Why are Aviva the Insurance company with the most complaints to the financial omnbudsman

[bernie129]

Could we maybe have an answer to this question from the Aviva team or are they still hiding in the cupboard.

Incidentally if anyone is thinking about taking out insurance I would recomment the NFU a company who have built up a reputation for fairness and honesty I have used them and found the service absolutely fantastic.Unlike Aviva they actually return your phone calls when you have a claim.

 

Here is a tip to get Aviva to ring you back - tell them you are a new customer and you want to take out insurance ie offer them money its the only driver with this company they are greedy greedy greedy.Avoid them at all costs !

 

Look how many complaints they have on this site I cant see many complaints about the NFU.Aviva take some lessons from the NFU on how to run an insurance company properly !.

Edited February 19, 2011 by bernie129

[Topdollar]

Em...maybe because they are the largest, with the most customers? Stands to reason, more customers, more policies, more claims, more opportunities for things to go wrong. Maybe the FOS should think about reporting the ratio of complaints to policies.

[bernie129]

The complaints that go to FOS are unresolved complaints. Any company whatever size should treat their customers with respect - you fulfill your part of the contract when you pay your premium if you make a claim then it is Avivas turn to deal with your claim promptly and proffesionally.I have dealt with insurance companies for 30 yrs and without doubt Aviva are the worst by a mile - incidentally you wont see this side of them until you make a claim.

 

Like the idea of FOS ratio of compaints to policies as I think Aviva would still be top - After all a company like Aviva who have been caught out misleading pensioners on how much their annuities are worth and then caught trying to wriggle out of paying 170k to a badly injured man with accident insurance with them (read my other posts) surely they cant be all bad.

 

Read the posts on how they treat their customers and then come back on that one !.

Edited February 23, 2011 by bernie129

[Topdollar]

You're entitled to your opinion. But that is all it is - your opinion. I too deal with many insurers on a daily basis and in my opinion Aviva are one of the best. Reading the posts on this forum it does seem that you have a real downer on them for your own reasons - fair enough - but if this thread is monitored by Aviva then I'm surprised that some of the comments have not led to claims of defamation. Yes, insurers are there to provide help in times of crisis, and if they don't then they should be criticised. But it's also important to remember that insurers are a business not a charity, not all claims are valid, some are downright fraudulent, and it's in everyone's best interests if the invalid and fraudulent claims are thrown out by the insurer. The issue with forums such as these is that people can come on here and say "oh aviva did this, aviva did that" but the insurer has no right to reply, and for DPA reasons cannot turn round and say"the reason we did that is because we proved the claim was fraudulent". I for one would rather buy my insurance from an insurance company - like Aviva, or RSA, or Churchill etc rather than from Tesco or Marks and Spencer. You wouldn't go to your bank to buy a tin of beans so why go to your supermarket to buy insurance.

[jdey123]

I doubt that anybody would make stories up about an insurance company for no good reason. As you point out there are strong defamation laws, and insurance companies would definitely use them, given the slightest opportunity. As it happens, the FOS does report complaints data, and Aviva is indeed top of the list, followed by Axa.

[bernie129]

I had my accident insurance out with another company and then found out to my horror it was underwritten by Aviva and cancelled it straight away.A lot of peoples insurance will be underwritten by Aviva although they may be unaware of the fact including people who purchase insurance from the supermarkets etc.

 

I dont have a downer on them I deal with lots of insurance companies also and have simply found them the worst its not a downer its a fact.They have bought up a lot of other insurance companies so you often dont realise you are underwritten by them until its too late.

 

The only people in my opinion who can make a valid point on the quality and fairness of Avivas treatment of claims is by definition those who have made a claim.You can pay insurance to the same company for for 30 yrs and think they are fantastic but its like having an umbrella you dont know how good it is until it rains.

 

You sound like you have had a claim with Aviva and are happy so tell your story on here.

 

This is Avivas questions and answer forum so i think the chances they are monitoring it are very high and they can come on and contest the claims I have made - As for the claim that people can come on and say this and that - that may be other people but its not me ,im here to tell the truth if they were great id tell you.

 

Look at my other posts a lot of the information is from the daily mail financial section ahighly respected source so obviously its not just my opinion - easy to check so have a look for youself, funny how Aviva hasnt taken any action against them if the reporting was incorrect.

 

As I also deal with a lot of insurance companies let me tell you they are not all bad - the NFU have a fantastic reputation I have yet to meet one of my customers who has a bad word to say about them thats why i transfered all of my insurance from Aviva to the NFU.

