Admiral Insurance Misselling

[MrDinkle]

Hi All,

 

I took out a car insurance policy with Admiral after doing an online comparison and following it up with some telephone calls.

 

All has been well, for a year... oh no wait a moment that was only 10 months ago.

The renewal notice also just says 10 months! No one told me that when they sold it to me on the phone.

 

Okay, okay, I should have checked the docs when they arrived. But they had a duty to tell me this when they sold it to me?

 

Can anyone offer any advice? feel free to tell me off for not reading the policy docs when they arrived the first time.

 

Thanks

[LemonTwist]

After doing some Googling, I find out what this policy is. It turns out that it's an Admiral Bonus Accelerator policy, which means that even though the policy runs for just 10 months, you get a full year's no claims bonus. It is designed to help new drivers build up a no claims bonus more quickly than normal.

 

On the price comparison site, did it say that the policy was only for 10 months? There seems to be a problem with some comparison sites not making things clear to customers, and I think they're currently being investigated by the FSA for that.

[MrDinkle]

Yup, my point was that at no stage was I advised that it was a 10 month policy. I had obtained a quotation on a comparison site which stated 'Annual Policy' and I spoke to 2 separate sales people at Admiral, neither of whom informed me that the policy was 10 months - no mention was made.

 

I was not even aware that it was a 'bonus accelerator'

[gyzmo]

It will obviously depend on the details, but in my mind they should have drawn this specifically to your attention. just saying "it's an accelerated scheme" is not, imho, good enough, unless they explain what that is.

 

As for complaining, you need to think about what you have and what you want to achieve.

 

Will other insurers accept this NCD as being a full year or is it just admiral? One could argue that the price difference of 12 months with no NCD is better than 10 months plus the extra 2 months with ncd is worthwhile.

 

I personally think the best thing is to not renew and shop elsewhere. And check everything as well before signing.

[MrDinkle]

The trouble is that currently everywhere is more expensive as they are not recognising the additional year's NCD!

 

I am just annoyed at the sharp practice and would like an apology, the additional 2 months that I assumed I was signing up for would be nice and the ability to take the NCD elsewhere!