they call themselves at one stage alright though

Yawns

Confab wrote: »

There's your problem. Quotes are much harder to get when you're unemployed.

Love to know why? Less likely to be using the car if you're unemployed so therefore less likely to be in a crash. I lost my job and am no longer driving every morning and evening 5 - 6 nights a week for work commute alone never mind shopping etc.

Now I drive maybe 2 - 3 times a week in total. I'm getting cheaper quotes regardless of employed or not each year cos I shop around and make the effort. I've yet to hear anyone unemployed being refused or having a higher premium since becoming unemployed and these days unfortunately I know a few who have lost jobs as we all probably do.

I am going through all the insurance companies I can think of right now as Insurance is due for renewal in 4 weeks and not one has refused me yet I'm unemployed and 24 male. Quite cheap quotes too from most of them.

El Guapo!

Yep its stupid and makes no sense. Happened me a while back too. I rang up for a quote from 123.ie and was told I couldn't have a quote as I'm a mechanic and apparently 123.ie don't insure mechanics at all.
The way I look at it is its their loss, if they don't want my money I'll give it to someone else.

stimpson

johndaman66 wrote: »

Incorrect. Believe me I got more than enough refusals for motor insurance quotes when I was starting driving.

Not true. From citizens advice:

Individual insurers have the right to refuse you cover, but they must provide you with a reason for the refusal should you ask for one. However, even though you have been refused cover, you are entitled to go to the Declined Cases Committee of the Irish Insurance Federation who will obtain an insurance quotation for you. In order for the Committee to consider your case you must first have sought and been refused quotations in writing from at least three insurers. (See 'Further information' below).

I have to say, I got a decent quote from Tesco. 450 for fully comp protected NCB on a 2 litre. I was with RSA already through the AA but they offered me 600 euro! You get extra discounts for having a tesco credit card and a tesco club card.

CrazyChick18

Happened to me aswell!!

First insurance - they told me I needed one years driving experience.

Second insurance - they then told me I need two years driving experience.

So maybe next year third time lucky:rolleyes:

Solnskaya

whoopdedoo wrote: »

I can afford tesco no problem even being on the dole so I'll just call again when I've got credit

thanks for all your helps

hmmm. just hmmm. The schnide in me says I think Tesco quotes must be too cheap, or somthing.............

Merch

Helix wrote: »

no company is obliged to give you a quote if they don't want to. though its a bit surprising they didnt toe the usual line and give you an obscenely high quote on the off chance you decided to pay them for it

not sure why a self employed pr job would have such an effect on an insurance quote though

thats incorrect,

johndaman66

stimpson wrote: »

Not true. From citizens advice:

Individual insurers have the right to refuse you cover, but they must provide you with a reason for the refusal should you ask for one. However, even though you have been refused cover, you are entitled to go to the Declined Cases Committee of the Irish Insurance Federation who will obtain an insurance quotation for you. In order for the Committee to consider your case you must first have sought and been refused quotations in writing from at least three insurers. (See 'Further information' below).

I have to say, I got a decent quote from Tesco. 450 for fully comp protected NCB on a 2 litre. I was with RSA already through the AA but they offered me 600 euro! You get extra discounts for having a tesco credit card and a tesco club card.

Yes, but there is still nothing in there which proclaims that an individual insurance provider is compelled to provide you with a quote. Rather that they must furnish you with a reason for not providing you a quote if such transpires to be the case and you request a reason. Quite different would you not agree? Nothing in there either to say that the Declined Cases Committee of the Irish Insurance Federation will necessairly obtain a quotation from a specific provider unless I'm reading it completely wrong.

Regarding Tesco/ RSA insurance. I got a quote of €322 last renewal time from an independent broker, RSA being underwriters. Knowing that RSA now underwrite Tesco insurance, the curiosity got the better of me so I tried them for a quote also. Tesco were €65 more expensive as I recall and there was some difference, albeit small as I recall that meant the cover through Tesco was not quite as good.

Delancey

Dean09 wrote: »

Yep its stupid and makes no sense. Happened me a while back too. I rang up for a quote from 123.ie and was told I couldn't have a quote as I'm a mechanic and apparently 123.ie don't insure mechanics at all.
The way I look at it is its their loss, if they don't want my money I'll give it to someone else.

123 are total **** - they are only interested in people with nil convictions for anything , long NCB's ,working in offices all day long - a waste of time.

stimpson

johndaman66 wrote: »

Yes, but there is still nothing in there which proclaims that an individual insurance provider is compelled to provide you with a quote. Rather that they must furnish you with a reason for not providing you a quote if such transpires to be the case and you request a reason. Quite different would you not agree? Nothing in there either to say that the Declined Cases Committee of the Irish Insurance Federation will necessairly obtain a quotation from a specific provider unless I'm reading it completely wrong.

My point is that you do not need to ring every insurer in the book and get refused - all you need is 3 refusals. I think the insurer who refused you first is the one who must quote you (at least it used to be like that).

Cuddlesworth

Yakuza wrote: »

I wouldn't advise that - if you fail to disclose any material facts (and they are the arbiters of what is material or not), your cover will be void; i.e. you will effectively have no insurance. If you have a claim against you, and the fact you "bent" the truth about an aspect of your history come out in the wash, then you will have two serious problems; the gardai will be after you for driving uninsured, and you will be personally liable for any and all costs arising from the claim.

You will still be insured third party. Driving with no insurance(like in this case) its rare that it ever sees court as a criminal charge and fines are around 300-500 euros with a 12month ban. No ban if you can come up with a good sob story. Hardly "scary" territory.

johndaman66

stimpson wrote: »

My point is that you do not need to ring every insurer in the book and get refused - all you need is 3 refusals. I think the insurer who refused you first is the one who must quote you (at least it used to be like that).

Ok, we are at cross purposes stimpson. The initial question was whether or not an individual insurance provider is obliged to provide you with a quote before any mention of a redress committee for that matter. I genuinely doubt its the case that the insurer who refused to advise you first is then compelled to.

For example there at least used to be a player in the market called Caoga Insurance, who specialise in insurance for the over 50's as they say in their Golden Pages ad. To me that would signify specialising in insurance for over 50's but not exclusively over 50's only, but the next may interpret it differently. When I rang them they refused to quote me straight away in account of me being under 50 and I had become low insurance risk at that stage if you will. I'm not sure would the likes of Caoga be compelled to provide you with a quote as such but doubted. The same most likely goes for providers who "specialise" in insurance for lady drivers. If this is the case I'd genuinely wonder if other providers not "specialising" in a specific demographic group could be compelled to provide a quotation.

I suppose its all a bit academic really. I'd imagine if it did come to that and they did quote you, you would be looking at an absolutely silly figure...but I appreciate thats not the question either.