Edited February 23, 2011 by bernie129

[jdey123]

Hi bernie129,

 

Never had any dealings with Aviva so far, but am in an insurance claim horror story with Axa, so I know the bad lads in the industry nowadays.

 

2 sources for who gets complained about the most:-

 

From the brokers who you'd expect to side with the insurers:- http://www.broking.co.uk/insurance-age/opinion/1563999/the-bad-average

 

From the FOS, which publishes statistics on how many complaints they get about insurers:-

http://www.ombudsman-complaints-data.org.uk/

 

The large insurers like Aviva & Axa will complain that the statistics are so high for them because they underwrite so many policies. It would be nicer if the fos published complaints/policies held as well but I think that you can draw your own conclusions as to the quality of these companies claims handling services when they're regularly getting over 500 complaints about them every 6 months, given that it takes weeks before a policyholder is likely to have complained to the insurance company and then they have to wait up to 8 weeks for a final complaint to be issued before compiling all the evidence and presenting it to the FOS. In any case, if they published complaints/policies, the insurers would just say that the complaints had gone up because the number of claims had gone up citing some event that happens most years e.g. flooding as the cause. So you could then ask for complaints/claims which may well be the most accurate way of determining the bad lads.

[bernie129]

Cheers jdey,

like I said im only here to tell the truth and help people not make the mistake I did and insure with a company who dont want to honour an agreement.If you read the posts its always Axa- Aviva -Crawfords - Ival that get the complaints so people can draw their own conclusions.You would have thought the bigger companies would deal with customer services better as they have more experience but we both know this is not the case.

 

As I stated I dont value anybodies opinion on how an insurance company deals with a claim unless they have experienced the claims process and then positive or negative they are as welcome as me and you to air their views.I also think that insurance companies should tell you the truth about the service they provide at point of sale so you can decide whether to take out cover with them.

 

When somebody has had an incident and they are covered by their policy the insurance company should act promptly and get them back to the position they were in before the claim thats the contract you and they sign to when you buy insurance.

 

With regards to insurance companies not being able to state that some claims are fraudulent this is also untrue.The insurance companies are forever prosecuting if they can prove a claim is fraudulant.If its against the law to make a fraudulant claim its also against the law to refuse to pay out on a genuine claim - it works both ways remember !

 

Read the thread Re- home insurance ival - The admiral - and read about his experience with Aviva/Ival - its seems like its not just my opinion then !

Edited February 24, 2011 by bernie129

[jdey123]

Axa's policy wording

 

"Our promise

 

We will acknowledge written complaints promptly.

Actually, it took them 5 working days to acknowledge my complaint and 1 month and 1 week to respond to my complaint.

 

We will investigate quickly and thoroughly.

1 month and 1 week may be quick in insurance companies alternative universe not mine. Alot of the points made in my complaint were conveniently skipped over. e.g. Crawford & Co. using a cowboy builder was answered by saying the builder may have been a cowboy but Crawford & Co. would guarantee their work (obviously a precis of their response). The requirements to become a Crawford & Co. builder are shown here - http://www.crawfordandcompany.com/content.aspx?CID=219&SID=6. The reality is that the builder in question didn't even have a limited company. The fact that I was told he was the only builder covering my postcode was ignored. Delays were due to the volume of communication that I sent and inevitable for a claim of this nature.

 

We will keep you informed of progress.

I received no progress on my claim. Whenever I contacted Axa claims, I was told that it was Crawford & Co.s responsibility.

 

We will do everything possible to resolve your complaint

Erm, I think the obvious things they could of done was to hire a legitimate builder or make a fair cash settlement promptly, neither of which they did.

 

We will learn from our mistakes

Judging by the FOS complaints about Axa, there doesn't appear to be any downward trend going on.

 

We will use the information from complaints to continuously improve our service.

As above."

 

As to my request that I be paid for having to perform the roles of surveyor and project manager instead of Crawford & Co., I was directed to the policy wording in my insurance document which says

 

"What you must do after making your claim

 

Provide at your own expense all reports, certificated plans, specification information and assistance that we may need"

 

Here's the service that Crawford & Co.claim a policyholder will receive http://www.crawfordandcompany.com/content.aspx?CID=265&SID=8

 

The actual service is about as far removed from this as is possible.

Edited February 24, 2011 by jdey123

[bernie129]

Just confirms all that I have been saying sounds like the promise isnt worth the paper it is written on.

 

Anyone who thinks insurance companies act in an honest and fair way read jdey123 post above and then try to defend the indefensable.You honoured the contract when you paid your premium when do you think they will start to honour their part ?

