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After using one of the broker sites, husband came across Admiral's premium, considerably less than the nearest competitor of Budget Insurance. Admiral were quoting a figure of £430 per year for a fully comprehensive policy, covering husband and me in a Vauxhall Corsa Club ( 3dr1.0 12v, ... Read review
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Advantages: Cheap premiums, good for younger drivers, UK call centre Disadvantages: Awful customer care!
...nearest competitor of Budget Insurance. Admiral were quoting a figure of £430 per year for a fully comprehensive policy, covering husband and me in a Vauxhall Corsa Club ( 3dr1.0 12v, 51 Plate) for 10 months on one of their no claims bonus excelarator policies. Budget were quoting us £514, so Admiral were miles ahead in terms of price. This online quote gave Admiral a few assumptions, like we wanted to pay Annually, like our car was garaged overnight, ... ...though to Admiral these would need to be changed.
On clicking through to Admiral and entering your details, those of your car, where you keep it overnight, what claims you have on
your current policy and what if any driving convictions you may have. We decided that we'd like to pay via direct debit every month, that incurred a charge, we wanted our excess to be in the £300 region, that too incurred a charge, then we put we ... more
My husband has a less than pristene driving career, 2 crashes exactly a year apart ruined any hope he had of gaining a half decent insurance premium last year. Luckil he has no driving convictions then when it came to renewal time in April 2005.
After using one of the broker sites, husband came across Admiral's premium, considerably less than the nearest competitor of Budget Insurance. Admiral were quoting a figure of £430 per year for a fully comprehensive policy, covering husband and me in a Vauxhall Corsa Club ( 3dr1.0 12v, 51 Plate) for 10 months on one of their no claims bonus excelarator policies. Budget were quoting us £514, so Admiral were miles ahead in terms of price. This online quote gave Admiral a few assumptions, like we wanted to pay Annually, like our car was garaged overnight, like we wanted a £1000 excess!, so once we clicked though to Admiral these would need to be changed.
On clicking through to Admiral and entering your details, those of your car, where you keep it overnight, what claims you have on your current policy and what if any driving convictions you may have. We decided that we'd like to pay via direct debit every month, that incurred a charge, we wanted our excess to be in the £300 region, that too incurred a charge, then we put we kept the car on the road overnight, this ensured an appropriate charge was levied!, in the end our policy came in at £496, still marginally cheaper than Budget.
The online quote system is fairly easy to use, when we used it we had some time out problems, but we found using the site after 5pm sorted the problem out. After deciding we wanted to proceed with the quote, we whipped out our joint Maestro card and thought paying a deposit, giving bank details on the internet would be the end of it, sadly we were mistaken...If you want to pay monthly you need to telephone Admiral directly, taking off the ease of arranging your car insurance over the net. We decided still to proceed as the quote was competitive and husband rang up to arrange things.
After a 24 minute wait for an operator, he explained he had had an online quote, was happy with it, wanted to arrange a direct debit to pay monthly and please could you arrange that Mr Admiral? Well it seemed a simple enough request to ask, but no, we had to go through the quotation process again, which actually came out with a different quote (more expensive) than our internet quote, husband argued the toss that we'd had an online quote, we just wanted to arrnge monthly payments, the operator then told he he should have said in the first place! Arggghhhh! After dealing with the confusion, our card details were taken, bank details confirmed and our policy arranged to start 4 days later. We were informed of the fact our policy documents would be sent out to us by post and we needed to sign and return a copy of the credit agreement.
Whilst Admiral do have a UK based call centre in Cardiff, which is great in this day, we found the gent we spoke to wasn't very hepful, we asked questions such as how much is your APR, how long is your cooling off period was, and inportant to us was do you charge for cancelling your policy due to not having the vehicle anymore (we were thinking of reducing down to 1 car), thre answer to all of these questions was 'I'm sorry, I don't know that I'm afraid'. There was no indication of where the information could be found out in the policy documents, if at all and no offer of actually going to find out the answers, but we were of the thinking 'OK, maybe you do get what you pay for', and we were happy to search the policy docs to find the answers.
