Problems with Confused.com

sang33ta · 23rd January 2008, 20:58

Has anyone else had problems with Confused.com?

They claim to make car insurance easier but both times I've used it it's just caused utter confusion because the best quote isn't as cheap as it claims.

Last year it claimed Adrian Flux was the cheapest but they proceeded to ask for an extra £100 after taking out the policy. I refused and expected a full refund but was chaged £50fee + 10 days insurance cover about £85 in total and to make matters worse the free phone number I was ringing was redirected to 0845 and they made money out of me that way too!

This year the same thing seems to be happening again. Two days ago (21Jan07)Postoffice/Zurich is quoted as the cheapest, so this time my wife rang them to make sure it was right. But we discovered 15 mins later that they have sold us the wrong policy. Consued.com said Zurich but they seem to have signed us up to Norwich Union which doesn't cover manufacturers optional extras.

Even though they hadn't taken the money they said they couldn't cancel it until we sent the policy back "even though it hasn't been issued yet it's in the system" they said! So I'm going to be without insurance and unable to drive my car because they seem unable to stop it even though it was their mistake and doesn't come into force until tomorrow 24th Jan 08. I tried to take out insurace again but it won't let me keeps saying im a cutomer of the postoffice! I rang the Postoffice yesterday and they said they could only sort it if I paid an extra £30!

Obviously I'm mad as hell, and wondering how common this practice is because to me it seems like a scam to get the customer with a low quote, take their money then bump up the cost and customer can't leave coz they will get a £50 fine.

We've agreed with the postoffice to cancel and re-order and they promised a full refund and no fees or charges. But after what happened last year I'm sceptical as I was given similar promises.

This time I've kept all the evidence of my confused.com quote and if they try to charge me £85 again I'm gona take them to the small claims court for breach of contract because we agreed to buy Zurich insurance and got sold something else!

freakyleaky · 27th January 2008, 09:34

I am sure you can report this kind of practice to the FSA. Have a look on their website for more information.

Monty2007 · 27th January 2008, 10:14

Sounds familiar. I took out the Post Office car insurance through Confused.com and moved house, they wanted an additional £100 on a policy valued at £180 since they claimed I had moved to a higher risk area. I checked the premium difference through confused.com and the new adress premium actually came out CHEAPER!

I made a complaint to the PO and they told me to go away so I am making a complaint to the FOS.

Beanie1 · 27th January 2008, 11:21

The main problem with using sites such as Confused and Moneysupermarket etc is that consumers often think the price quoted is what they will pay. The site itself uses a number of assumptions that when you go direct to the company it may be a completely different price. I tend to avoid these sites as they can be misleading and often end with situations such as these.
They cover themselves by stating that the price "may" be different when completing the quote from the direct insurer.

freakyleaky · 27th January 2008, 11:24

Surely the price should be exactly the same if the information supplied both to the comparison site and the insurance company is the same?

barracad · 27th January 2008, 11:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakyleaky

Surely the price should be exactly the same if the information supplied both to the comparison site and the insurance company is the same?

The comparison site asks some generic questions, and each insurer asks different questions, so the information used to obtain a quote won't necessarily be accurate.

Monty2007 · 27th January 2008, 14:01

you are correct barracad, confused.com search generic providers based on key information then when you select one you are directed to the actual providers site and answer more specific questions. In my case the price differences were higher since I was offered things like legal cover and no claims protection.

The PO seem to have got themselves in a mess since they tried to claim that my move was a higher risk but a subsequent search and quote from them (for the new address) showed it to be actually less. Chancers!

sang33ta · 27th January 2008, 17:46

I'm sorry but I always thought contract law works like this..

Business makes an offer to treat (an advert)

Buyer accepts the offer to treat and makes an offer to buy

Business can then either accept the offer to buy (by taking payment) or make a revised off to treat (because the advert was in error).

Taking payment is acceptance of the offer as it stands, and is legaly binding to both parties from that point. If they want further details or their offer is in error they must not take any payment!

The seller has 30 days to provide the goods or service then they are in breach of contract. I can then reorder the goods/service elsewhere and the original seller who broke the contract has to pay the price difference + any consequential loss.

I'm not a lawyer, so don't take my statement as gospel, but that is my understanding of contract law and the sale of goods and services act.

Monty2007 · 27th January 2008, 18:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by sang33ta

I'm sorry but I always thought contract law works like this..

Business makes an offer to treat (an advert)

Buyer accepts the offer to treat and makes an offer to buy

Business can then either accept the offer to buy (by taking payment) or make a revised off to treat (because the advert was in error).

Taking payment is acceptance of the offer as it stands, and is legaly binding to both parties from that point. If they want further details or their offer is in error they must not take any payment!

