Endsleigh

I was a loyal Endsleigh customer for over six years, I never made a claim apart from one for a windscreen that was cracked when a pheasant flew into it and I paid my bills on time and in full. They dealt with the broken windscreen speedily and efficiently but that's where my compliments end.

I recently downsized from a 2 litre injection car to a more economical 1.4 litre injection vehicle. When I called Endsleigh to have my policy adjusted, they informed me that there would be absolutely no reduction in my direct debits. Obviously, I was less than impressed with this and told them of my intention to cancel the policy. That was two days ago.

Yesterday, having done my homework, I organised a policy with another insurer who offered me a deal with better benefits and that was seventy pounds cheaper than Endsleigh's. On calling Endsleigh to cancel my policy I was hit with a charge of £103 which I believe to be totally excessive. The call centre staff were dismissive and disinterested, the first woman I spoke to told me that Endsleigh "wasn't competitive across the market". I'd understand if I was driving modified or 'speciality' vehicles but a standard Ford Mondeo and a standard Honda Civic hardly fit these catagories. In my opinion, a mainstream motor insurer like Endsleigh should be competitive for the ordinary motorist and if they aren't, they shouldn't then penalise those motorists when they find a better deal upon changing their vehicle. The part that irked the most was that they refused to accept that I'd been a good and loyal customer, they said that the £103 was a charge for cancelling my existing policy which was renewed in November 2009 and that they effectively only counted me as a customer since then. Personally, I find that extremely unprofessional and underhand, I'd held the policy for eighteen months and another Endsleigh policy imediately prior to that one for around four years.

I had, as stated above, been a good customer for over six years and insured four vehicles with Endsleigh over that period and they treated me with total contempt. Subsequently, I would recommend anybody to avoid this company like the plague, I found them second rate, disloyal, unhelpful and in my opinion, very poor value for money. I won't ever use them again, (I would sooner eat my own feet with a spoon) and I would strongly urge others to avoid them too, I learned the hard way!