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direct line motor insurance
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last year i took a policy out with direct line.
when they asked if my car was modified i told them yes and mentioned a set of wheels, at which i was told not to worry as its only "cosmetic and dont have to declare them", at this i never mentioned my tints or sunstrip as i would be wasting my breathe.
I also hd a female driver on my car as an additional driver.
Last month someone hit the side of my car on a car park and drove off, so i tried to claim...
here is the trouble....
as i never declared my tints i have to pay £700 access, not my £250 although they admitted their sales rep had told me wrong info when i mentioned my wheels, as a manager listened to the tape.
also my additional driver was no longer insured to drive my car as she was under 25 years old and my car was modified, yet they knew it was moified the day i took the policy out.
they are also saying that a set of tints aren't cosmetic mods, but infact performance (HOW I ASK)
but stil get no answer.
I even get the "I WOULDN'T LIKE TO SAY" when i sk if my additional driver had crashed the car, would they uphold the claaim??. I are benging my head up a brick wall talking to them now as its clear they are using undermimed tactics not to claim. I arent going to the ombudsman as i feel they will sway with the insurance company, but i have e-miled watchdog as i feel there will be more unsuspecting people that have been told this COSMETIC MODIFICATION RULING and are after people really so i can go back to direct line and say there are more, its not just me.
when they asked if my car was modified i told them yes and mentioned a set of wheels, at which i was told not to worry as its only "cosmetic and dont have to declare them", at this i never mentioned my tints or sunstrip as i would be wasting my breathe.
I also hd a female driver on my car as an additional driver.
Last month someone hit the side of my car on a car park and drove off, so i tried to claim...
here is the trouble....
as i never declared my tints i have to pay £700 access, not my £250 although they admitted their sales rep had told me wrong info when i mentioned my wheels, as a manager listened to the tape.
also my additional driver was no longer insured to drive my car as she was under 25 years old and my car was modified, yet they knew it was moified the day i took the policy out.
they are also saying that a set of tints aren't cosmetic mods, but infact performance (HOW I ASK)
but stil get no answer.
I even get the "I WOULDN'T LIKE TO SAY" when i sk if my additional driver had crashed the car, would they uphold the claaim??. I are benging my head up a brick wall talking to them now as its clear they are using undermimed tactics not to claim. I arent going to the ombudsman as i feel they will sway with the insurance company, but i have e-miled watchdog as i feel there will be more unsuspecting people that have been told this COSMETIC MODIFICATION RULING and are after people really so i can go back to direct line and say there are more, its not just me.
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you can't blame the insurance company - you decided you wouldn't tell them material facts because you felt you would be wasting your breath.
I'm not surprised you aren't going to the ombudsman, as i am also sure they would side with the insurance company.
Have you looked at your policy - is the named person covered and now they are saying she isn't?
you assert that "they knew your car was modified" - how? if you declined to tell them as you didn't want to waste breath
I'm not surprised you aren't going to the ombudsman, as i am also sure they would side with the insurance company.
Have you looked at your policy - is the named person covered and now they are saying she isn't?
you assert that "they knew your car was modified" - how? if you declined to tell them as you didn't want to waste breath
i declared i had a set of £1000 wheels, there sales rep said anything cosmetic didnt need tobe declared..
diret line have admitted this and said he shouldnt have said it.
To add a named driver to your policy they have a date of birth , which shows she is 22 and not over 25, so they would insure her to have the money off me but not when i tried to claim...
I have had a manager saying it should be paid due to tints being under the cosmetic modification ruling that i was told about, bt another manager says i never mentioned my tints,
the dificulty i what the sales rep told me when taking my policy out "YOU DONT NEED TO DECLARE COSMETICS MODS". In that case what are sunstrip / tints , every1 at direct line say they are cosmetics except the claim dept, who class them as performance but wont tell me what they do to my cars erformance!!!
I wont go to the ombudsman as they always side with the insurance companies, that what they are there for.
As for not telling tem facts, i declared the most expensive to be told i didnt need to declare cosmetics, I have no performance mods but 3 cosmetics, Why declare stuff when you're told youdon't need to...
