Norwich Union Direct > Reviews (62)

We have both our house and car insurance with Norwich Union and have had for about 10 years. I will not renew again.

When you call to take out a new policy your call will be answered very quickly by staff within a UK based call centre. The line is clear and the service is great.
When you call to make a claim or enquire about an existing policy you are met with a menu leading to another menu and, in most cases, a third menu. Once you have finally negotiated the menus you will be in a queue. I have been queuing several times. The smallest queue was 13 minutes, the longest 48 minutes. The average is 25 minutes. You are not told how long you will have to wait, the music is awful and you are just reminded every so often that you are in a queue.

When your call is answered it will be staff in a call centre overseas, often with an accent you cannot understand and a poor line. I am always left with the impression that they have never fully understood what I am saying. Three times they have transferred my call back to the original menu - which means back to the queue and another frustrating wait (believe me, when you have already been through the menu and waiting for 30 mins plus, to find yourself back at the beginning again is enough to send you off the rails.)

No-one ever calls back despite the promises. The claims line is only open from 9 to 5 Mon to Fri. If you work full-time, how are you supposed to speak to them if you can't get hold of them without blocking a work phone for 40 mins? And it's an 0870 number.