The seller has 30 days to provide the goods or service then they are in breach of contract. I can then reorder the goods/service elsewhere and the original seller who broke the contract has to pay the price difference + any consequential loss.

I'm not a lawyer, so don't take my statement as gospel, but that is my understanding of contract law and the sale of goods and services act.

See Post#4. Confused.com are providing a "quote" which is subject to the provider agreeing so their "offer" is subject to verification by the actual provider of the service.

There is a level of further detail the provider requests and the final contractual quote is based on this, at this point there is an offer and contract.

sang33ta · 27th January 2008, 18:36

Whatever they should not take payment until both parties are agreed on what is on offer.

Your statutory rights cannot be affected no mater what crazy terms a business thinks is legal. Such things come under the Unfair Contract Terms Act.

Never mind the fact I phoned them too to confirm the price!

Beanie1 · 27th January 2008, 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by sang33ta

Whatever they should not take payment until both parties are agreed on what is on offer.

Your statutory rights cannot be affected no mater what crazy terms a business thinks is legal. Such things come under the Unfair Contract Terms Act.

Never mind the fact I phoned them too to confirm the price!

****

The contract you speak of would be with the insurer and not confused as (as far as i am aware!!) they have no licence to sell insurance and merely offer a price comparison and direction to the insurers site (they make money out of referrals) Either way as per distance selling regulations (covering both internet and phone) you do have a cooling off period ranging from 14 days up to 30 days with some companies in which you are entitled to cancel the insurance without penalty so long as no claims have been made and are entitled to a full refund.

sang33ta · 28th January 2008, 15:57

To further show how incompetent insurance companies are I've just had a letter from my old insurer Budget who say 'As we haven't heard from you, your insurance policy has not renewed and all cover has now ceased'.

Well lucky they didn't try to renew it becuase THEY DID HEAR FROM ME! I called their customer services 3 weeks earlier and wasted half an hour trying to convince somone in India I didn't want to renew!

Why does getting car insurance have to be this stressful every year

My problems are twofold, my car has a manufacturers sports option (fitted at purchace) and one of the drivers is unemployed at the moment. There are not many insurers who will quote because of the sports pack. Price comparission sites keep offering Zurich through other front names but they don't want to know if your not in employment. I even phone up to confirm with a human but often I'm speaking to India and they don't understand or don't care and then I end up with insurance I cannot use. It's so infuriating as we have 7 & 10 years no claims you'd think we're a safe bet to insure!

sang33ta · 28th January 2008, 22:48

Just came across this interesting quote from the Gardian

"It took nearly 15 minutes to complete all the questions on Confused. ' It's a pain in the backside,' concedes a spokesman, 'But by answering all the questions in detail, we are able to generate real-time, fully-underwritten quotes with individual prices for each policyholder. The prices you see on the website are real, not estimates or assumptions. It's our responsibility to accurately convey and compare policies the best way we can.' "
Driven round the bend by website cover | Money | The Guardian

could be useful if i have to take it though the courts

sang33ta · 5th February 2008, 00:43

Well the Post office wrote to me today saying I haven't returned the cover note (which I did last week in the envelope they supplied!) so my problems are still ongoing to get a full refund.

I have given up on them to sort these issues out and re-insure so looked around for a new insurer. I have managed to find Performance Direct / Highway who say they don't charge optional extras as modifications so looks good in theory.

It was about the 10th insurer down on confused.coms quote list. I can't believe the previous 9 were all fronting Zurich which won't cover the information I gave! Confused.com has big issues and they have change diddly squat even though they have been missquoting like this for over a year!

fulgent · 5th February 2008, 22:11

And guess what... i got all this problems with kwik-fit, all because of i bought it thro confused and simply it did not ask enough info or info was not passed properly to kwik-fit therefore my insurance is hanging in uncertainty!!

No more confused.com.... you really give me more than what i bargain for: A confused+distress+and ANGRY customer!!!

sang33ta · 7th February 2008, 09:35

Well Post Office Insurance have issued a full refund. Hats off to them for not trying to screw me for a cancillation fee unlike Adrian Flux did last year :/

If you want a descent insurer Perfomance Direct / Highway seem okay for cars with optional extras so far as i can tell. However again, some of the information I gave on the confused.com screen wasn't passed along the chain.

So be careful if you use an online quote comparison site because that's the 3/3 times it's happened!

Chesterexpress · 7th February 2008, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by sang33ta

However again, some of the information I gave on the confused.com screen wasn't passed along the chain.

So be careful if you use an online quote comparison site because that's the 3/3 times it's happened!

sang33ta, you moan like crazy about confused.com, yet you still use them and again you moan. Don't you ever learn....

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