Swinton NCB Issue

[Big Norm]

I have had a problem with Swinton this week and discovered 2 of the 3 people I work with have too in the last 12 months.

 

Firstly I took a policy out with them 3 weeks ago. They then wrote asking for proof of NCBs. I confirmed it was 6years as stated when I took out the policy and could be confirmed by my previous insurer. They then told me that I had to pay an extra £85 as they had set the policy up as 9 years no-claim bonus not 6 years. Alternatively they would cancel the policy and charge me a cancelation charge. I refused so they have done just that.

 

I was very precise when I arranged the cover and clearly said 6 years NCB and mentioned the accident I had a couple of years ago that dropped it to 4 years and had subsequently regained the 2 years.

 

This is a [problem]. For years insurers would pay a maximum of 6 years. Now a few are doing 9. Whether you say specifically you have 6 years or you say you have full no-claims bonus (thinking that 6 is the maximum you can have) they will set it up as 9 regardless. Then they will ask you for proof you have 9 years (which you never told them in the first place that you had) and when you say you have only 6 they will charge you an extra premium or a cancellation charge if you won't pay it. I have seen in a few blogs that this type of practice is becoming common place with some rogue insurance companies. Swinton's are notorious for looking for any excuse to cancel a policy and make a cancellation charge from what you read. The only way to prevent it is by recording the call so you have proof. Swinton's asked me if I had a recording of the call and if so to bring it into their office and they would waive the cancellation charge. Why I should proove my case I don't know but it needs someone like BBC Watchdog to advertise these kinds of scams. The key to it is most reputable companies will not write back to you asking for proof of no claims, they will ask for details of your previous policy and check it out themselves.

 

I wonder how many others have been caught out with this?

 

Norm

PS I'll start a new thread for this

[dx100uk]

you are under no legal obl to pat unlawful charges that are a 'penalty fee'

 

dx

 

dx

[unclebulgaria67]

They are a shambolic company that people should be wary of.

 

You say 3 weeks before the issue arose. You have a cooling off period of 14 days from the policy start date or receipt of the policy documents whichever is later. So if you raised the issue within the 14 days of receiving the documents, then they should only charge you a time on risk if you wanted to cancel. Outside of the cooling off period, the max cancellation fee they can charge is £50 plus the time on risk. If you arranged the policy with them by phone, then they should have a recording of the original call, so they can see whether 9 or 6 years was advised.

 

Suggest that you make a complaint using their official process and threaten to take this to the FOS. The FOS would charge Swinton a £500 case fee if they allowed the complaint to proceed with them without wanting to resolve it. Most Insurers for issues like this look to resolve, as it is not worth having a FOS complaint recorded against them and a largish fee to pay.

[Big Norm]

I totally agree with you dx and those of us that have the savvy to fight such malpractice and not be bullied by such won't pay. What worries me is people like one of the guys I worked with who paid his premium up front and then had to fight tooth and nail to get it back and also people who just pay the extra for a quiet time. The FSA or someone needs to start investigating such practices and come down hard on these insurers. If we were to state an incorrect fact when disclosing information for an assurance policy and were found out then the policy would be void. Yet an insurer can deliberately include something in a policy that was false and not as stated and try and get money from it. This is a big area of business that needs looking at by the authorities and from what you read about it in blogs it's getting worse. These companies need to be named and shamed and fined.

[dx100uk]

firstly, can we please refrain from using words that can be deemed as libel.

you did it in the thread title, that has gone around twitter now and you've used those and other words again.

 

cag is at risk if you keep doing so too.

 

as for the charges issue, they are penalty charges, and as such, you are can challenge and reclaim them.

 

dx

[Big Norm]

Ok Dx, let me just clarify something then. The information I have provided in this thread is factual based on an experience I have had personally. Nothing libellous in that.

 

While the issue of how it is resolved is an issue to me and maybe of interest to others, it is the occurrence of this matter and how the company has handled it to date which I particularly wished to bring attention to. It may be the case that awareness of the issue may assist others in avoiding its occurrence when clarifying policy details when taking out insurance, the handling of the issue by the company aside.

 

With regard to any wording that I may have used to describe my opinion of the experiences I and others (some I know, some I have only read about) have had, is purely my view alone. I am entitled to a view based on such experiences as is anyone else and I am sure there are many satisfied customers of this company. I simply am not one.

[dx100uk]

siimply put..

 

your view or description - you are intitled to - but please do not use the words swindle, con ete etc where it can be deemed as directly relating to a firm or individual

 

thats libel, we as you can be sued

 

good luck.

 

dx

[unclebulgaria67]

Not that Swinton are that interested. They just shrug their shoulders and say so what. Typical French Insurers.

 

Which is why you need to follow their official complaints process, so that the complaint is logged and you can go to the FOS if necessary. If everyone does this and not just rant online, then perhaps Swinton and other companies that offer an 'unfriendly' service will learn the lesson.

[Big Norm]

Thank you for clarifying that Dx. I will choose different words in future.

 

The latter was used as a synonym of the former, and referred to the practice of demanding monies based on information placed in a contract that was not that which was provided by the insured, and subsequently compounding that by demanding additional monies from the insured once being made aware of such a mistake.

 

I'll keep you informed of the progress. I have already had some success by contacting the insurer direct (as opposed to the broker which I had been doing to date) and they have now contacted the broker on my behalf in an attempt to resolve the matter. I would encourage others to do the same as a last resort when a broker has not been able to resolve the issue.

[Big Norm]

Well good news. Hats off to Swinton.

 

They accepted the mistake and apologised for the poor communication. They also stopped the cancellation of the policy and waived the additional £87 premium that would have been payable due to the mistake over the number of years NCB. Wouldn't surprise me if the person who arranged the policy is subjected to some retraining

 

Moral of the story:

• If you know you are in the right don't feel bullied into paying something that you shouldn't.
  
• These companies want to keep your custom and as long as you have your facts right are likely to pay up rather than have bad publicity.
  
• Respond to any correspondence quickly.
  
• Make sure that when you take out a policy you give clear answers to the questions and query anything that you are asked that sounds ambiguous.
  
• When you receive any policy documents check them straight away to see if there are any glaring errors in the information recorded in them that do not represent the information that you provided.
  
• If you can afford it, buy a recording device and use it for any business conversations that you have that could be contractually binding.
  
• While you may have arranged your policy through a broker don't feel afraid to contact the insurance company directly if absolutely necessary as they want to keep your custom too.
  

Appart from the mistake and the poor comms when they didn't return my calls, I think Swinton's main problem is a fairly automated approach to dealing with issues that arise. Probably they should check first to see if the mistake is with them. Also they allow only 7 calendars between each escalation. Therefore day 1 you get a request for additional information associated with your policy. Day 8 you get a reminder to provide it and day 15 you get a letter cancelling your policy 7 days hence. Therefore if you take a policy out with them and are about to go on holiday for a week or two I suggest getting clarification of any supporting info they may need before you go away and get it into the post to them.

 

I'll give Swinton the benefit of the doubt that the creation of the policy based on 9 years NCB was an accident and that when the person realised their error they tried to extract the difference from me rather than hold their hands up to their management and say they'd made an error. The cases I know of and those I've read about just suggests that they need to brush up a little here and there and not be quite so quick to cancel policies.

 

Hope the above is useful.