Tesco Insurance (AVOID!)

[mwmackenzie]

Been with these guys for 4 years now. Someone bumped my car, I called them, other guy has taken full responsibilityand I have his insurance details... speaking to guy from tesco on phone asks any mods on my car I say it has alloys he says ah we'll need to put your claim on hold. guy goes away says right that'll cost you

[t70]

OUCH!!!! THAT SUCKS MARK!!! Wow.. i'm sure i'll catch you on MSN today... that's absolutely rotten.. If it makes you feel better, my insurance company got my wifes and my driving history mixed up and ended up way overcharging me for my insurance and took out 4 payments in 10 days!! that was $2000... that I was not expecting to have to pay. Then, instead of refunding the extra payments... they reduced my monthly payments for the rest of the year... yippee!

[superdavelotus]

That's bad news Mark. I learned a few years ago about mods. I've told CL every mod I've done even down to clear indicators and alloy buttons on my interior. I don't want to take any chances! A few on here would disagree with me about going to extreme but if an insurance company can get out of paying up then they will do!

I hope it works out better for you Mark.

Dave Walters

[stephenbirdsall]

As Dave said, any chance they can wriggle out of paying an they will.

[neal]

Fuckers

Especially for alloys - I though that if you didn't declare these the only problem was that if they got nicked you'd only be reimbursed to the tune of the cost fo the originals since they're not a 'performance' mod.

I don't suppose there's any pics showing your car at a meet with the old alloys on?

Or can you get the guy who sold you the alloys to confirm the purchase date and issue another receipt - using a bloody ribbon typewriter if necessary!

[esprit22]

Guess in hind sight, when the bloke asked about any mods done, the answer should have been "no".

[Splodge s4]

I learned a few years ago about mods. I've told CL every mod I've done even down to clear indicators and alloy buttons on my interior. I

Dave Walters

Firstly, Mark, sorry to her your problems & I hope it gets sorted mate.

Dave, did the mods increase your premiums by much?

[andydclements]

Best tactic is going to be write in.

Clearly explain the date the alloys were fitted, explain that you hadn't realised they would affect your preium, and you are happy to pay the additional premium that is due, which would be any additional cost from the date fitted to the current date, and provided the additional preium is reasonable, from the current date to the end of that policy, along with their standard policy amendment charge (if applicable).

Explain that you did not declare them at the time of renewal, as they were not fitted , nor purchased (if that's the case).

Include something along the lines of "been a customer for several years, and hope to resolve this matter as a matter of urgency, to continue the existing relationship".

Send in another copy of the receipt or if they have the original, note that in the letter.

That way, they have a written confirmation that it's a true statement, they can be confident that, should the customer (you in this case) be lying, they have a valid reason for non-payment of repairs etc, or termination of policy.

They have a reasonable period to respond, if they don't then pursue it as a complaint, which starts putting legislative tiem limits on it.

At the same time, start pursuing the other party for full payment. Bear in mind if he/she isn't insured, you can claim from an uninsured driver at fault fund, which we all pay into, one stipulation of that fund is that your insurance policy has not paid out, so it's not always a bad thing circumventing your own insurer.

Andy

ps, this is not advice blah blah blah, just personal opinion, DID YOU ELECT LEGAL COVER ON THE POLICY?

[Tentenths]

Mark,

1. Get back in touch with the insurers and tell them you're not all happy, and that you do not believe that their approach is consistent with the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) recently introduced 'Treating Customers Fairly' policy.

2. Insist that they now put in writing exactly what they've already told you verbally.

3. Also ask them to provide full details of their Complaints Procedure.

I'm not promising that the above will work, but it will certainly concentrate their minds.

But before you get too carried away I've assumed that you have informed them of the various other mods on your car, esp. those that are power related?? If not I'd be inclined to ignore everything I've already said

In common with most non-specialist insurers - particularly the direct writers - Tescos are not usually at all 'mod friendly'.

[lottylotus]

Been with these guys for 4 years now. Someone bumped my car, I called them, other guy has taken full responsibilityand I have his insurance details... speaking to guy from tesco on phone asks any mods on my car I say it has alloys he says ah we'll need to put your claim on hold. guy goes away says right that'll cost you

[Iain]

Hmmm...

Bad, very bad form...

Up until now I have to say I've been very impressed with Tesco Insurance (re-branded Direct Line?) having had my Elise with them fo 6 years and made several claims. They fought my case nicely when a third party plowed into me and their company (company car -

[lottylotus]

i guess just be careful on the online drop down menus,tesco are claiming thousands off us in back payments before they will fight a claim for us

Edited November 24, 2007 by USAndretti42
Removed quote

[OwenGT3]

Hi,

I thought the old rule was if alloys were fitted as standard on the vehicle, then fitting different alloys was no different, unless they were megga expensive ones being fitted. I thought going from steel wheels to alloys was 'modifying'.

This just sounds typical of all major corporations, take your money, but don't ever make a claim or it will cost you more! I had a similar thing with my house insurance through tescos, made a claim, following year insurance went up, 11 years without claiming before that (not all with tescos, but they all talk to each other, wife used to work for CGU so knows the system). Why don't they do no claims discount for house insurance as well?

