NU - Arrogant and dismissive attitude coupled with poor advice.

[ladles]

Long story short:
Bought a motor policy from a NU call centre in India - had it not been the cheapest would never have bothered as the telephone experience was painful. Had eight years NCD at the time (with AA).

Last Autumn Mrs Ladles scratched the offside in a car park and I called NU for advice. Was told that we could have 2 'no fault claims' in a five year period so no probs. Booked the car in for repair there and then, all done on the telephone.

Currently going to renew the policy and have been told that we only have three years NCD (not nine) - this is 'because we have had a fault claim and have therefore lost 2 years of our NCD and when we took the policy out NU only give a maximum of five years NCD.

We have been given two pieces of bad advice - firstly the call centre should have offered us a protected no claims bonus when we bought the policy (I wasn't even aware of such a thing until this month) as we had accumulated so many years. This is an issue but not the salient point.

Secondly - I realise that if I had read the policy from cover to cover I would have realised that we would have sacrificed a huge amount of NCD, but surely the whole process of having a call centre is geared towards providing accurate advice for matters of this nature and as a customer surely I have a right to expect to be given correct advice.

Because the call handler couldn't be bothered to check our policy when handling the claim we were given the wrong advice and whoever we choose to insure with now will only provide 3 years no claims discount.

I have tried to raise the issue with NU and havbe been pushed from department to department in a process which seems deliberately tailored to try to make people simply give up. I have been informed by a junior complaint handler that they will look into the matter and listen to the recording of the telephone call but regardless of their findings will not change their desicion to reinstate my NCD.

I WANT TO ESCALATE THIS ISSUE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL WITH NU AND THE OMBUDSMAN, DOES ANYONE KNOW SOMEBODY I CAN CONTACT WITHIN NU WHO WILL TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THIS ISSUE WITHOUT HAVING TO FOLLOW A CUMBERSOME COMPLAINTS PROCESS WHICH IS DESTINED TO REACH A DEAD END?

[cazzaswfc]

Hiya,

Firstly The NUD complaints proccess is outlined in the policy booklet ( if you want to write in) and via my experiance this should not reach a "dead end"

It seems that you may have started the process anyway, what you need to do now is follow this up with the customer relations department.

To get this resolved a little quicker you could either email helpdesk@norwich-union.co.uk - you can also find a "complaints form" on the main NU internet site

or call the switchboard 01603 622200 - they may be able to transfer you straight to a complaint handler ( in the Customer relation dept )

Advise you wish to make a complaint about a NUD Motor policy as you feel you were miss-sold,

all the above ways should get you through to a dedicated complaints handler who can investigate and listen to the calls ( usually a lot quicker then the general call centre staff)

Protected NCB is something that should be explained and offered at quote stage. However if you had a quote in writing first before taking out the insurance then it may not be relevant anyway as the onus would then be on you to read through the quote.

As for you point about losing your 8 years ncd, this unfortunatly is correct, the maximum NCB is 5 years however this is in line with most other direct insurers.

let me know via this thread how you get on.

[mooreda]

Do not waste your time with the above - complain straight to the top Head Office - Chief Executives Office: -

The Chief Executive
Norwich Union
Surrey Street
Norwich
NR1 3NS

nuceo@norwich-union.co.uk

You are more likely to get better assistance with your complaint here.

Good Luck

[beccus]

ladles

Firstly, my apologies that you have been given misleading information.

If you want to send the details directly to myself (rebecca.sibley@norwich-union.co.uk) I can get this investigated for you, I am on the forum in order to help with these things.

Just to clarify, both sets of information you have been given are correct, this is just another way.

Becca