Insurance company saying quote was misprint!?

Cherrycola

Hi, I'm looking for some advice for my parents
They received their car insurance renewal quote in writing via post last week. It had increased from €300ish to €470(still not bad compared to mine!) but they were keen to see if they could have it reduced. Rang around a few places and everything else quoted was much higher so they said they'd stay with the current quote.
However on ringing their current broker, they were told the quote they were given was a misprint and should have been €700+!!
Obviously they are not happy, so I'm wondering where do they stand re the original renewal amount? Do the insurance company have to honour it? Or can they just put it up by another €300 no questions asked?! It's disgraceful!
If they had just forwarded the payment as requested would that be considered a contract?or can they come back looking for more money?

Also who are the insurance regulatory body?
Would they get any joy from contacting them?

Thanks.

Notch000

sounds monumnetally dodgy by the insurance company or broaker, id move to insist they honour it or bring it to the samall claims, insuance omnisbuds man

shane b

If your parents have it in writing they should be able to push to get it for that price. The key part is that they have it in writing.

Cherrycola

I thought the same but the broker is having none of it, saying they can only offer what is displayed on their screen from the info inputted and that quote is not available, they don't know how the original quote was received, and conveniently the girl who processed it is not in this week- their insurance is out on the 5th.

I rang the competition authority and they said there is no responsibility on the broker/insurance company to honour a quote. Had the policy being paid for it would be different but as there's no contract it just a case of bad customer service.

I'll be encouraging them to make a complaint to the financial ombudsman anyway.

Liam McPoyle

Cherrycola wrote: »

I thought the same but the broker is having none of it, saying they can only offer what is displayed on their screen from the info inputted and that quote is not available, they don't know how the original quote was received, and conveniently the girl who processed it is not in this week- their insurance is out on the 5th.

I rang the competition authority and they said there is no responsibility on the broker/insurance company to honour a quote. Had the policy being paid for it would be different but as there's no contract it just a case of bad customer service.

I'll be encouraging them to make a complaint to the financial ombudsman anyway.

First thing is that the Ombudsman doesn't get involved in disputes over premiums, except in extreme circumstances such as a declined cases quote that is astronomical.

There is no hard and fast rule however most insurers would stand over a price they issued incorrectly as a gesture of good will. That's certainly the case with the company I work for.

In this instance however it was the broker that issued the renewal notice.

I worked in a brokers for a few years so know how it works.

The broker has a quotation engine and they enter the details then get the price and issue the quotes or renewal notice on that basis. In most cases the insurer doesn't see the prices that are being issued until the policies are set up by the broker and paid on their monthly statement.

What it sounds like is that someone in the brokers made an error and they don't want to take the hit with having to pay the insurance company the difference between the correct price and what your folks were originally quoted.

Pain in the arse for your parents but not much they can do if the broker are holding firm.

I'd suggest they contact them again and insist they waive the broker fee as a gesture considering the mistake. It might knock €50 or €60 quid off it.

Cherrycola

I'll pass that on to them, thanks a lot.

Just heard from my husband that Chill insurance have done exactly the same thing with our own insurance quote, from €700 last year, to €1000 with our current insurer, or €900 with axa, when he rang to query it, neither of those quotes were available, cheapest was €1200!!
How the heck are they allowed to do this?! How are quotes just disappearing? The €1000 quote from Zurich turned into no quote at all from them?!
I'm perplexed at how corrupt insurance is right now.
Eventually we got insurance in my name with him named driver, €778 for me alone, dropped to €560 when I added him, and he has 4 penalty points!? How does that even make sense!?

TOMP

Cherrycola wrote: »

I'll pass that on to them, thanks a lot.

Just heard from my husband that Chill insurance have done exactly the same thing with our own insurance quote, from €700 last year, to €1000 with our current insurer, or €900 with axa, when he rang to query it, neither of those quotes were available, cheapest was €1200!!
How the heck are they allowed to do this?! How are quotes just disappearing? The €1000 quote from Zurich turned into no quote at all from them?!
I'm perplexed at how corrupt insurance is right now.
Eventually we got insurance in my name with him named driver, €778 for me alone, dropped to €560 when I added him, and he has 4 penalty points!? How does that even make sense!?

It doesnt make sense. The insurance companies make it up as they go along. Its the new way of doing business. The government are doing nothing. Motorists need to form an action group and threaten to cancel their insurance all on the same day. They cannot put thousands of people in jail, just like the water protests.