I usually declare every mod but due to them saying this i didnt.
diret line have admitted this and said he shouldnt have said it.
To add a named driver to your policy they have a date of birth , which shows she is 22 and not over 25, so they would insure her to have the money off me but not when i tried to claim...
I have had a manager saying it should be paid due to tints being under the cosmetic modification ruling that i was told about, bt another manager says i never mentioned my tints,
the dificulty i what the sales rep told me when taking my policy out "YOU DONT NEED TO DECLARE COSMETICS MODS". In that case what are sunstrip / tints , every1 at direct line say they are cosmetics except the claim dept, who class them as performance but wont tell me what they do to my cars erformance!!!
I wont go to the ombudsman as they always side with the insurance companies, that what they are there for.
As for not telling tem facts, i declared the most expensive to be told i didnt need to declare cosmetics, I have no performance mods but 3 cosmetics, Why declare stuff when you're told youdon't need to...
I usually declare every mod but due to them saying this i didnt.
On the assumption what you have said is gospel, then you must pursue every avenue open to you. It is this sort of sharp practice that gives insurance a bad name.
I'd refer to the attached from the Insurance:Conduct of Business handbook.
http://fsahandbook.in...ml/handbook/ICOBS/8/1
As you can see, rejecting a claim is unreasonable for a breach of warranty or condition unless the circumstances of the claim are connected to the breach.
Having tinted windows may (although I'd be surprised) be a breach of your policy conditions, but they wouldn't have contributed to you being crashed into.
Direct Line are on very iffy ground here.
Your policy will have a complaints procedure which you are contractually obliged to follow - if you don't receive satisfaction from this, you will need to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
I'd refer to the attached from the Insurance:Conduct of Business handbook.
http://fsahandbook.in...ml/handbook/ICOBS/8/1
As you can see, rejecting a claim is unreasonable for a breach of warranty or condition unless the circumstances of the claim are connected to the breach.
Having tinted windows may (although I'd be surprised) be a breach of your policy conditions, but they wouldn't have contributed to you being crashed into.
Direct Line are on very iffy ground here.
Your policy will have a complaints procedure which you are contractually obliged to follow - if you don't receive satisfaction from this, you will need to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
just come off the phone to them and i done an online quote while on phone to them to prove you cant declare any mods on the quote, which has been proved correct.
they admit making the mistake of not putting my wheels on the policy but wont still put the claim through due to the tints not being declared, even though being told i didnt need to declare cosmetic mods
they done a new quote with the tints which actually brings the premium down...
but still want me to pay £700 to fix my car.
all they keep saying about the under 25 driver is OPERATOR ERROR as he didnt put the mods i declared on the system!!! so it allowed a 22 yrae old to drive a car against their own rules of being over 25...
On the phone a customer relations operator told me "WHEELS DO NOT INCREASE PREMIUM"
I had wrote this down and bought question up 20 mins later, she ran a quote with standard and wheels and there was £160 difference, then she added tints and what you know it came down £5.
due to the price coming down £5 they want to charge me 3450 extra on top of my access, so now i wil write to the chief executive with my complaint and tell him im going public with it as i feel i need to...
seriously doing my head in now. Need to hear off someone else its happened to so i can make a stronger argument as we can combine complaints.
they admit making the mistake of not putting my wheels on the policy but wont still put the claim through due to the tints not being declared, even though being told i didnt need to declare cosmetic mods
they done a new quote with the tints which actually brings the premium down...
but still want me to pay £700 to fix my car.
all they keep saying about the under 25 driver is OPERATOR ERROR as he didnt put the mods i declared on the system!!! so it allowed a 22 yrae old to drive a car against their own rules of being over 25...
On the phone a customer relations operator told me "WHEELS DO NOT INCREASE PREMIUM"
I had wrote this down and bought question up 20 mins later, she ran a quote with standard and wheels and there was £160 difference, then she added tints and what you know it came down £5.
due to the price coming down £5 they want to charge me 3450 extra on top of my access, so now i wil write to the chief executive with my complaint and tell him im going public with it as i feel i need to...
seriously doing my head in now. Need to hear off someone else its happened to so i can make a stronger argument as we can combine complaints.
