Car Insurance Quotation Offer
Just a word of warning-Re 'We will beat your quotation by £25 offer' C&MC
As I have been very happy with the Red Pennant and Home Insurance with C&MC, I recently tried to take advantage of this Car Insurance offer and got a quote from C&MC Ins. (Devitts) for £274. My current insurers had quoted me £434 renewal but after a conversation with them they reduced it to £299 including the breakdown element removal which I don't need. I was happy with the C&MC quote, accepted it, paid for it and emailed the 20years+ NCD proof as requested.
Following day they came back to me and said they couldn't validate that quote as the original Renewal was the only price they could work on. I explained it was a renewal price of £299 without extras etc but they argued and said they want £84 more from me for the cover. Consequently, I refused this and said I didn't want the insurance so could they refund my money. They said no! They would cancel the policy but there was a £25 admin charge for the cancellation!
I argued:
1) The policy didn't start for another 2 weeks
2) The price had changed
3) There hadn't been any admin/set up of policy
4) They hadn't matched the £25 beaten price
5) My 14 day cooling off period by law which would be before the policy took effect.
6) They wanted me to pay £358 to insure with them the same policy I coud get for £299 with my current insurers through RENEWAL!
The lady on the phone was adamant I would have to pay the cancellation fee of £25 but after 20 mins arguing agreed to put me through to a Line Manager who agreed with my points and agreed there would be no cancellation charge and would cancel the policy (which hadn't started!)
The irony here is:
2017/18 Insurers LV=
Amended Renewal 2018/19 LV=
C&MC Quote 2018/19 LV=
My New Renwal 2018/19 LV=
So just a word of warning-don't pay any money to Devitts for this offer of Insurance unless you are sure you are 100% happy with it as it will cost you if you say yes. Furthermore, if you are with LV just ask them to take another look at their Renewal Offer!
My Insurance is now in place at £298.99 with LV= with exactly the same cover as last year but £35 cheaper!
Be Aware!!!
Mike
Comments
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I asked the CMC for a quote for my car and received one nearly three times what I was paying LV at the time.
I've been with LV for many years but this year faced a price hike, so I asked them to look at it and requote, which they did. I'm now insured through the Halifax at a reasonable saving on last years LV premium.
Insurance is a minefield buried in the small print.
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I am also with the Halifax and for the first time so no history of premiums with them as yet. But I had to ask twice if their quotation was correct, as it was very very low for the same offerings compared with my previous insurer Saga.
I give the Club the opportunity to quote each year, but its no competition.
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I've just had a very competitive quote for the MH from CaravanGuard as Saga have been climbing inexorably the past couple of years.
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Our car insurance was due for renewal last Monday and so we decided to ask Devitts for a quote. Yes, they quoted £25 less than our renewal, but...excess was £150 for accidental damage (currently £150 for fire & theft, nil for accidental damage), no guaranteed hire car, which we currently have, and £20 admin fee for change mid term (we may be changing our car), currently no admin fee for changed mid term. Policy with Direct Line. Rang them to say had a more competitive quote, but not a level playing field; within 3 minutes renewal premium was reduced to within £10 of Devitts quote, with the same excess etc, so we renewed with them. Takes a bit of time, but worth it as we saved over £35.
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I got a good deal insuring my motorhome through the Club earlier this year (and they always insured the caravan) I also use them for house and contents. However I have never been able to get a sensible quote out of them for car insurance over all the years I have tried. I am inclined not to bother now.
David
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Is it not true that every insurance company targets a certain sector of motor insurance business - age of owner, miles driven, location, type of car, and so on. I just don't seem to be a target Devitts are aiming at.
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Devitts are brokers and are supposed to find the best policy for you. This may not be the cheapest but the one that suits your circumstances best and that is unlikely to be the cheapest. You probably did not buy the cheapest car and you should apply that to your policy as well.
Insurers use their statistics to determine premiums and that tends to throw up variations between them so no one company is always the cheapest. Do also remember that the cheapest can be cutting out things, including claims settlements and service, so look for the best policy.
If you look up the Ombudsman's figures and look at the number of complaints upheld which is the best test of a good firm then you will get a better idea of who treats their customers best. The total number of complaints is not valid as this depends a lot on the size of the company rather than the service.
