In December 2005 I decided to change my car from a Vectra 2.6 SRI V6 to an Alfa 156 2.4 JTD 20v. I was insured with RAC Insurance, so I got a quote online for the Alfa and a new one for the Vectra just to compare them and the Alfa surprisingly came out cheaper, so I though that's OK won't cost me much to change. As soon as I had a date for the Alfa I phoned up the RAC Insurance to tell them I was changing the car and they wanted £220. I argued and explained the online quote I had showed this to be a cheaper car to insure so why should I pay so much to change, but they explained there were currently two different RAC insurance companies, the original one and a new RAC Direct Insurance on line.
I was stuck as I needed the insurance documents posting that day so I could get the new car insured. The lady assured me that the two companies were merging together as RAC Direct Insurance, so when I was due for renewal in May it would be much cheaper.
And so we get to May 2006.
Before I got my renewal I went on line again and got a quote for the Alfa at £320.
Renewal comes through by post £768.24.
Phone em up ask what the feck is going on as they seem to have cocked up my insurance quote. Didn't tell them I had the online quote at £320. Nice lady explains, no there was no mistake so I say I have two cheaper quotes, one from the AA at £330 and one from somebody called RAC Direct Insurance at £320, she says sorry who? I say YOU, can you explain the £448 difference between the two quotes. She waffles on for 10 minutes or so explaining how they don't re-sample every policy every year and lots of other garbage. I explain sort of politely that it's bollox I think they are trying to con me, and she says will I stay with them if she gives it me for £320. Not sure why but I stayed with em as the price was good.
It's now May 2007 and 3 weeks ago before I went off on hols I got an online quote from RAC for the Alfa again, this time £324, looks good.
Couple of days later renewal documents come through £656.62, massive improvement only £332.62 more than the online quote this year, things are improving.
Phone em up start again, girl explains that there are two different RAC insurance companies and the online one is different. Give her a couple of minutes and she will see her boss and try to get a better deal, comes back, how does £425.50 sound. I ask her to send it to me by post but think it proves they were trying to con me with the £656.62, and anyway it's still more than a hundred quid more than the online quote with the "other" RAC. She again tells me they are not the same company.
Check the paper work with the renewal and seems the paper quote comes from London and Edinburgh Insurance trading as RAC Direct insurance part of the Norwich Union Insurance who are the trading name of the Aviva Insurance Group in the UK, post code NR1 3NG in Norwich, ... still with all this?
Checked my email and had got a reminder from the other lot with the address on the bottom - RAC Direct Insurance, London and Edinburgh Insurance trading as Norwich Union Insurance NR1 3NG etc., etc. - SAME company.
So the little lady in the call centre wasn't being entirely honest.
Phoned up the online company and explained I wanted to take up their quote of £324, he asked who I was insured with now, so I gave him the complete story.......Keep awake folks were gettin there slowly.
He aks me for my current policy details and gets it all up on his screen, I tell him I'm being conned by somebody, but their quote is good, (best other one I can get is £370). Would he like to explain to explain what is going on?
I actually got a 10 minute honest explanation.
The girl I talked to yesterday was lying, they are one company and have been for just over a year. Explains that there are only about 5 insurance companies in Britain and all the others are just bollox. RAC Direct Insurance, London and Edinburgh, Norwich Union, Tesco, Marks and Spencer and numerous other big names are all them, i.e based in Norwich and used to be Norwich Union now owned by Aviva, which I now know to be true, so had found an honest person in a call centre at last.
Told him it still seemed to be a big con and wasn't happy but now believed him, but how the hell did they get it down from £656 to £324?
He explained he worked for new business, via the online site, they would do anything to win new customers and provided really good quotes, existing customers get charged significantly more to subsidise this.
Is this sounding familiar to anybody with a Credit Card or a Mortgage? Told him I was still unhappy but I was impressed by his honesty, he said he was sorry I had been lied to before and would understand if I went elsewhere. May be silly but renewed with them as he had been so honest, did the deal then he had to put me through to the other lot in customer services to cancell the other policy with RAC.
Talked to them and told the lady I was cancelling with RAC and would not be paying the £656 as I had a new business policy with them at £324. She said she understood, she had seen this before but she had not seen one quite this much cheaper recently.
So when you get the truth out of them, the big insurance companies are totally shafting us unless you really get your facts together and throw them at them.
Over the last 12 months there has been constant bleatings from the insurance companies about massive increases in insurance charges because of all the uninsured drivers on our roads, so how many people would just renew and pay 3 or 4 hundred quid over the odds.
I bet a lot do!
Makes you wonder if all the bleating is a deliberate smokescreen to cover up the massive con.
So play em at their own game always get alternative quotes from your existing companies and others, and push it all the way, I've saved £780 in the last two years, (only actually paid £644 over the two years on a Group 14 car).
Nice to be rewarded for loyalty ain't it.
Howard
