There once was a place called Ciao, where life was so funny and how, but there soon will be none, 'c...
There once was a place called Ciao, where life was so funny and how, but there soon will be none, 'cos the Deanster is gone, well that's what Ciao thinks .... for now :o)
Member since:02.10.2001
Reviews:145
Members who trust:203
Has anyone seen the Direct Line Insurance adverts? It makes it look so easy to make your claim, 'we repair both cars and deliver them back to you'. Thought you might all like to know about our current experiences with them.
A few months back my husband had a car accident, no one was injured and the other driver accepted responsibilty from the outset. Both drivers belong to Direct Line.
Sounds like an easy claim doesn't it? To make it even easier, the drivers know each other, and live near each other, so no one was about to change their story or suddenly invent a whilplash injury.
First - the accident - My husband was stationary at the time letting someone cross the road, he went to pull away and the other driver came out of a side road and hit him.
Does it sound to you like we should have encountered any problems? No, we didn't think so either but here are just a few of them.
Firstly, we asked for a courtesy car whilst ours was being repaired, we were informed that we could have one but it would take a week. What is the point of that? Some people have to go to work. We ended up hiring one as we were told we could claim this back.
Second, our car was not taken away and picked up as their current advert says, we had to drop it off and pick it up ourselves.
Number three, we were initially told the car would take 3 days to repair, it took two and a half weeks, I think it would have been longer had we not phoned everyday to check the progress. Waiting for a part, was the excuse, a part I could have bought and fixed myself for a fiver.
Problem four, Direct line told us that the processing of our claim would be quicker if we both accepted responsibility, I'm sure it would, my premiums would also become dearer and I would lose my no claims bonus. Is it even legal for them to ask me to do that?
Problem five, It took them a month just to send a claims form, I had to ask for one three times.
And finally, number six, After my husband told Direct Line that he would not be changing his story they phoned back the next day and told him that the other driver had said that the accident was not his fault. We wondered if he had been co-erced into saying this like they had attempted with us and being a friend we went round to see him. He said he had done no such thing and even showed us a copy of his form. It clearly stated that it was his fault.
So this WAS my Insurance company, the people that are supposed to look after us are just a bunch of criminals, cheats and liars.
My husband seems to think that because both parties were with Direct Line the only way to recover their losses in this case was to put up the premiums. This may explain their attitude but I can't believe a company would act in this manner.
Not only were they acting illegally by asking him to falsify his claim, but they were telling us lies about what the other driver had written on his form. Obviously they denied both of these accusations when we put them in writing to the company, but guess what, our claim was settled within a week from sending the letter.
We were paid out in full, not only for the repairs, but the courtesy car hire as promised. We didn't even have to pay any excess, they waived it as a gesture of goodwill, more like hoping we didn't take the matter further.
Needless to say when we renewed our insurance we didn't stay with Direct Line. If this hadn't been enough to put us off anyway, we found somebody a lot cheaper, but that's another opinion.
Be careful when your renewal drops onto your doormat.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I'm so glad I've read this opinion, Direct Line sound tempting especially with their "make it look easy" adverts. I was once hit by a Direct Line driver (his fault) and the claim was completed very smoothly including hire car etc, it seems they don't treat their own customers the same way.
Wayne10ch 20.04.2002 00:49
They are all bloody crooks! Hang the lot of them as well as politicians, priests and nuns!
dibalmond 20.04.2002 00:48
Insurance companies will try anything not to pay up...di ;o)
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Review of DirectLineInsuranceplc
Oct 21st, 2001
(Nov 9th, 2001)
very helpful by (92%):
helpful by (8%):
