Insurance broker - poor service

galah

more a rant than an issue, I suppose...

Friend's car broke down over Christmas, and I was going to add him to my insurance for a few days (since I didnt need to use my car; we were going away). Rang broker on the 27th, no reply, no information about opening hours etc. Fair enough, it was a bank holiday, however I expected at least some info on their business hours over the Christmas period. Rang them repeatedly yesterday, and today - no answer, no answering machine, phone just rings out.

Is it just me or is this really poor service not to give their customers at least the courtesy of some information as to when or how they could be contacted? All this lark meant that the friend was stuck, in the sticks, with no car - while my car had to sit in the driveway unused...

I will complain to them if I eventually get through - but what if you need to contact them urgently? I also tried the insurance company directly, but they said I had to talk to the broker...

Any ideas what I could have/should have done to get it sorted?

Paulw

Many companies close over Christmas.

While I don't work in the insurance business, our company has been closed from the 23rd and won't reopen until the 4th Jan.

Many small companies, including brokers would also be closed. Even the insurance companies may be closed, except for emergency cases.

Not much you can do at all.

Dymo

Why not just contact your insurance company, it's obvious that your broker is closed.

galah

that's what I did, but insurance company said I should talk to broker.

What annoys me is that there's no information from them about their closure - they're a big insurance broker (50+ staff I'd say), not a one-man office, and I think the least they could have done is switch on their answerphone with a message telling me what to do if I need to talk to somone, or at least when they'll be back in operation (or leave a hint on their website...).

It's the poor service that gets me - yet they keep raising the premiums every year and keep adding 'service' fees to their premiums...grrrrr. :mad:

Paulw

I work for a multinational and we're closed. No info on our website either about our closure.

It's Christmas. I'd be more surprised about companies being open than I would about them being closed.

Besides, I doubt it's your broker who is increasing the fees each year, it's more likely the insurance company.

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

pow wow

galah wrote: »

that's what I did, but insurance company said I should talk to broker.

What annoys me is that there's no information from them about their closure - they're a big insurance broker (50+ staff I'd say), not a one-man office, and I think the least they could have done is switch on their answerphone with a message telling me what to do if I need to talk to somone, or at least when they'll be back in operation (or leave a hint on their website...).

It's the poor service that gets me - yet they keep raising the premiums every year and keep adding 'service' fees to their premiums...grrrrr. :mad:

Tbh I'm surprised the insurer wouldn't deal with you directly for a short-term alteration given the circumstances, but it's hardly the broker's fault either (beyond not updating their answerphone message!). I think the latter aspect is an across the board lack of respect for customers moreso than a thing unique to insurance brokers. Beyond irritating for you I know, and maybe something to consider when your policy falls due for renewal...

broker2008

All you had to do was email the broker and cc the insurance compnay and he would have been covered. Depending on the insurance company it may not have cost anything. Because you pay the broker, the company were referring you back to them to make the addition

I was working today and a number of insurance companies are not open until tomorrow eg Canada Life and had a very long wait before leaving my number to get RSA to call me back.

galah

cheers for the info - but in fairness, how am I to know that? There is absolutely no information about any sort of procedures in any of the documentation I have, and I couldnt really have just mailed them and hoped that it would have been ok without an official go-ahead - what if it hadnt been ok, the friend had an accident, and they refuse to take care of it because it wasnt authorized? That's just too much uncertainty for me, to be honest. (but I will ask them for next time, and then just proceed that way!)

And yes, the broker has it in their schedule that even temporary additions to the insurance policy cost 10 euro - would have paid it to get a friend out of a spot of bother...

meh, just very annoyed...:mad:

pow wow

broker2008 wrote: »

All you had to do was email the broker and cc the insurance compnay and he would have been covered.

That's not strictly true. It might be the case in your experience and maybe an informal practice with some companies (not one I've ever heard of) but with motor insurance in particular it's not a chance most people would be prepared to take. In that case you have no formal acceptance of the risk and thus, in literal terms, the temp addition is not covered. Now if there is a broker relationship and something did happen without this formal acceptance it's unlikely they'd reject a claim, but at the same time it's a terribly haphazard way of doing things, even if it is for 3 or 4 days a year with a few select brokers.

I agree that in this instance being insured directly might not have helped anyway as most offices were closed over Christmas so in the OP's case it's a mixture of bad timing and poor information provided by his broker.

oldyouth

broker2008 wrote: »

All you had to do was email the broker and cc the insurance compnay and he would have been covered..

You cannot do that. What if the insurer did not want to accept the alteration for whatever reason? Very bad advice from someone who appears to be in the business

broker2008

Reading back over my last post it is a bit misleading in fairness. It can be done, but by a broker. The issue is the insurance company had the opportunity to assess the risk while he was on the phone looking for the addition but refused to do so, referring him back to his broker - but the broker was not available because of the holidays. I would like to know why they wouldn't deal with the query.

oldyouth

broker2008 wrote: »

Reading back over my last post it is a bit misleading in fairness. It can be done, but by a broker. The issue is the insurance company had the opportunity to assess the risk while he was on the phone looking for the addition but refused to do so, referring him back to his broker - but the broker was not available because of the holidays. I would like to know why they wouldn't deal with the query.

I would have thought it was fairly obvious. A (good) broker represents his client to the highest standards. To do that, he must be in possession of all the facts when declaring the situation to insurance companies.

If the client has being altering his position with the insurance company, that his broker is not aware of, it could lead to that broker inadvertantly invalidating his client's cover in any future dealings. Insurers recognise that and will only accept instructions from the appointed source, the broker in this instance

broker2008

I agree with you but due to the non availability of the broker, the company could have dealt with the request based on client disclosure.. The net result was that his friend didnt get the cover that he was trying to arrange. I am trying to defend the broker who didn't leave information on their website of their opening hours over the Christmas period.