Hello? Hello?!? Where is everybody? RRC's have really dried up of late. If anyone is still there, I ...
Hello? Hello?!? Where is everybody? RRC's have really dried up of late. If anyone is still there, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless you, each and every one! 8^)
Member since:09.03.2009
Reviews:104
Members who trust:124
BACKGROUND
As a Direct Line (DL) car insurance customer, I was offered the opportunity to take out home contents cover at a special 25% discount for existing customers. Having been with Norwich Union (now Aviva) for a while and experiencing ambivalent service when I needed them, I decided to go for it. Norwich Union may have “quoted me happy” when I first took out cover, but their renewal premium (I had made no claims at he time) left me cold and decidedly unhappy. That was three years ago, and I haven’t looked back since.
HOME CONTENTS POINTERS
Here are a few tips for the uninitiated on home contents cover. Often people base their purchasing decision solely on the premium, but is vital to compare like for like when trying to decide between potential providers. Look at the small print and make sure that the features you want (such as cover away from the home, bicycle cover, the amount of excess, contents of fridge and freezer, legal assistance etc.) are included in any premium quoted to you. Check whether the policy
is “new for old” and ensure that the upper limits for claiming any one item (such as a diamond ring, for instance) are reasonable – otherwise you may have to top up your cover to have the full cost of it covered. Optional extras apart, the single most important thing – and the thing people often get wrong - is the estimated value of the contents of your home. Heavens forbid your house should burn down, the claim you make has to cover everything in it. Focus invariably falls on big ticket items such as flat screen TVs, computers, jewellery and white goods. People often miss out on everyday items such as CD’s, DVD’s, computer games, carpets, fixtures and fittings, kitchen tools and utensils, china and antique furniture. Make sure, when assessing an upper limit of insurance, you keep it all in mind.
If you are cost conscious, increasing the excess voluntarily can often shave a significant amount off the annual cost of cover (typically, the excess will be £50 to £100 depending on the policy) but, be wary, as it will often make the cost of claiming for smaller items (such as a camera or busted laptop) a pointless exercise. Lastly, it is a great help to have a photographic record of the items in you house, especially valuable smaller items, as will invariably help you prove their existence and will expedite any claims you may have to make. I simply took several pictures of each room of the house and the contents of my drawers and wardrobes, and I keep these on a CD-ROM in a locked, fireproof sake. You never know!
A quick note for anyone using price comparison sites such as confused.com – DL do not participate in such sites, so you will need to ring them or visit their website to get a quote. In addition, if you belong to a union or a profession (i.e. doctor, lawyer, accountant, architect etc.) it pays to check with your governing body to see if they have any special arrangements with insurance companies which may trump anything you can get on-line.
MY DL EXPERIENCE
My experience with DL has been nothing short of spectacular. I have had occasion to claim three times under my current home contents cover, and on all these occasions, the claims helpline and subsequent service I received was beyond my expectations. This product has proved to be exceptional value for money. I expected to have to pay a much increased premium when the special deal expired, especially as I had made a claim, but it was not nearly as much as I thought. The modest increase in premium was set off by the 10% discount I enjoyed for holding a another policy with them (car insurance as mentioned above). In subsequent years, the fact that I had made one claim each year (on average) seemed to have little effect on the premium I was paying, which was good news – I suppose you expect to get punished for using the policy for its stated purpose – but I never really understood why (as long as you weren’t making several claims a year which may show you up as an exceptional risk).
I claimed three times – once for a broken digital camera, which was accidentally dropped onto the pavement whilst on holiday, the second time for a roof leak which caused damage to our carpets and stained the ceiling, and the third time when my three year old daughter decided to "water" the flowers appearing on our laptop screensaver, causing significant (and irreparable damage). All three claims were successful. The decision on the camera and the laptop were pretty much instant, but the claim for the redecorating and carpets involved the visit of a claims assessor, so it took longer, but the period from the incident to payment was less than three weeks (partly because of our unavailability to give him the necessary access).
For example, when claiming for the laptop, we called DL on a Saturday morning and asked if our policy would cover the damage (we had accidental damage as an optional extra). It did, and after a short information taking session, I was advised that a PC specialist would call in a couple of days to assess the value of the laptop or whether it was repairable. The call came ten minutes (not two days) later and within another five minutes, I was offered a very fair and competitive “new for old” replacement cost in the form of a Curry's or PC World gift card.
The settlement figure was based on the current cost of a model with similar specifications to the one which was broken, but as the laptop was already 18 months old, it obviously was not going to be top of the line (the broken laptop cost around £1,000 new, and the settlement figure was around £450). However, you are free to “top up” and get a more expensive machine, using the gift card as part payment. The gift card arrived on Tuesday, and a new laptop was purchased on Wednesday, making the report to replace time just five days (with a weekend in the middle). Call centre staff were all courteous, knowledgeable and UK based. We received a call a week later to check that everything had met our expectations, and were asked to participate in a short customer satisfaction survey. Given the level of service received, it seemed churlish not to.
VERDICT
In conclusion, our experiences with DL have proved to be an example of customer service as it should be, and as such, they come highly recommended.
(c) Hishyeness 2009
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Cheap online policy, easy to fill in the online forms Disadvantages: Policy Wording does not cover everything you need to avoid problems when claiming
Advantages: Competitive premiums, can buy over phone or internet Disadvantages: Numerous errors by sales staff, inefficient service, slow response to letters
Connoisseur_Haggler 13.06.2001 (13.06.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of DirectLineInsuranceplc
Mar 10th, 2009
(Apr 28th, 2009)
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