The documents arrived 2 days later and everything was present and correct and our credit agreement was returned to Admiral.
At renewal, Admiral provided us with a competitive quote and as we'd had no problems or crahses, we decided to be loyal customers and retain our business with them in the hope they'd be good to us if we ever had a problem. Again our new policy documentation arrive within days and all was good and fine.
In May 2006, we jointly decided that we would switch all our direct debits to our joint bank account, with many companies this was very easy but Admiral we determined to make the process as difficult as possible. Husband rag their call centre up to change bank details.
After a 15 minute queue, he got through, explained the reason for the call, the agent was really unhelpful saying it wasn't possible to change bank details at that pont in the month, husband offered them a card payment and said he would call back at the end of May/ start of June but this was declined too. Asking what exactly he could do the reply came that he'd actually have to pay the remainder of his year's premium and that was all he could do. Undersatndably annoyed, he asked to speak to a supervisor, he was advised that one would call him back. There was a call back and the situation was explained again and the supervisor was very knowledgable about their companies proceedures but was very unhelpful with regards to the sitution that needed to be resolved. Again they insisted that the full 9 months of the policy would need to be paid, this time a dealine was set by the 25 May, or the policy would be cancelled.
Husband suggested it would be wiser for him to pay what was needed, set up a new direct debit but because he wasn't willing to pay the full amount but they dug their heels in and wouldn't budge.
After writing to their customer services, we were informed that hubby was in breach of contract, they were going to cancel his policy from 27 May and bill him for £60 for cancelation! After faxing a reply back they said if he didn't pay the £60 it would be referred to a Debt Collector and he's suffer harm on his credit rating. He's still refusing to pay as he onl wanted to change his bank details and he's now referred the matter to the Ombudsman, will keep you posted on that one!
Overall, great for the first year, appalling retention of customers and shoddy service in the 2nd. Despite the customer servicem they remain competitive for their motor insurance, especially for young drivers and those with no/low no claims bonuses and I am sure while the demand is there, they will continue to be so. However their inflexible approach to problem solving has sent husband over to Post Office for insurance and he's very vocal about the service he encountered with Admiral, but I am certain it won't put those who need them off buying from them.
I am not recommending them based on customer service but I am recommending them on price, and the abiliy to gain a 1 years no claim bonus within 10 months, just the remember addage goes 'you get what you pay for'.
Advantages: Looks like a good premium deal Disadvantages: just read the report!
Admiral may look good when you're paying your premium, but the real test of a good motor insurer comes when making a claim - this is what happened to us.
I'd like to register a big black mark for non-communication between departments, poor customer service, and some blatant porky-telling.
I was recently involved in an accident where my car was damaged, but is still repairable. I was towed into the local main agents for Citroen who usually service ... ...hydraulic system were damaged.
Admiral said that the car had to be inspected and repaired by their designated repairers who collected the car 3 days later. On the same morning before they had even sent a report to Admiral, the repairers advised me the car was a write-off. I called Admiral who backed them up, although they admitted they had only had a phone call, had not physically inspected the vehicle or seen any photographs of the damage. Since ...
jennysue 13.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Admiral
Advantages: Fast, friendly service - great quotes for under-25s. Disadvantages: They probably aren't competitive for older drivers with a good N.C.B
...little or no No-Claims Bonus, Admiral are well worth a call. If you go Fully Comprehensive as well, you get full breakdown cover from Green Flag (I think it's Green Flag anyway!) for about fifty extra quid. That's the full monty 'Homestart' one too - not just roadside assistance. Motor Insurance is a very competitive market, there's no doubt, but you might just walk away laughing after you've had a chat with Admiral. Under-25 drivers - give 'em a ...
ndf9876 04.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Admiral
Advantages: Cheaper than other companies, sometimes! Disadvantages: Renewal premium doesn't match online quote, slow unreliable customer service
...you have a policy with Admiral for your car insurance you may find this helpful. In fact whatever insurance company you are with, this MAY also apply. I am going to tell you about my dad's experience with Admiral. He took out a policy with them last year and it cost him around £350 which was quite reasonable. About three weeks ago he received a letter from them thanking him for renewing his policy and informing him that the amount of £410 was going ... ...2001
Admiral have finally gotten back to us and after many phone calls to them they eventually telephoned my dad on friday and agreed to matching their online quote. And so they should. I now wonder if they will credit his card within the next few months...they seem to delay an awful lot. ...
