I filed the following complaint:
"I am very displeased with your business practices.
When I signed on initially in 2019 I was quoted approximately £1800 p/a for this policy.
I chose to pay monthly as I needed the flexibility to cancel, as the car in question is a leasing vehicle which I was supposed to return on 30.03.2020.
I however decided to extend the lease temporarily.
What I was not aware of, is the fact that you took out a credit agreement in my name to have the policy paid upfront for 12 months and charged the interest back to me.
You possibly hid it somewhere in the small print but I find this business practice highly questionable.
I have never had any company do this, this just comes across as usury and I find it dishonest and distasteful.
So I ended up paying £190.54 per month or £2,286.48 for the year, almost £500 more than what I was quoted.
Yet, to add insult to injury you auto-renewed me this year and started charging me despite me never having signed the contract.
But due process does not appear to be of great concern to you.
Furthermore for no reason you increased the price of my policy by almost 30%.
This, despite the fact when I signed on I had 0 NCB and this year I had one year NCB with yourselves.
My price should have decreased, the utmost I would have understood if the price increase was in line with inflation.
So currently you are charging me £246.53 or £2,958.36 p/a, something I never agreed to.
This with a policy of £3000 excess, I think we can all agree this is a subpar car insurance policy.
When I spoke to one of your customer service representatives he was argumentative, repetitive and unprofessional, it felt like I am talking to a 'yob'
I hope this matter can be settled professionally, however I strongly feel this malpractice should be referred to the Ombudsman."
Their response was as braindead as the customer service advisor:
- we reject all your complaints
- we made you aware during the phone call that we
auto-renew our policies (ex post facto)
-we made you aware during the phone call that we
get another creditor involved on your behalf so we
can get the money 12 months upfront
and charge the interest back to you (ex post facto)
-Prices just change, that's it
In summary I currently must have the worst insurance policy in the UK, paying £3000+ for a standard run of the mill policy with £3000 excess provided by a shady company of brokers teaming up with a gang of loan sharks.
Reviewed on: 23rd September 2020
