Blatman Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 The Halifax Building Society. I KNOW there will be counter points to this and yes I do know that these days we all have to play the game but... Home insurance renewal hits the mat. It is opened. Jaws drop as it in excess of 400 quid. I hit the comparison websites and discover that like for like will cost a sniff over 160 quid from... THE HALIFAX. I'm going to call them tomorrow because this is theft in the guise of a service. My p|$$ is well and truly boiled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve (sdh2903) Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I think it's harsh to specifically blame the Halifax as this is 100% common place for insurance renewals now (maybe specialised kit insurance aside!) Halifax along with first direct are the 2 best financial/insurance I've dealt with. I've just accepted that I have to spend 10 mins or so at every renewal getting myself a new meerkat. The best part is telling them that you won't be renewing. "Sorry to hear that sir we would be prepared to try and beat that quote" "No thanks if you wanted my custom you'd have given me the best price first time goodbye." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stanton Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 They all do it for all insurances call them up and say it was cheaper, to which the usual response is we're sorry but its a computer generated auto-renewal letter ....... for automated insurance quote read: Legalised theft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrustyjust Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Me- Hi Swintons branch, I would like to move my insurance from Cooper S JCW to a Volvo V50 Diesel. SW-Yes sir, we can do that for you. Let me ask some questions about the car you wish to change to. Is it factory standard ? Me- Yes, the car is factory standard. It has a towbar as well. Sw-If thats the case we cant insure it on the policy, as the original policy was for a standard car and this is a modification. Me- Really ? So the car I am buying , which has a towbar means I need to cancel the policy ? Sw- Yes sir. And the cost to cancel the policy is £60 . Even though it only has 2 months left. Me- Er..............so, you want £60 and a premium for another policy ? Sw- Yes and the new policy is £450 , so thats £510. Me- I'm not impressed that you cancel my policy and charge me for this . I have also looked online and for £240 I can insure this car with a towbar .............with Swintons.... Sw- Yes, but thats a different part of Swintons, we are the high street version. Me- but I walked into your shop and insured the mini face to face and the premium was good and I paid outright. Sw- So............................... do you want the policy ? Me- No, stuff you, I am going to Axa who will do it for £220 with a sodding towbar...............and I wont ever come back to Swintons. Oh and I havent changed the car so you can let the policy lapse as I am not paying £60 cancellation fee. Sw- You do know its against the law to insure a vehicle you no longer own ? Me-- Phone down............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Had some interesting dealings with Swinton about 40 years ago , i swore then that i would never use them again, and i haven't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Turner - Black Country AO Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Thrustyjust said: Is it factory standard plus if you buy a second hand car how do you know it's factory standard and what does factory standard actually mean. I'm sure it's just a question that they ask hopping to get an answer that means they can add to the premium. Plus how can you have a Mini that's standard, I would not mind betting that you'd be hard pressed to find a mini that has not got some sort of option on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wood Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 2 hours ago, Paul Hurdsfield said: Had some interesting dealings with Swinton about 40 years ago , i swore then that i would never use them again, and i haven't They got my number through a comparison site a few years ago and started calling several times a day, at a time when my wife was off work with an illness. This continued for a couple of weeks. In the end I told them that I'd be reporting them for harassment if they didn't remove my details from their system. I vowed then never to touch them with a barge pole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrustyjust Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 4 hours ago, Paul Hurdsfield said: Had some interesting dealings with Swinton about 40 years ago , i swore then that i would never use them again, and i haven't Yes, same here. Thought it would be good to pop into the local branch , when passing , initially to sort out the car insurance for when I bought the Mini a couple of years earlier. Obviously without needing to claim, they then go dormant and you have no hassle. So, when we got a dog, the mini was useless, so an alternative vehicle was needed. We wanted to PX the car, so I just thought that calling and paying £30 admin charge as normal and off we go, as the insurance group was higher for the Mini than the Volvo. How wrong I obviously was. The £60 cost was more than I was paying for the left over 2 months policy , which really wound me up. They still call me and still get the foxtrot oscar response................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrie Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I think you'll find they're all the same. I'm changing the towcar, and they want an extra £60 for two months, so I searched the annual premium for the new car and they quote less than I'm paying now, and other companies were a lot cheaper. You can only conclude that they deliberately upset existing customers, as they put all their efforts into trying to find new ones. Everything now goes through comparison sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 22 hours ago, sdh2903 said: I think it's harsh to specifically blame the Halifax as this is 100% common place for insurance renewals now (maybe specialised kit insurance aside!) Halifax along with first direct are the 2 best financial/insurance I've dealt with. It's their name at the top of both quotes. I'm sure there is an insurance underwriter behind it but so what? They are the principal, and I'll be making the cheque/DD/bank transfer to the Halifax so they get to be named as such. And when (insert name of this years insurer) try to turn me over next year it'll be their name in lights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve (sdh2903) Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Save yourself the wait. Just list em all now. Life's too short Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamperMan Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Elephant.... I had a head on crash not my fault. Police said not my fault, indendent investigator, the skid marks, every one and everything said his taxi was on my side of the road. not my fault. The taxi driver could not offer any explanation to the facts except Everyone was racist and his passengers also (one with a broken hip and the other collapsed chest) and we was all ganging up on him. I had 3 months more insurance on the car. I bought an other car. Elephant had cancelled my no claims so I had to pay mega money to add it to my insurance. I had assumed i’d Get a credit once the noclaims where reinstated... No! At renewal that became clear. It’s all in the small print! They would not backdate the noclaims and give a credit when the claim was settled only credit the remainder of the policy. . I called direct line explained and they was happy to take me on as a new customer, back date and credit me for the full policy as soon as I had my noclaims reinstated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan France Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 BT broadband. £47 a month for unlimited, call them and they drop to £43. Move to Sky for £30 a month. Call from BT, you can have it for £26 a month. No thanks, go away ... but the strategy works because many people are too busy to bother. I read a while back that a guy was delayed for more than three hours on a flight from Geneva. He applied for and gained standard compensation for that distance of £221. He then decided to go for a freedom of information request to find out how many had applied for the same compensation. 186 people on the flight, yet only 3 had applied for compensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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