OK. I work for UKI, they underwrite Direct line. They also do the same for Tesco, Churchill, Privilege, Lloyds TSB, Prudential.....it goes on, we're a massive company. We're also, in turn, owned by the RBS so penny-pinching is in full flow at the minute.
I'll get the easy stuff out of the way first.
Wheels affecting price. When we add aloy wheels on to our system it gives a couple of options.
1. Non-standard alloy wheels fitted to a new car. This doesn't affect the premium as they are fitted by the manufacturer, they're the size the manufacturer specifies for the vehicle, so they are an optional extra. It's pretty much the same as before, just a prettier wheel.
2. Non-standard alloys fitted to a used car. Now, this is why it rates differently. The car's speed is taken from each revolution of the flywheel. It will know, by the amount of rpm's the flywheel is doing, how fast your car is going on lets say a 17inch set of wheels. using the distance the wheel is travellimg, over time, gives you the speed. Simple, basic physics. Now, If you have 19inch wheels fitted as a mod, for each full rotation of the wheel, the car is travelling further, now it might only be a few inches, but when you're heading over 70mph, the distances start to add up. Now the flywheel always rotates the same distance, but your car is travelling further. Simply put, your speedo is out. You are travelling faster than you believe. This can increase the likelyhood of accidents whilst going around corners & with pedestrians. it sounds far fetched but this is the way they assess it.
Windown tints bringing the price down. The window tints, as they're classing them as a modification, will add an extra xs to the policy. The higher the xs, the lower the premium. That's why you'll see a decrease in premium.
I'll get the easy stuff out of the way first.
Wheels affecting price. When we add aloy wheels on to our system it gives a couple of options.
1. Non-standard alloy wheels fitted to a new car. This doesn't affect the premium as they are fitted by the manufacturer, they're the size the manufacturer specifies for the vehicle, so they are an optional extra. It's pretty much the same as before, just a prettier wheel.
2. Non-standard alloys fitted to a used car. Now, this is why it rates differently. The car's speed is taken from each revolution of the flywheel. It will know, by the amount of rpm's the flywheel is doing, how fast your car is going on lets say a 17inch set of wheels. using the distance the wheel is travellimg, over time, gives you the speed. Simple, basic physics. Now, If you have 19inch wheels fitted as a mod, for each full rotation of the wheel, the car is travelling further, now it might only be a few inches, but when you're heading over 70mph, the distances start to add up. Now the flywheel always rotates the same distance, but your car is travelling further. Simply put, your speedo is out. You are travelling faster than you believe. This can increase the likelyhood of accidents whilst going around corners & with pedestrians. it sounds far fetched but this is the way they assess it.
Windown tints bringing the price down. The window tints, as they're classing them as a modification, will add an extra xs to the policy. The higher the xs, the lower the premium. That's why you'll see a decrease in premium.
front windows! The greater the level of tint, the worse the visibilty at night due to low light levels reaching the eyes of the driver. This obviously affect the risk. If they were done by the manufacturer, they shouldn't be charging for them. They will be listed as a mod, just for the sake of information, but they wouldn't be classed as a rating factor.
Mods declared on the internet. You are correct, you cannot add modifications whilst doing a quote online with any UKI brand. It does state on there, that if the car has modifications, you will need to continue your quote over the phone.
Right, that's all the other stuff out of the way.
Declaring wheels. You have said that the wheels were non-standard. The consultant has acknowledged that you have declared the wheels. This is all it takes. It is entirely not your fault. He has told you, whilst being recorded, that they are cosmetic modifications & that they do not need to be declared. You are now of the opinion that cosmetic mods do not need to be declared, it's only correct that you wouldn't declare the tints. He knows that mods affect the price, his job is to sell policies. He is scamming and, by rights, should be suspended. I know this because dealing with little pricks like this is what i do within UKI.