Cherrycola

I agree! What this will do is push people to drive without insurance because they literally can't afford it. You need a car, especially if you live rurally. Even unemployed people need cars. You can't rent a house in a town these days for less than €900, so a lot of lower paid people have no choice but to move further out of small towns meaning cars are even more of a necessity. It's too simplistic to say if you can't afford to insure/tax/run a car then don't have one.
And as insurance is a legal requirement the government should be doing something. It's hitting breaking point now.

Henry Ford III

Who issued the renewal?

Liam McPoyle

Cherrycola wrote: »

I'll pass that on to them, thanks a lot.

Just heard from my husband that Chill insurance have done exactly the same thing with our own insurance quote, from €700 last year, to €1000 with our current insurer, or €900 with axa, when he rang to query it, neither of those quotes were available, cheapest was €1200!!
How the heck are they allowed to do this?! How are quotes just disappearing? The €1000 quote from Zurich turned into no quote at all from them?!
I'm perplexed at how corrupt insurance is right now.
Eventually we got insurance in my name with him named driver, €778 for me alone, dropped to €560 when I added him, and he has 4 penalty points!? How does that even make sense!?[/quohand


If Chill or any company are issuing renewal notices then rescinding the offer and giving a higher price then they should be reported to Insurance Ireland. Either them or the insurers are acting the maggot and should be brought to task.

Are you saying they sent you guys the renewal notice offering €900 as the "best price" but then said that wasn't available and tried to charge more?

A renewal notice CANNOT change unless there is a change to the risk at hand.

Renewal notices have to be legally issued 28 days prior to renewal to allow customers time to shop around, the price cannot be then jacked up.

Report them, please.

Sue Pa Key Pa

As Saul says, it is very poor form to alter a renewal invitation. In these examples, the problem seems to rest with the broker, not the insurer (Chill are brokers)

However, insurance is a contract no different to others. An offer can be withdrawn at any stage before it is accepted and consideration (method of payment) is agreed

I'd kick up a loud fuss with the broker and see where you get. The least I would expect is the removal of their service charge and a rebate of their commission on the policy

Sleeper12

Notch000 wrote:

sounds monumnetally dodgy by the insurance company or broaker, id move to insist they honour it or bring it to the samall claims, insuance omnisbuds man

Insurance company is perfectly in the right. If you see a designer handbag with a 10 euro price tag by mistake & being it to the till in the shop they don't have to sell it to you for 10 euro. We are lucky in Ireland where you can make a mistake.
Don't forget there was no contract signed. No money exchanged. Broker spotted mistake and rectified it.

Cherrycola

True.
Still doesn't account for the increase in their premium from €300 last year to €778 this year, with no other change in any risk factor!
That's the biggest bugbear!

Cherrycola

TOMP wrote: »

It doesnt make sense. The insurance companies make it up as they go along. Its the new way of doing business. The government are doing nothing. Motorists need to form a lobby group and threaten to cancel their insurance all on the same day. They cannot put thousands of people in jail, just like the water protests.

what day are the cops on strike?? Lol. Perfect day to do it.

Fuzzy Clam

Cherrycola wrote:

True. Still doesn't account for the increase in their premium from €300 last year to €778 this year, with no other change in any risk factor! That's the biggest bugbear!

We're all in the same boat. I'm dreading my next quote on my car which will be 14 yo when the insurance is up.

Cherrycola

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

We're all in the same boat. I'm dreading my next quote on my car which will be 14 yo when the insurance is up.

I know, insaid as much to my parents, that everyone in the country is at the mercy of these thieves. We have another renewal due after Christmas, it's depressing.

LollipopJimmy

Most documents like this have E&OE on them. A quote is only an invitation to treat anyway and while bad for it has no legal standing

Sue Pa Key Pa

TOMP wrote: »

Motorists need to form an action group and threaten to cancel their insurance all on the same day. They cannot put thousands of people in jail, just like the water protests.

There is no crime in everybody cancelling their insurance on the same day. Eventually, on a phased basis, people will get caught and convicted. Forget going to jail, you don't want that on your driving record.

Something needs to be done, but that's not the way

NUTLEY BOY

I rather fear that the policyholder may not be able to insist on the lower contract price if that offer was withdrawn before it was accepted.

That said, this is utterly bad form on the part of the broker.

In view of time pressure for renewal they could always renew on the basis of time pressure but without prejudice to their right to contest the issue.

cplwhisper

Cherrycola wrote: »

True.
Still doesn't account for the increase in their premium from 300 last year to 778 this year, with no other change in any risk factor!
That's the biggest bugbear!

Can you access your parents renewal notice from 2015 and check the list of discounts used then to calculated that rate. Liberty insurance for example used to allow 33% discount for Zero points but that scheme is no longer used by liberty so customers are seeing large increase. Nothing illegal by them not removing that perk as it's not a NCB discount.

i.e. Gross in 2015 was 600 less PP discounts = 400 paid in full.