 

Aviva - Axa if I were you I would just go to the NFU and get the insurance you have paid for !

[Topdollar]

The likes of Aviva and Axa will never be able to offer the same level of service as mutual companies like NFU. The reason - shareholders!. As soon as a company demutualises - the old NU being a case in point - and starts working for the benefit of shareholders rather than customers and staff, service inevitably declines.

 

There will always be "horror stories", regardless of the insurer. Likewise, there will always be delighted customers, whose claims are met promptly and fairly. The larger the insurer, the higher both of these categories will be.

 

I find that if you have cause to complain, the best approach is to be reasonable. Do not become aggressive, these people have the right to not be threatened or abused in their workplace. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Outline your grievance calmly and rationally and allow the company representative to resolve your issues. If they can't, or won't, then you need to speak to a supervisor or their head office.

 

Many insurance company staff are as frustrated with their suppliers and contractors as their customers are. However, the decision makers insist on using these suppliers because of the vast discounts they give for a certain volume of guaranteed business (shareholders and their profits again). You should find that the insurance staff will want to work with you to resolve the problem, sometimes going beyond the scope of what your policy entitles you to. However, no-one is going to feel inclined to go the extra mile for you if you threaten or abuse them.

 

To go back to the question posed originally in this thread, I find you can prove anything with statistics if you only pick one. Where are the figures for most complaints upheld by the FOS, or complaints:policies:claims ratio.

 

Finally, Bernie, you seem like a pretty clued up and cool guy (girl? shouldn't make assumptions). But the Daily Mail? That's your source for facts? Really?

[bernie129]

Cool guy actually.My source of facts is personal experience and vast experience of working for insurance companies and backed up by the very bad reviews Aviva gets in the daily mail as well as other newspapers.I have over 20yrs experience dealing with insurance companies and when they were the NU there was never a problem and they were agood company.

 

Your post is a bit confusing as previously you said Aviva are one of the best insurance companies and now you say they can never be as good as the mutuals so you have lost me there.How do you outline your grievences calmly and rationally when they dont return your phone calls,we all do this at the beginning but once you have had weeks of them giving you the runaround it proves pretty futile.

 

As I said previously if you havnt had a claim with Aviva then you havnt had the experience that I and others on this forum have of dealing with them.If you have had a claim with them then give us details of your experience good or bad.Its like riding a bike you cant tell anyone else how to do it unless youve done it yourselfe.

 

I like the idea that the insurance staff want to work with you to help you resolve your issues etc - read jdy123 post above and then comment on how the people at Axa have worked to resolve his complaints !

 

We will have to agree to differ on this one - you think Aviva are great I think Aviva are rubbish the only difference being a lot of people on this forum think Aviva are rubbish how many posts apart from your own are saying how fantastic they are ?

Edited February 28, 2011 by bernie129

[jdey123]

An update on my Axa horror story.

 

Axa complaints took over the negotiation of the cash settlement as I'd lost faith in their claims management company - Crawford & Co.

 

Axa complaints lowballed the first offer, I countered with a high offer. Axa complaints then sent me a letter raising their offer by a couple of hundred pounds and telling me I'd receive a cheque within 5-7 working days. I emailed them straightaway and told them I'd rejected their offer and would return the cheque if I received it, and gave them an offer which was based on the lowest quote + additional items which had been missed off the quote but which would be needed to restore my bathroom to the state that it was in prior to the incident.

 

2 days later, I receive the cheque that I'd rejected. I emailed them telling them that I'd already rejected the cheque and asking why they'd sent it. No reply. Sent back the cheque via recorded post. 4 hours later get email with attached letter accepting my final offer but telling me that as I'd sent back their cheque they would now delay payment until they'd received their unsolicited cheque back and had it cancelled by their accounts office. They received their cheque back yesterday. I told them that sending cheques through unrecorded post is unacceptable and I'd like an electronic funds transfer. I got a reply telling me that I could expect it in 5-7 working days. So it took them 1 working day to send a cheque for the offer that they wanted to pay me but 5-7 working days when it's my offer.

 

Topdollar, I lost faith in the Crawford & Co. because:-

 

i) They ignored all emails from me between 13/12 and 19/1.

ii) The claims handler's phone number was never answered.

iii) The claims handler eventually contacted meonly when I sent an email the FSA registered officer at the company.

iv) They then tried to foist a cowboy builder on me. I define a cowboy as somebody who claims to be a member of an accredited scheme which he's not. This is illegal.

v) Crawford & Co. didn't apologise for the cowboy builder but told me he was the only guy on their books that covered my postcode (and his office is 1.5 hours commute from my house so presumably covers more than just my postcode). They then told me my only option was to agree a cash settlement with Axa.

vi) I then obtained 3 quotes from local builders based on a spec of works which I agreed with Crawford & Co. and gave them to Crawford & Co. Crawford & Co. then revealed the scope of works that the loss adjuster had come up with on 13/12/2010 and that I'd been asking for in emails/phone calls since. They told me I had to go back to the builders for a re-quote.

