Insurance Mess!!

Sean1991

Hi guys looking for a bit of advice.. I have a 09 focus rs which i brought in from NI, last friday week I rang around a few insurance companies and got pretty high premiums which I was expecting due to the fact I'm 22. I then got a quote that was sub 1000 euro from a particular company (not broker), obviously enough I jumped on that seeing as it was by far and away the cheapest! The only thing I had made very clear was that for the previous 5 years I've been on an open driver policy which I was assured was all ok and still got the same quote.
I then got a call yesterday (friday) saying they made a mistake and that I was going to be charged nearly double the premium because they "don't recognise" open driver as previous experience. This only came to light after they received all the policy paperwork which they had pre-signed back from me with my signatures... The direct debit was in place and all other paperwork was in order.. What if any rights have I got in this case?? I know people are going to say get a normal car but this is a second car in which is very rarely driven and I was expecting to pay a high premium but when a saving of over €1000 euro is on the line I'd rather not roll over and just say ok

corktina

ooo 22 and a Focus RS...they wont like that. I just jumped through hoops to get insurance on my ST170 and i'm 58!

Enjoy btw, you lucky sod...better than sex.

Odyssey 2005

Sean1991 wrote: »

Hi guys looking for a bit of advice.. I have a 09 focus rs which i brought in from NI, last friday week I rang around a few insurance companies and got pretty high premiums which I was expecting due to the fact I'm 22. I then got a quote that was sub 1000 euro from a particular company (not broker), obviously enough I jumped on that seeing as it was by far and away the cheapest! The only thing I had made very clear was that for the previous 5 years I've been on an open driver policy which I was assured was all ok and still got the same quote.
I then got a call yesterday (friday) saying they made a mistake and that I was going to be charged nearly double the premium because they "don't recognise" open driver as previous experience. This only came to light after they received all the policy paperwork which they had pre-signed back from me with my signatures... The direct debit was in place and all other paperwork was in order.. What if any rights have I got in this case?? I know people are going to say get a normal car but this is a second car in which is very rarely driven and I was expecting to pay a high premium but when a saving of over €1000 euro is on the line I'd rather not roll over and just say ok

Is there not a 7 or 14 day cooling off period on this. I don't think you have much choice other than to take their updated quotation or look elsewhere.
What about increasing your excess,will that help in lowering your premium. Lovely car btw and I hope you get this sorted.

Sean1991

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Is there not a 7 or 14 day cooling off period on this. I don't think you have much choice other than to take their updated quotation or look elsewhere.
What about increasing your excess,will that help in lowering your premium. Lovely car btw and I hope you get this sorted.

14 day I think, still I'd rather argue the case and save myself best part of a grand! I wanted to pay more excess but she told me 750 was the max for the policy she was doing me! Thing is i only want something to cover me, car is under lock and key in a heated underground garage 95% of the time as I have a second car so I only want to be covered when I do take it out on a Sunday! Car only has 17k miles since 09 !!
Thanks for the compliments btw 👠by far and away nicest car I've had, then again it's a completely different kind of beast than most cars out their being fwd and all that 😊

heffoo

Try xs direct extremely high excess but cheap insurance on powerful cars

heffoo

Try xs direct extremely high excess but cheap insurance on powerful cars

Odyssey 2005

Sean1991 wrote: »

14 day I think, still I'd rather argue the case and save myself best part of a grand! I wanted to pay more excess but she told me 750 was the max for the policy she was doing me! Thing is i only want something to cover me, car is under lock and key in a heated underground garage 95% of the time as I have a second car so I only want to be covered when I do take it out on a Sunday! Car only has 17k miles since 09 !!
Thanks for the compliments btw 👠by far and away nicest car I've had, then again it's a completely different kind of beast than most cars out their being fwd and all that 😊

€750 excess is pittance. Never heard of this xs ins co until a few days ago on another thread. Some guy in Donegal wanted to insure a high powered 1.9 tdiPissat.:eek:
Anyways his excess was 3.5k
May be worth looking at.
Good luck

Liam McPoyle

Sean1991 wrote: »

Hi guys looking for a bit of advice.. I have a 09 focus rs which i brought in from NI, last friday week I rang around a few insurance companies and got pretty high premiums which I was expecting due to the fact I'm 22. I then got a quote that was sub 1000 euro from a particular company (not broker), obviously enough I jumped on that seeing as it was by far and away the cheapest! The only thing I had made very clear was that for the previous 5 years I've been on an open driver policy which I was assured was all ok and still got the same quote.
I then got a call yesterday (friday) saying they made a mistake and that I was going to be charged nearly double the premium because they "don't recognise" open driver as previous experience. This only came to light after they received all the policy paperwork which they had pre-signed back from me with my signatures... The direct debit was in place and all other paperwork was in order.. What if any rights have I got in this case?? I know people are going to say get a normal car but this is a second car in which is very rarely driven and I was expecting to pay a high premium but when a saving of over €1000 euro is on the line I'd rather not roll over and just say ok

I reckon it comes down to how the quote was done in the first instance. If you specifically told them that you were driving on an open drive policy and they still quoted you the premium them Id press them to stand over the price.