Mods declared on the internet. You are correct, you cannot add modifications whilst doing a quote online with any UKI brand. It does state on there, that if the car has modifications, you will need to continue your quote over the phone.
Right, that's all the other stuff out of the way.
Declaring wheels. You have said that the wheels were non-standard. The consultant has acknowledged that you have declared the wheels. This is all it takes. It is entirely not your fault. He has told you, whilst being recorded, that they are cosmetic modifications & that they do not need to be declared. You are now of the opinion that cosmetic mods do not need to be declared, it's only correct that you wouldn't declare the tints. He knows that mods affect the price, his job is to sell policies. He is scamming and, by rights, should be suspended. I know this because dealing with little pricks like this is what i do within UKI.
Firstly, you need to contact the sales team & as politely as you can, you need to speak with a team leader. You need to explain all of the above & reiterate the fact that you declared, when asked, the alloy wheels & that you didn't mention the tints because of what the consultant said.
You need to tell them that you WILL NOT be paying the higher xs as this is not your fault at all. You should also be aware that you haven't been asked to sign & return your documents, don't mention this, but just as a fall back you haven't made any agreement that the policy is correct with regards to the mods. We stopped asking folks to sign & return documents ages ago.
Explain that you want a complaint logging on the system. Tell them that you also want it escalating to CRD (customer relations department) & that you expect a call back within 48 hours. be firm but pleasant.
Don't contact the ombudsman, the FOS don't govern our insurance anymore. We are regulated by the FSA (financial services authority), they will pretty much tell you what i have just said, but it's nice to get some sort of official backup. Believe it or not, the FSA is on your side. Give them a bell.
You need to tell them that you WILL NOT be paying the higher xs as this is not your fault at all. You should also be aware that you haven't been asked to sign & return your documents, don't mention this, but just as a fall back you haven't made any agreement that the policy is correct with regards to the mods. We stopped asking folks to sign & return documents ages ago.
Explain that you want a complaint logging on the system. Tell them that you also want it escalating to CRD (customer relations department) & that you expect a call back within 48 hours. be firm but pleasant.
Don't contact the ombudsman, the FOS don't govern our insurance anymore. We are regulated by the FSA (financial services authority), they will pretty much tell you what i have just said, but it's nice to get some sort of official backup. Believe it or not, the FSA is on your side. Give them a bell.
None of this is your doing, if they have the call recorded, which we bloody well will, we record ALL CALLS, and they are stored digitally for 12 months so they will have it there, you can use that to back you up.
Remember, when you speak to us, it might not have been our individual error, be polite to us & you will get the best customer service you have ever had. Be a twit & they will more than likely cut you off. Just be patient, let the cogs turn & be savvy about everything i've explained.
If you want anymore info drop me a line on sif.ellis(at)gmail.com & i'll help you out. This is just *** of the highest order & you aren't liable for it.
i hope this helps.
Remember, when you speak to us, it might not have been our individual error, be polite to us & you will get the best customer service you have ever had. Be a twit & they will more than likely cut you off. Just be patient, let the cogs turn & be savvy about everything i've explained.
If you want anymore info drop me a line on sif.ellis(at)gmail.com & i'll help you out. This is just *** of the highest order & you aren't liable for it.
i hope this helps.
i are writing to the chief executive about this matter.
wheels are not standard size, but as they admit i declared them they will honour this mod.
they say i didnt declare my rear tints, but i was told i dint need to declare cosmetic mods.
a manager has admitted that i was told this but customer relations are saying i didn't but OPERATOR ERROR meant my car was standard when it was modified. hence why the 22 yr old was added with the policy saying she needed to be 25.
I know its out of order what they are doing and it wouldn't bother me so much if i had an old cheap car but i dont, i paid nearly 17000 for an audi a3, now i cant bear to look at the 1 side of the car.
thanx for your help sifellis but i have spent around 4hours on phone to different managers and they want £700 to fix my car even though my access is £250. My main argument is if they are honouring the wheel error why do i pay an extra £450 for a mod that brings my policy down by just £1.