 

At this point, I'd had enough. During this period, everytime I complained about Crawford & Co., Axa just re-directed me to them. However, they did agree to take over at this point. I lodged a complaint with them about all of these points. It took them 23 working days from the initial complaint on 19/1 to their final decision. Needless to say, it skimmed over all of the points, rejected my complaints and told me to go to the FOS, if I disagreed.

 

At no point have I been rude to Axa or Crawford & Co. staff. There are very strong libel laws in this country and forums like this are usually monitored. If any of the above were untrue, you can be sure their lawyers would be on the phone straightaway.

Edited March 1, 2011 by jdey123

[jdey123]

Topdollar, on the question about where are the statistics for complaints about Financial Services companies.

 

The FSA produce some from returns by the companies themselves here:-

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Library/Other_publications/commentary/firm_spec/index.shtml

 

The FOS produce the number of complaints that they receive from companies here:-

http://www.ombudsman-complaints-data.org.uk/

 

As you say, it would be better to receive statistics on a complaints/claims ratio basis as well. Unfortunately, it's the FSA and FOS who are responsible for compiling the statistics and it's taken them a long time to be as transparent as they currently are.

 

The FOS really need to tell us more about the complaints upheld by them. I'd like to know the average payout and how happy the complainants were with the settlement that they received. I'd also like some of the statistics to be split down. For example, the FOS has apparantly upheld 41% of AXA complaints (pretty low considering all of the hurdles which are put in a complainants way before the FOS will accept it), but of those upheld which were PPI complaints, which the FSA has already made a ruling on, and what's the upheld rate for all of the others. I'd also be interested in knowing what the experience was of the 1000s of complainants who complained to the FOS about PPI before the FSA made a ruling.

[bernie129]

good reply jdey 123 this sounds about right and confirms my own opinion so thats us about finished for the prosecution - over to topdollar for the defense !

[bernie129]

On a positive note - Had a claim about 5 years ago with the NFU - Phone answered promptly - loss adjuster out within the week - claim authorised and cheque recieved all within about 3 - 4 weeks .The NFU you pay for insurance cover and thats what you get - exactly what you pay for.

[Dav1988]

Could we maybe have an answer to this question from the Aviva team or are they still hiding in the cupboard.

Incidentally if anyone is thinking about taking out insurance I would recomment the NFU a company who have built up a reputation for fairness and honesty I have used them and found the service absolutely fantastic.Unlike Aviva they actually return your phone calls when you have a claim.

 

Here is a tip to get Aviva to ring you back - tell them you are a new customer and you want to take out insurance ie offer them money its the only driver with this company they are greedy greedy greedy.Avoid them at all costs !

 

Look how many complaints they have on this site I cant see many complaints about the NFU.Aviva take some lessons from the NFU on how to run an insurance company properly !.

 

"why are aviva the insurance company with the most complaints to the financial omnbudsman "

 

FYI

taken from "insurancetimes WEBSITE

 

Direct Line Group subsidiary UK Insurance (UKI) received the most general insurance complaints in the second half of 2011, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The insurer received 1,611 new complaints in total in the second half, of which 1,554 were general insurance complaints and 57 related to payment protection insurance (PPI). However, this is down 7.7% on the 1,736 total complaints received in the first half of 2011 by UKI, Direct Line, Churchill and NIG combined.

UKI is now the main underwriting entity of the Direct Line Group (formerly RBS Insurance) after a combination of the group’s other underwriting entities, Direct Line, Churchill and NIG, into UKI at the end of last year.

The Direct Line Group is the UK’s largest personal lines insurer.

“Resolving customer complaints is one of our key business priorities,” said RBS Insurance director of sales, service and partnerships Darrell Evans in a statement. “We continue to work closely with the FSA and FOS to deal with complaints and have already made many improvements to benefit customers.”

Second on the list was AXA. AXA UK Insurance received 698 general insurance complaints, while Inter Partner Assistance, the underwriting arm of breakdown services company AXA Assistance, received 601 complaints, resulting in a total of 1,299.