Rates are up 20+% this year and PP disc gone so 600 + 20% = 720 offered in 2016

Customers may complain as looks like 320 increase but actually should be glad they got the PP perk last year that others may not have had access too

Cherrycola

Thanks I'll do that.

We have our own issue now with Chill insurance, sent us our renewal quote, which was over €300 more than last year, rang them to see if there was anything better, and the guy can't find our renewal quote on his system either!!??! Like wtf is going on? So the next quote we were given was another €300 more!!'
Then we said 'stick it' and went elsewhere, only to find that somehow Zurich(our current insurer) were presenting a direct debit for next Tuesday to collect the first payment for this new quote, even though we hadn't accepted the policy or signed anything!
I think we will have to make some kind of complaint to someone, because they are a law onto themselves at the moment, with their ghost renewal quotes that disappear when you call them and now presenting an unauthorised DD!!

Charles Babbage

Things happen. No doubt if you happened to write 1399cc on your form rather than 1999cc, they would have no problem when you just pointed out that it was harmless mistake.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Cherrycola wrote: »

Then we said 'stick it' and went elsewhere, only to find that somehow Zurich(our current insurer) were presenting a direct debit for next Tuesday to collect the first payment for this new quote, even though we hadn't accepted the policy or signed anything!
I think we will have to make some kind of complaint to someone, because they are a law onto themselves at the moment, with their ghost renewal quotes that disappear when you call them and now presenting an unauthorised DD!!

You'll probably find that your renewal papers included notice that they would auto renew your policy unless they heard from you to the contrary

Cherrycola

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

You'll probably find that your renewal papers included notice that they would auto renew your policy unless they heard from you to the contrary

But they did hear from us to the contrary, we said the quote was too high and we were going elsewhere, how much clearer could we be?!

And I'm nearly sure all previous renewals said we didn't return signed documents along with first payment our policy would lapse. I'll have to check this one.

Skatedude

Something similer for my mother, went to renew insurance, but it went from 600 to 2300 with no claims or any change to details etc. Tried all the insurance companies in ireland that i could find and finally got a quote for 1300.
Went to pay it and they said it was a misquote even though it was through their online site and said they could only offer 1800. Luckily i didnt take it as it was with wrightway which folded this year anyway. ended up with axa for 1750 for a retired book keeper(didn't realize retired book keepers were such a high risk).

Sue Pa Key Pa

Skatedude wrote: »

Luckily i didnt take it as it was with wrightway which folded this year anyway. ended up with axa for 1750 for a retired book keeper(didn't realize retired book keepers were such a high risk).

Wrightway didn't fold, you need to correct that. One of the Insurers they dealt with collapsed. Wrightway refunded all premiums to the customers affected

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/thousands-set-to-get-refunds-after-collapse-of-enterprise-insurance-1.2732916

9935452

Skatedude wrote: »

Something similer for my mother, went to renew insurance, but it went from 600 to 2300 with no claims or any change to details etc. Tried all the insurance companies in ireland that i could find and finally got a quote for 1300.
Went to pay it and they said it was a misquote even though it was through their online site and said they could only offer 1800. Luckily i didnt take it as it was with wrightway which folded this year anyway. ended up with axa for 1750 for a retired book keeper(didn't realize retired book keepers were such a high risk).

The mothers insurance was up 6 months ago.
It went up from 400 to 900. She queried it with the insurance company, Reasons given were car over 15 years old, insurance cost rising and they didnt have a copy of her or my fathers driving licenses(named driver) which they never asked for in the first place.
She sent in copies of the licenses and the price dropped to 600.

cplwhisper

9935452 wrote: »

Skatedude wrote: »

Something similer for my mother, went to renew insurance, but it went from 600 to 2300 with no claims or any change to details etc. Tried all the insurance companies in ireland that i could find and finally got a quote for 1300.
Went to pay it and they said it was a misquote even though it was through their online site and said they could only offer 1800. Luckily i didnt take it as it was with wrightway which folded this year anyway. ended up with axa for 1750 for a retired book keeper(didn't realize retired book keepers were such a high risk).

The mothers insurance was up 6 months ago.
It went up from 400 to 900. She queried it with the insurance company, Reasons given were car over 15 years old, insurance cost rising and they didnt have a copy of her or my fathers driving licenses(named driver) which they never asked for in the first place.
She sent in copies of the licenses and the price dropped to 600.

Sounds like Aviva plan.. just remember the Penalty point discount they used to reduce price is retractable..i.e. Get 3 PP and it's back to 300 increase