Car Insurance Rant

Gary ITR

Got my girlfriends car insured a couple of weeks ago with Quinn Direct, first time insurance and first provisional. So I give all of the details get the price and sorted out all of the bank details etc. Still hadn't received the disc so I called them and they tell me that they are waiting on proof of the two years no-claims bonus that I supposedly told them my girlfriend had. When I told them they are mistaken and their is no no-claims they told me that the premium would have to be increased.. by e450. It went from e1200 to e1640 (I had a quote of 1250 from another company, but I went with Quinn thinking that insurance is insurance and whats the difference). They are refusing to accept the possibility that they made the mistake. I asked for my deposit back and they tell me it's non-refundable now as the policy is more than 14 days old (it's 17 days old). So basically I can't even get my money back from Quinn to get the other policy.
Sorry about the rant but it was needed

shayser

Quinn record their calls. Maybe request that the call be played back.

Gary ITR

They told me not all calls are recorded. Their message at the start of the call is just state that the call *may* be recorded

Stark

Time to go to the Small Claims Court?

OldmanMondeo

Quinn Direct make themselves out to be the cheapest insurance around, but infact, I have gotten cheaper quotes. I did however use them for insurance once. I then went to cancell my insurance, due to getting company car, I lost out on €50 deposit and any refund under €50 is not given, i should have been due €48 back. All in all I lost out on €98. The conditions are in the back of the insurance terms and conditions, which you don't get from them until after you take a policy out. They have only recently started given windscreen cover with the policies. Their are far better policies on offer out there, Quinn give little or no other benefits compared to most other insurance companies.

Gary ITR

You mentioned the windscreen cover there oldmanmondeo, I went for this option (e20 extra) and then discovered later that I would still have to pay the excess (e120) if the windscreen was to be replaced

jhegarty

Onkle51 wrote:

Got my girlfriends car insured a couple of weeks ago with Quinn Direct, first time insurance and first provisional. So I give all of the details get the price and sorted out all of the bank details etc. Still hadn't received the disc so I called them and they tell me that they are waiting on proof of the two years no-claims bonus that I supposedly told them my girlfriend had. When I told them they are mistaken and their is no no-claims they told me that the premium would have to be increased.. by e450. It went from e1200 to e1640 (I had a quote of 1250 from another company, but I went with Quinn thinking that insurance is insurance and whats the difference). They are refusing to accept the possibility that they made the mistake. I asked for my deposit back and they tell me it's non-refundable now as the policy is more than 14 days old (it's 17 days old). So basically I can't even get my money back from Quinn to get the other policy.
Sorry about the rant but it was needed

did you pay the deposit by credit card ?

ninty9er

Give your local TD a shout and their assistant will likely tell you your entitlements, I know my guy's assistant even does the donkey work of calling the Financial regualtor to follow up on cases. I haven't dealt with this problem but have heard enough horror stories to know to avoid Quinn.

If your TD isn't too friendly get onto the Financial regulator....I'm really surprised Quinn still has a licence at this stage

Gary ITR

jhegarty wrote:

did you pay the deposit by credit card ?

Laser card and the payment has already gone through

Fanboy

Onkle51 wrote:

You mentioned the windscreen cover there oldmanmondeo, I went for this option (e20 extra) and then discovered later that I would still have to pay the excess (e120) if the windscreen was to be replaced

No you dont. And the excess on private policies is 190.

They will only pay 120 if you dont use their windscreen people.

You dont lose your NCB either.

Quinn are suited more towards young people 17-23. They are the Ryan Air of insurance. No frills.

Gary ITR

Fanboy wrote:

No you dont. And the excess on private policies is 190.

They will only pay 120 if you dont use their windscreen people.

You dont lose your NCB either.

Quinn are suited more towards young people 17-23. They are the Ryan Air of insurance. No frills.

I asked them about the excess on the windscreen cover and they told me I would be liable for the excess but to be honest the person on the phone was probably talking through their arse

shayser

Onkle51 wrote:

They told me not all calls are recorded. Their message at the start of the call is just state that the call *may* be recorded

Did they tell you that your call was not recorded? I doubt it. The "training and quality purposes blah blah" is just a spiel, it is there for their protection, but it can work both ways. If you feel strongly enough about it you could put in a request like this: http://www.dataprivacy.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/rights/2d.htm&CatID=17&m=r. I would specify the call recording.

heggie

have you a reference number or receipt? something similar happend to someone I know, write to the insurance ombudsman, it got them a result

Tumblina

Hi just a quick word firstly its your girlfriends first insurance pricey... guessing here that your from Dublin way cheaper to insure in the country.. but thats irrelevant. If you have receipt you should ring consumer affairs start the ball rolling. From there go to a SOLICTOR for advice most work on the basis of initial meeting not charged get their advice and you should then be in a better position to figure out whether to put it down to experience or take it further. Good Luck.

Muzzy

Onkle51 wrote:

They told me not all calls are recorded. Their message at the start of the call is just state that the call *may* be recorded

All of insurance qoutation calls are recorded, it's the law as set out by the financial regulator.

The only reason they say some calls or calls may be recorded is to out people at ease that they are not in the middle of big brother.

Get the call pulled, they are compelled under data protection to provide you with this information, if you got the "In order to proceed with this qoutation, under data protection, I need your permission to ask & record some personal details............" speil then you are set up.

That call is recorded, get your money back, the complaints procedure via external bodies with be outlined on your policy document.

Keith C

Good luck with getting your money back, the only problem I can see you having, is that you gave out your girlfriends details, so does that not hold you in breach of data protection for giving out your girlfriends information to a company rather then you accusing Quinn for being in breach for not recording calls??
I would check this out before threatning to get solicitors involved.

Stark

I don't see how that would be a problem if she gave him permission to do so?