Aviva received 837 complaints, of which 563 were for general insurance, 265 for payment protection insurance (PPI) and 9 for life and pensions decumulation. RSA received 552 new complaints in total, of which 544 were for general insurance and 8 for PPI.

The FOS is expecting a record 165,000 complaints about PPI in 2012/13.

This is despite a sharp drop in PPI complaints received in the second half of 2011 compared with the first half. The FOS received 46,700 PPI complaints in the second half of 2011, down 53% on the 98,632 complaints it received in the first half of the year.

The FOS said the reduction reflects the impact of the FSA’s special arrangements allowing banks more time to deal with their backlogs of cases following their unsuccessful legal challenge on PPI complaint handling

[honeybee13]

4 duplicate posts removed.

 

HB

[Dav1988]

4 duplicate posts removed.

 

HB

 

My bad!

[bernie129]

hi Dav1988,

I stand corrected on this one until i have time to check the relevant details for myself.Still an abysmal record for all the companies concerned.

 

Aviva have had a lot of bad press lately so my guess is this has been taken into account and complaints are being headed off before they get to FOS.I shall do some research on this and if anything interesting comes up i will detail it in this site.

Edited March 16, 2012 by bernie129

[Dav1988]

hi Dav1988,

I stand corrected on this one until i have time to check the relevant details for myself.Still an abysmal record for all the companies concerned.

 

Aviva have had a lot of bad press lately so my guess is this has been taken into account and complaints are being headed off before they get to FOS.I shall do some research on this and if anything interesting comes up i will detail it in this site.

 

anytime.

 

i do agree disgraceful record for all companys involved.

 

Im not trying to stand up for them, its just i see you posting about them quite a lot, have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe they are trying to change to way they operate and lower their level of complaints hence seeing the result? just a thought of course.

[silverfox1961]

anytime.

 

i do agree disgraceful record for all companys involved.

 

Im not trying to stand up for them, its just i see you posting about them quite a lot, have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe they are trying to change to way they operate and lower their level of complaints hence seeing the result? just a thought of course.

 

Hi and welcome to CAG

It is very unusual for newbies to come on and praise any company. You don't happen to work for Aviva, do you?

[Dav1988]

Hi and welcome to CAG

It is very unusual for newbies to come on and praise any company. You don't happen to work for Aviva, do you?

 

Hi thanks for the welcome

 

I don't think I praised them anywhere?

I do not, but I do work in the insurance industry, I have actually being browsing the forums for some months.

[bernie129]

Hi Dav1988,

I would like to think you are correct and they are changing their ways but having dealt with them and experienced the underhand tricks they tried on me to avoid paying my claim I think its more likely to be a pr exercise because of all the bad press they have had recently.

 

Its very easy to lower your complaints to FOS you simply pay out the claimants who you know are going to take this course of action,remember probably 95% of people would walk away before this point so we dont actually get the true figures of how many complaints they have recieved.

 

The reason I post on the subject is because of the abysmal way I was treated by them when I had a claim.If I hadnt taken them to court I wouldnt have got paid out its as simple as that.

 

I will keep posting on any other Aviva stories that appear in the press but if like you suggest they could have changed their ways i wont have anything to write.

[skyehigh1]

Hi Dav1988,

I would like to think you are correct and they are changing their ways but having dealt with them and experienced the underhand tricks they tried on me to avoid paying my claim I think its more likely to be a pr exercise because of all the bad press they have had recently.

 

Its very easy to lower your complaints to FOS you simply pay out the claimants who you know are going to take this course of action,remember probably 95% of people would walk away before this point so we dont actually get the true figures of how many complaints they have recieved.

 

The reason I post on the subject is because of the abysmal way I was treated by them when I had a claim.If I hadnt taken them to court I wouldnt have got paid out its as simple as that.

 

I will keep posting on any other Aviva stories that appear in the press but if like you suggest they could have changed their ways i wont have anything to write.

Hi. I couldn't agree more, re underhand tactics employed by both Aviva, and Crawford and Co. Loss Adjusters. I can't possibly itemise each and every reason for serious complaint, but basically, my house suffered flood damage, due to burst pipes - Dec 2009 !!! Nearly 30 months down the line, and I am STILL awaiting full and final settlement ! The nightmare became so distressing I had to ask my Solicitor to act on my behalf. I've been in rented accom throughout, having to pay 'up front' myself. It requires virtual threats even to get some interm payments. All in all, the experience has had a dramatically adverse affect on my life. I am a retired Bank Manager, and never ever either in my professional or personal life, have I encountered such negligence, incompetence, and utter disregard for customers so affected. Iain.