Deenie 23.02.2001 (11.03.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Admiral
Advantages: cheaper than some Disadvantages: more trouble than most
I've been with Admiral for about eight years now. They've always been cheap (ish) and their customer service has been acceptable if not the most praise-worthy. However, an incident occurred when renewing my policy this year that made me see them in a whole new light.
I had been running a Land Rover Defender with a separate insurer for a couple of years (one of the specialist 4x4 insurers) but decided to give Admiral a chance this year. I have two ... ...but it does seem that Admiral have lost their way in the realms of customer service. I cannot recommend Admiral for this and many other reasons (like the time they tried to take my guaranteed no claims off me saying I had made a claim when I had not..I could go on). My only surprise I'm afraid is why I stayed with them for so long. Do yourself a favour and give Admiral a wide berth. They may be cheaper than some but you will pay for it when you speak ...
HokaHey 02.11.2007 (05.11.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Admiral
Advantages: Cheap, but comprehensive cover Disadvantages: None that I can see
...premium would be huge, but Admiral were by far the most competitive, quoting me pretty much half what all the other companies in the 'phone book were quoting (400 quid fully comp). Being young and impatient, I was looking to pick up my new car a couple of days after I put the deposit down, and needed to tax it before I did so. This meant that I needed my insurance certificate ASAP, and Admiral delivered it as quickly as they could, no problems. I ... ...it, so I stuck with Admiral for continuity's sake. Again, no problems at all, the staff on the 'phone were very nice, and sorted it out within minutes. All was well, until January this year when someone reversed into me in a car park. Totally not my fault. Insurance-wise, the most dodgy place to be hit, as it isn't a public road and rights of way are hard to determine. Upon 'phoning Admiral, they were very helful and sypathetic, seemingly more concerned ...
LouisaNott 29.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Admiral
Advantages: Very Cheap Disadvantages: Not great customer service
cancellation fee for cancelling insurance that I did not want in the first place! Not impressed! They waived this fee, though because I had taken out insurance with their parent company (Admiral) in the mean time. Had I chosen another insurance company I am pretty sure that £60 charge would have stayed.
So, by all means go for Bell if, like for me, they are the cheapest company you can find but just be aware of this above renewal method and their lack of decent customer service if anything should go wrong. ...
nehpets81 02.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Bell Direct
Advantages: Political and economic round-up Disadvantages: drab layout
The Economist is a veritable institution amongst magazines, offering not just economic insight in the world today but also political insight. As well as assorted articles about growth sectors and growth industries, there are a lot of listings for job vacancies in the economics sector. As economic trends are normally bucked by political circumstances, it is important to analyse, succinctly, the prevailing political conditions around the world, which is something that the Economist does admirably. This is a heavyweight publication with good comment, criticism and analysis, aimmed at the economist. It is not a light read but a satisfying one none the less. ...
Morgenhund 13.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Economist
Customer service is simply awful. When I had to make a claim, I had to phone them to intiate anything being done - and that meant 20 mins of call waiting everytime (and there were a LOT of phone calls).
If you have opted for courtesy car if you car is out of action - be prepared for the most rude and obnoxious customer service reps (albany assisatnce part of their parent company admiral). On one occasion I phoned to ask when my car would arrive, Bell had not informed them I should recieve a car so they hung up - which left me having to contact Bell (again) and wait several days for the paper work to be completed, then chasing (again) for the car to be sent out - this was pretty indicative of the customer service in general...
They may be cheap, but if you are unfortunate enough for anything to go wrong you will spend literally ...
nickandzoe 07.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Bell Direct