I will not pay for it myself , If the chief executive dont listen i will be going down to surrey (CROYDON) and parking in front of the reception doors until they listen then i'll be face-face and not over a phone. Direct line have now lost me as a customer for car insurance and also my house insurance will move elsewhere when its up for renewal.
I THINK INSURANCE IS A BIG CON AND MY CLAIM WAS PUT FORWARD ON THE 9TH OCTOBER , STILL MY CAR IS DAMAGED....
wheels are not standard size, but as they admit i declared them they will honour this mod.
they say i didnt declare my rear tints, but i was told i dint need to declare cosmetic mods.
a manager has admitted that i was told this but customer relations are saying i didn't but OPERATOR ERROR meant my car was standard when it was modified. hence why the 22 yr old was added with the policy saying she needed to be 25.
I know its out of order what they are doing and it wouldn't bother me so much if i had an old cheap car but i dont, i paid nearly 17000 for an audi a3, now i cant bear to look at the 1 side of the car.
thanx for your help sifellis but i have spent around 4hours on phone to different managers and they want £700 to fix my car even though my access is £250. My main argument is if they are honouring the wheel error why do i pay an extra £450 for a mod that brings my policy down by just £1.
I will not pay for it myself , If the chief executive dont listen i will be going down to surrey (CROYDON) and parking in front of the reception doors until they listen then i'll be face-face and not over a phone. Direct line have now lost me as a customer for car insurance and also my house insurance will move elsewhere when its up for renewal.
I THINK INSURANCE IS A BIG CON AND MY CLAIM WAS PUT FORWARD ON THE 9TH OCTOBER , STILL MY CAR IS DAMAGED....
OH AND FORGOT TO SAY I HAD A LETTER OFF CUSTOMER RELATIONS SAYING
SORRY TO HEAR I HAVE HAD THE INCONVENIENCE OF NEEDING TO COMPLAIN BUT I HOPE YOUR ISSUES HAVE BEEN DEALT WITH IN THE CORRECT MANNER AND SETTLED.
DOESNT MENTION NO OUTCOME, THEY SENT ME THIS RATHER THAN A CALL BACK WHICH WAS PROMISED.
AND I HAVE MENTIONED TO THEM THAT I ARE CLAIMING FOR BODY WORK AND PAINT NOT ANY MODS..
SIFELLIS...
CAN THEY ALTER MY PREMIUM BY ADDING THE MODS WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ORIGINALLY?
ONLY ASKING AS WHEN THEY TOOK MY G/F OFF THE PRICE WENT UP SLIGHTLY THEN WENT UP WHEN ADDING THE WHEELS (WHICH THEY SAID THEY WERE HONOURING BUT NOT SURE HOW)
SORRY TO HEAR I HAVE HAD THE INCONVENIENCE OF NEEDING TO COMPLAIN BUT I HOPE YOUR ISSUES HAVE BEEN DEALT WITH IN THE CORRECT MANNER AND SETTLED.
DOESNT MENTION NO OUTCOME, THEY SENT ME THIS RATHER THAN A CALL BACK WHICH WAS PROMISED.
AND I HAVE MENTIONED TO THEM THAT I ARE CLAIMING FOR BODY WORK AND PAINT NOT ANY MODS..
SIFELLIS...
CAN THEY ALTER MY PREMIUM BY ADDING THE MODS WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ORIGINALLY?
ONLY ASKING AS WHEN THEY TOOK MY G/F OFF THE PRICE WENT UP SLIGHTLY THEN WENT UP WHEN ADDING THE WHEELS (WHICH THEY SAID THEY WERE HONOURING BUT NOT SURE HOW)
letter went to chief executive and the £450 as been dropped as direct line admit my policy wasn't correct. The mods i declared wasn't noted so the underwriters we're unaware but agree i mentioned them. They agree i was told wrong info and also agree my complaint should have been sorted out a long time ago. I have now requested my £250 access fee be waived also due to stress as they have now admitted wrongdoing. If not i will go public and it will cost direct line more than the access fee.
I will keep you informed.
I will keep you informed.
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