123.ie avoid like the plague

dermatrov

I am honestly completely shocked at how badly my parents are being treated by this company 123.ie (RSA) (They have been a loyal customer of 123 for many many years, and insure everything they own with this company (as do all the family)

They have been extremely unfortunate over the last 3 months. Firstly they were burgled - in broad daylight, thief entered the house and confronted my parents (in their 60's) - got away with jewellery and cash (but was caught by Gardai a while later - minus the jewellery, but he had the cash on him still (it was identifiable in an envelope. Guards had found his jacket ditched in a lane beside their house with a kitchen knife in the pocket...........)

3 months on and 123.ie still havent settled their claim, their loss adjuster is constantly "away from the office" or is "going to look at it next...top of his pile etc". Yesterday, their home insurance was up for renewal. 123.ie sent them a renewal notice and their policy had increased by 70%!!!!!! - Stating their claim as the reason. Their claim that hasnt been paid out.....

Is this normal?

The loss adjuster was called again last Friday looking for an update, and was told again that their policy would expire on Monday, and he said he would get to them by cob yesterday - nothing.

Now they are technically uninsured. Is this really an acceptable way to do business?

Secondly, 2 weeks ago, scumbags set fire to their bins in the front garden,(doing lots of houses in the area at the same time) and the car they bought 10 days prevously from a main dealer was burnt (the back, lights and side melted, and the quarter panel warped due to the heat)

123.ie tok away the car straight away (great), and after 1 week, called my parents to say they would fix everything - except the warped quarter panel - as there was no way of knowing that the damage was as a result of the incident

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a car bought 10 days previously from a main dealer with a damaged main panel? They absolutely refused to budge from this, and yesterday, my parents were forced by 123.ie to collect their still damaged car from the garage (and will now have to bring it to a different garage to fix the panel.....). The bit that really annoys me is that 123.ie told them that if they didnt colect the car, there would be a daily "storage" fee that would be applied to them.

The thing is, becuase thier house claim isnt settled, my parents felt they couldnt rock the boat with 123.ie - (whose supervisor had been extremely rude and obnoxious on the phone to my parents...) This is bully boy tactics. IMO this is a big company taking advantage of an older couple, who are vunerable.

As this is still very much a live issue, is there any advice there regarding both situations please? (is there anything they can do now, or will they have to accept it and complain afterwards to the ombudsman.)

Thanks a lot

Dermatrov

foggy_lad

Is there not an insurance ombudsman your parents can get in touch with? they will firstly need to make a "Formal Complaint" to their insurance company in writing. this should outline the issues and what they want to see happen to resolve the issues.

Procrastastudy

Get on to the ombudsman - they'll generally resolve the situation.

All of this is pretty appalling but a massive hike after a claim is pretty normal.

dudara

Contact the Central Bank - who regulate all matters financial and insurance-based. Find out what the procedure is.

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

oldyouth

The ombudsman would appear to be the only real course of action open to you. With regard to the 2nd claim, is this being processed through a separate car insurance policy with 123.ie? Your parent's household policy will not cover any damage to a vehicle, even as a result of a fire within the boundaries of the house

john kinsella

Loss Adjusters and RSA are a difficult combination. Bet the Adjusters were from T&P or OSG correct?

I work in Insurance claims so if you want to send me a PM I can go through it with you or call the Adjuster if you want.

You are best calling up your insurers or lodging a formal complaint. In the Consumer Protection Code thay have to revert to you in wiritng within 10 days

Clauric

OP, There is no need for your parents or yourself to deal with the loss adjustor. As the company appointed the adjustor, they are responsible for ensuring that he does the work.

In this situation, I would contact the claims department of 123.ie, as they are who you have your contract with. Simply ask about the situation of the claim, and when you can expect to have the claim settled.

If you are unsatisfied with this response, write a formal letter of complaint to 123.ie. Explain what has happened, and all communications that you have attempted with the adjustor.

If that fails, I would write to both the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Central Bank, making a complaint.

With regard to the car, your parents should have been given a written letter from 123.ie, detailing the appeals process for the denial of a claim. If they didn't get this, this in and of itself is reason to complain to the Central Bank of Ireland. You should have a read of the Consumer Protection Code.

dermatrov

Thanks everybody for your input.

The car has been collected, and is ok except for the damaged quater panel - :rolleyes:

The loss adjuster for the house promised an offer tyo my parents yesterday for the stolen goods, but we still await it, and the insurance company insisted on the policy being renewed at the new full rate.

It seems like in this country you must play ball and try complain later....

Cheers

Dermatrov

seamus

dermatrov wrote: »

and the insurance company insisted on the policy being renewed at the new full rate.

This is normal. When you make a claim, your premium goes up. It doesn't matter if the claim has been settled or not, once you've made the claim, the premium goes up.

If you're making a complaint, I would drop that issue and not bother mentioning it. You will weaken a complaint if you include things which aren't relevant.

skippy2

Was going to take a policy with 123 for house insurance and as a result of this they have lost business. So they will learn the hard way.
More topics like this might make these people sit up and take notice but i doubt it somehow. Anyway they have a couple of less customers now

RATM

Had a problem with 123.ie myself not too long ago in purchasing their insurance. When filling out their web based application form it said 'How many years No Claims Experience do you have' - I missed this bit and filled out everything else except that and pressed 'Submit'. It brought me back to the missed question except this time in bright red letters it said 'How many years of driving experience do you have?' - I answered 6 (the truth) and got a quote of €425 which I took and paid for.

Sent in my no claims certs which were 2 years in my own name and then got a phone call saying they wanted an extra €250 as I had misled them on how much no claims experience I have. Basically both of us made a mistake- me for missing the section in the first place and them for mislabelling the same section on the second attempt. As there new quote was above No Nonsence.ie I told them I wanted to cancel the policy and take a refund.

Spoke to a supervisor who said they would be charging me €40 'admin fee' a la Ryanair to perform less than three clicks of a mouse. Currently have a case pending in the Small Claims Court and waiting for them to reply- there is no way they will spend €200 odd to send a solicitor down to defend it. If they do I'll make mince meat of them with the screenshots I have saved of the fault on their website.

But the worse part was I spoke to a supervisor in there and talked her through the process of what happened and asked her to follow the clicks to show her how the website was at fault. Not only was I being reasonable I was also helping them out by pointing the fault in their user design and talking her through it. All I got for my efforts was 'we're keeping your €40'. Told her that I would prefer not go to court but will do so if they push me to which her snide attitude replied 'go for it'. So I am. And they'll offer to settle out of court, I'll refuse and they'll end up spending €200 to send a solicitor down there to defend it. All when they could have accepted that they were partially to blame and fixed the glitch on their website.

I'm beginning to think 123.ie are the new Quinn of insurance- my advice is to avoid because if they are like that in selling you a policy imagine what they'll be like in settling a claim...