Having said all that I have checked the clubs quotes a few times, and to my mind I have always done better.
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Club insurance I have found to be more competitive than the 'other' club (C&CC) and hugely less than Saga over the last 5 years or so. (Personally found not worth bothering asking Devitts again for another quote for private car though in spite of this so called £25 saving ) However I am wondering about returning to letter/post rather than taking up their preference for suggesting to going paperless in dealing with them for the annual M/H Insurance
Have just complained to them about their idea of suggesting you agree to their 'automatic renewal' system. This set up apparently is linked if you agree to accept all communication , quotes and then insurance documents by email. This is OK if their servers are all working smoothly but yesterday they admitted they are at present and recently having problems. (It was news to me that I had agreed to this by going electronic communication with them anyway ??)
I have had their emails but unable to download their renewal quote. The next email was thanking me for 'already paying for another year' insuring with the club 's insurance, When phoning them they said I had already agreed to the 'automatic renewal system' that if I did not contact them by return for their quote they would assume I accepted it.
It took a rather lengthy and patient discussion from me for the person on the other end of the phone to finally realise and understand the simple point that they had taken money from my account without me being able to see the actual amount involved.
I have now accepted the figure now I know how much it is costing me. I have insisted that in the future I want a letter with the renewal quote in writing.
I have just received the confirmation email with attachments containing the Insurance documents , certificate etc. and yes, their servers are still not operating so I cannot download them.
So another phone call to Club Insurance/Devitts tomorrow again,
Slightly harder work this year in dealing with Club's Insurance brokers Devitts !!
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You will find all insurers will put you on automatic renewal to prevent anyone accidently failing to insure.
You should get an e mail if you have agreed to that for renewal though, with the renewal notice as an attachment. If you cannot open it then you need to ring but if there is a problem with e mails at their end they should write a letter.
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"You will find all insurers will put you on automatic renewal to prevent anyone accidently failing to insure."
Err, no they don’t. My insurer (NFU) sends me a renewal notice and I then pay by whatever method suits me.
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Strongly disagree with that statement they do it because a lot of people cannot be bothered to shop around for insurance so the company just help themselves to more of your money. If you buy a tv or sofa with your card the shop doesn't think 12 months later I will take another payment without consent, no it should be banned. If I want to take up their renewal quote I will let them know and authorise a new payment
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Not all insurances are necessarily on automatic renewal. I have contacted insurance company in the past to be put on automatic renewal.
I see no advantage to not being on auto renew, I cans see one obvious disadvantage on not being on auto renewal.
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this is what an insurance company should do quote
The insurance company must also contact you 30 days before your insurance is due to end and tell you that they will renew the contract unless you tell them not to. If you don’t receive this notification, you should be able to cancel your insurance without paying a charge. unquote
this they will tell you is so that you do not inadvertantly drive with no insurance, and i think this is good.
also even if they auto renew and you were not immediately aware of this, then you still have a 14 day cooling off period and you can cxl at anytime during this period, Staysure for example have just charged me £1.90 to cover postage and some admin of a policy i cxled within 14 days.
It is a relatively simple process to follow and i guess works for both parties, e.g. you do not get fined for driving without insurance, and if you dont keep on top of the process the insurance company retains a customer and get lots of money.
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+1👍🏻(Not ‘NFU,’ ‘more than’)
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And I’m sure they're not the only two companies who work that way👍🏻👍🏻
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My car is currently insured with the Caravan Club but won't be next year. I received my renewal documents last week and they wanted an extra £220 to insure me for the next twelve months.
I've not made a claim in the last year and nothing has changed as far as the car and my ability to drive is concerned. I have had a clean licence for 54 years.
I expected to pay a bit more as I had read that car insurance generally was going up by about 15% but over 50% no way!
I rang to ask for an explanation but all I got was " some companies have had an increase in claims even though you haven't made a claim"
I'm now insured for next year with the co-op (CIS) via the AA for £200 less than C&MC.
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All companies will put you on auto renewal now to make sure you do not accidentally fail to insure. The renewal notice will state this clearly and if decide to move they will show you how to cancel on the renewal notice. You can also cancel the standing order to make sure you are not double charged.
This system is far better than having people slip through without renewing and the cost of third party claims for these now uninsured drivers being added to your premiums.
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