I think insurance is all wrong anyway, the best system for the consumer, note I said consumer would be to insure you as a person, based on the dearest car you own and drive, and no named drivers allowed, just single policies. Let's face it you can only drive one car at once, it's the person who is responsible for any car if its involved in an accident, the car didn't do it by itself. But sensible ideas never seem to get put in place, it's always the stupid solution that wins the day.

Owen

[Bibs]

I was under the impression that mid policy changed wouldn't affect the premium.

My ex-boss had her Merc ML pinched and hadn't declared 3 points she'd picked up for speeding. Of course the insurer said that her policy in invalid but a friend who is quite high up in insurance (he heads up anti-fraud for Churchill) found the legislation that stated that the premium was calculated on the risk when the quote was given and as it's an annual policy then mid-term changes have no effect on what needs to be paid.

They don't drop your premium for example if you turn 25 during the policy although this would create a significant discount, how can they have it the other way too?

[andydclements]

It tends to be, they don't change the premium because of a change to the status of the insured (driver), but do change it due to the status of the vehicle.

So, you add a car- premium gets adjusted, you get a speeding ticket- your premium doesn;t change but may change next renewal.

The brands Direct line and Tesco are seperate, although linked. Simply look at the legal sections of the websites (generally there) and you'll see who underwrites them. UKI and TPF respectively from memory.

Owen, I personally would say the aproach of price based on single biggest risk car wouldn't be good for me, and possbly for quite a few peole on the forum.

My "worst" car would be the Turbo Esprit, but then there are the other cars, my current insurer give a VERY good price (it costs nearly

[superdavelotus]

I have listed more the following mods and it hasn't increased my premium with Classicline. They increase if you increase the power though:-

OZ Nova Alloys

S350 disc and bell upgrade

Hawk Pads

2002 rear round light conversion

Centre exit exhaust

Cheesegrate valance

Forge alloy wastegate actuators

Green Cotton Filters

Blitz boost controller

2002 front spoiler lip

Headlight relay

Wiper relay mod

alloy button covers

alloy indicator stalks

clear front indicators

clear side indicators

stainless steel dash mask

Rear wing

Twin Piston dump valves

Decat (but I've since put them back on)

Dave Walters

Firstly, Mark, sorry to her your problems & I hope it gets sorted mate.

Dave, did the mods increase your premiums by much?

[mwmackenzie]

What got me was I wasn't even claiming off them but someone elses insurance.. I told them about the wheels... If i was trying to avaid paying for a mod i'd have kept quiet about them.... I told them and said I'd make back payments to when the wheels were fitted and provided a reciept saying the were bought in june.... What is their problem... This on my vw not my esprit by the way.. esprit is ok..phew

Update.. Got a call off a nice lady after work.. she wiped off the first

[superdavelotus]

Well Andy,

I got stung for this only last week. My wife picked up 3 points in August. When I came to renew my insurance on her car, it so happened to be with the same insurer as my other car which is in mid term. when I told them about the renewal didn't have her Sp30 on, they added it and the premium went up

[MGFCrasher]

Totally agree.

I have been with Norwich union for years.They caharged me

[andydclements]

Totally agree.

I have been with Norwich union for years.They caharged me

[mayevora]

The family bus has been with Tescos for the last 5 years. Only one claim to date which the 3rd party admitted 100% responsibility for - From date of accident, it only took Tescos 18 months to sort out.

[andydclements]

I had a bump a few years ago, I was with Norwich Union, and used their local approved repairer, it took me several visits and telephone calls to get it sorted, and much to his annoyance with the reapaired it also took several visits from NU's inspector. He even called me once to say we were due to look at the repair agian at a certain time, he'd had some free time so went to check it early (knowing how bad things had got) and it wasn't worth me turning up he'd refused it again. I think getting the repair done took about 3 months , for a wing and a door to be straightened out , and the basic frame was fine just a minor biff.

On another biff (hit in the rear by third party) it took approx 6 months to get the repair done to any reasonable standard, and 2 garages, even then I still had a water leak which turned out to be the re-fitted rear screen not being selaed correctly.

Oh yes, then another local garage who made such a foul-up of the repair including fitting a bumber that blocked the exhaust, they had to refund me the excess to shut me up. Walking into the dealer manager's office unannounced seemed to have the right effect.

Andy

[Backmarker]

Tesco and Direct Line are both owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (together with about another 6 insurance companies)

I deal with them everyday and by and large find them fair.

I question whether swapping one set of alloys for another set of alloys is a premium increasing mod. Do the new wheels make the vehicle more desirable to the criminal fraternity?

If so the premium must be increased to reflect that fact.

If not, then there should be no increase.

Proceed as suggested by James (Tentenths) would be my advice and DON'T throw about

[andydclements]

The reason I asked about legal cover was, it can be handy if it's dubious as to who will be found at fault.

If you've got it, even if it came with the policy whcih is now being disputed, you should still be covered for that.

BTW Tesco Personal Finance isn't fully owned by RBS, it's a joint venture with Tesco owning 50%, that's why Direct Line etc are UKI and Tesco is TPF.

Andy

[Backmarker]

Andy,

The legal costs insurers will only back dead certs. If there's any doubt they'll pull the plug.

UKI are owned by RBS.

Graham