If they asked you something along the lines of how many years driving experience do you have and you didnt tell them that you werent named on a policy but were driving using open drive then you are snookered.

Just as an aside, Im curious to know which company covered you to drive on the open drive policy.

Ive worked for brokers and I work directly for an insurer now and the youngest Ive seen any company covering drivers on an open drive policy is Setanta and the drivers must be 24 minimum.

Was it on a motor trade / garage policy you were covered? If so then you are propably snookered too as any insurer Ive dealt with wont take motor trade experience as a bonus.

Have you contacted the company you have the open driving experience with?

They may be able to give you a letter to verify that no claims were registered under your name for the policy life cycle if it isnt a motor trade policy.

As I said though, Im curious who covered a very young driver on an open drive policy.

TestTransmission

heffoo wrote: »

Try xs direct extremely high excess but cheap insurance on powerful cars

I used them with the s2000, you change your excess but the policy price changes accordingly.

djimi

In fairness XS Direct is basically useless for any car that you are not prepared to walk away from. Grand if you are desperate to get on the road and have no other option, but for a car like a Focus RS Id want a better policy than what they offer.

Henry Ford III

Did you deal with a call centre op? If so I'd make a written complaint and ask for a copy of the audio tape.

Threaten to go to the Ombusdman too.

If you told them the truth and you took action as a result, I think you may be able to force them honour their quote.

Liam McPoyle

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Did you deal with a call centre op? If so I'd make a written complaint and ask for a copy of the audio tape.

Threaten to go to the Ombusdman too.

If you told them the truth and you took action as a result, I think you may be able to force them honour their quote.

Sure he should also threaten to go on Joe Duffy while he is at it, that always works.

:rolleyes:

Op, dont make threats because believe me, they will get you nowhere and from experience will make the insurer a helluva lot less likely to try and help you out.

You can request a transcript of the call but expect at least a 2 to 4 week wait, they will also charge you to send it to you, I think its a set fee of €6.35.

MidlandsM

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Did you deal with a call centre op? If so I'd make a written complaint and ask for a copy of the audio tape.

Threaten to go to the Ombusdman too.

If you told them the truth and you took action as a result, I think you may be able to force them honour their quote.

+1

Coleman, you don't have a clue.

djimi

Coleman Slawski wrote: »

they will also charge you to send it to you, I think its a set fee of €6.35.

Can they do that?

Liam McPoyle

MidlandsM wrote: »

+1

Coleman, you don't have a clue.

Hmmmm.

Take advice from me, someone thats worked in the insurance industry for almost 5 years, and over 3 of those years in personal lines ie car insurance, for both a brokers and an underwriter.

Or take advice from a blow hard on Boards.

The OP is free to do what he wants but youclearly dont have a clue and you post shows that in technicolour.

Do you have any idea how often people threaten to go to the FOM and just how little that means??? Ive heard it from people I couldn't quote because of their claims experience, because the price was too expensive, because their renewal increased and for every possible reason in between and you know what, it didnt make a blind bit of difference.

The fact of the matter is that the OP got insurance that he shouldn't have gotten. He can try and be reasonable with the insurance company and come to an arrangement but I GUARANTEE if he goes in with all guns blazing and making threats he will get nowhere.

Liam McPoyle

djimi wrote: »

Can they do that?

Yep, its something to do with the data protection act. My reckoning is that its there to stop every Tom, Dick & Harry requesting transcripts of calls when they get a bug up their arse about something.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Sean1991 wrote: »

Hi guys looking for a bit of advice.. I have a 09 focus rs which i brought in from NI, last friday week I rang around a few insurance companies and got pretty high premiums which I was expecting due to the fact I'm 22. I then got a quote that was sub 1000 euro from a particular company (not broker), obviously enough I jumped on that seeing as it was by far and away the cheapest! The only thing I had made very clear was that for the previous 5 years I've been on an open driver policy which I was assured was all ok and still got the same quote.
I then got a call yesterday (friday) saying they made a mistake and that I was going to be charged nearly double the premium because they "don't recognise" open driver as previous experience. This only came to light after they received all the policy paperwork which they had pre-signed back from me with my signatures... The direct debit was in place and all other paperwork was in order.. What if any rights have I got in this case?? I know people are going to say get a normal car but this is a second car in which is very rarely driven and I was expecting to pay a high premium but when a saving of over €1000 euro is on the line I'd rather not roll over and just say ok

I dont suppose you kept a copy of the paperwork? If not ask for a copy of it and state that you want your solicitor to check it over as you believe they are not honouring the agreement THEY made. Tell them you are not paying any more and that it was their mistake and they will just have to suffer it. Ask for copies of all the recordings of the telephone calls where they told you it was ok to use open policy experience for the NCB. Don't take any crap from them, it was their mistake.

oldyouth

People seem to be taking aggressive positions on this (I know the money difference is important). The truth is that is is probably just a simple misunderstanding.

The OP was either asked or heard a question enquiring how many years claim free driving he had. The call centre person either asked how many years he has been insured claim free, or how many years he had been named on an insurance claim free.

Either way, the nature of an open drive policy is that the driving history for a driver cannot be proven (unless there was a claim and that is not going to help you). Unless it can be proven you were driving for the period in question, an insurer cannot allow it. Otherwise, everyone in the country might as well saw they have driven for 5 years on the policy of Mr. Bloggs.

And yes, I know there is a way around it in some circumstances if the OP wishes to PM me to see if it suits his circumstances

Sean1991

Thanks for all the responses.. definitely not going to go in all guns blazing, I'm self employed long enough to know that that doesn't work. best way to think of it is if someone rings you f'ing and blinding what are you going to do whether your right or wrong in the first place?! I'm sure offering help wouldn't be on your list of responses.

I have copies of all the paperwork they sent me so I'll have to go through the small print to see what I can make of it, although it all seems very cryptic to me.

As regards whether the call centre girl heard right or wrong I stressed at the time of the phone-call that I was on open drive, she even went as far as stating that open drive doesn't even count as experience and that would effect the quote. This whole conversation happened as I queried the fact my previous 5 years driving on open drive was for my fathers chauffeur company and even though I drove full time for a living it all counts for nothing..well in the eyes of the insurance companies it does, which is utter BS.

For those who may query why not put my car on the company policy, there's all sorts of minimum criteria that I have to meet like having four doors and the car being PSV worthy blah blah all technicalities...

At the end of the day it's my Sunday car and I'm not going to get involved with solicitors and all that, ombudsman may be a route I'm willing to take but only depending on how they want to deal with me on Monday. I would love if there was such thing as insurance per mile... for a car thats 09 and has 17k miles on, I'd save so much!

toyotaavensis

OP ring them up and ask them to give you the quote they said they would. Tell them that you will not accept them changing the premium this late in the day.
Tell them that you will take it to the insurance ombudsman. Insurance companies hate this. When I worked in insurance claims the company got a fine of 450 euro every time a complaint was referred to O. The higher ups encouraged us to stop this from happening.

djimi

Any time I have changed insurer I have been sent a document that has all of the details that I have given and have been asked to verify and correct any mistakes. Are there any mistakes on this document, ie did they fill in your open driving experience (which you really shouldnt have bothered even mentioning tbh) as named driver experience or something accidentally?

Sean1991

djimi wrote: »

Any time I have changed insurer I have been sent a document that has all of the details that I have given and have been asked to verify and correct any mistakes. Are there any mistakes on this document, ie did they fill in your open driving experience (which you really shouldnt have bothered even mentioning tbh) as named driver experience or something accidentally?

I'm not changing insurance though it's a whole new policy I'm looking for. When I mentioned I was on open drive she told me to just write down on a letter how long I've was on open drive and with who and they would do the rest. In my 5 years driving I've never had an accident so I know for a fact that wasn't the problem or a reason for a change of heart.
May try the ombudsman route...I'll make phonecalls tomorrow and see where I get before making the dreaded call to this crowd that are making a mug of me
:mad:

djimi

Either way; you should have gotten the details sent out to you to review, correct if necessary and then sign and return. You need to check this to ensure that a mistake was not made in the details that they sent to you, because if there was and you sent them back without amending then you dont really have a case.

I have no idea why she even commented on the open driving; there is no such thing as being on an open driving policy, you simply drove a car that had open drive (as opposed to named driver experience where you are physically named on a policy).

testicle

Coleman Slawski wrote: »

Take advice from me, someone thats worked in the insurance industry for almost 5 years, and over 3 of those years in personal lines ie car insurance, for both a brokers and an underwriter.

I think you'll find "Henry Ford III" has worked in insurance for a lot, lot, longer than 5 years!

Sean1991

djimi wrote: »

Either way; you should have gotten the details sent out to you to review, correct if necessary and then sign and return. You need to check this to ensure that a mistake was not made in the details that they sent to you, because if there was and you sent them back without amending then you dont really have a case.

I have no idea why she even commented on the open driving; there is no such thing as being on an open driving policy, you simply drove a car that had open drive (as opposed to named driver experience where you are physically named on a policy).

All was checked and I have photocopies of everything they sent which has all the correct details which I gave over the phone. The problem started when I sent back all the paperwork and when they realised they made a mistake, not me

djimi

If there was no mistake in the details that you accepted, and they gave you a quote based on the infomation they had and sold the policy based on this then Id say you have a good case alright. The time for them to amend the mistake was before they issued the quote, not after they took your money.