Why

TK88

I recently returned to Ireland after a long absence. Whilst away, I was engaged as a consultant, mainly in the Far East. I was always provided with my own transport, which would be insured through the company so arriving here with zero No Claims. Upon arrival in Ireland I soon discovered the true cost of insurance with my zero no claims and the difficulty to find someone to insure. My car, a 316 BMW – 2007 had negligible effect on quotes it seemed; Chill Insurance Brokers found Liberty for the exorbitant amount of 2100 euro – I was left with no choice, but to pay.
Later this year, 7 months after the initial payment, my wife and I purchased a house in a nice area in Longford, 40 minutes’ drive from our previous location in Kilucan. I informed Chill of the move and change of address when I rented a van. At that time, I was informed by Chill, that to rent the van would be an additional 50 euro and 25 euro for the change of address, to which I agreed. At the van rental office, the rental company called Chill for verification, Chill verified the 50 euro van rental charge, but said that Liberty now wanted, not 25 euro for change of address, but 1,258 for change of address. Chill said that they had never heard of such a thing, the rental company neither, whereas I was speechless. Chill responded by saying that they will double check with Liberty and get back to us. This they did, but the situation hadn’t changed in our favour, but rather exacerbated by the fact that not only did Liberty want to increase my insurance by 1,200 euro, but they wanted it now, there and then as I stood in the office or they would refuse to provide insurance on the van I was about to hire to move my personal effects.
At this point I grabbed the phone and told Chill that this was extortion. Chill sympathized and said that they would speak once more to Liberty. On the return call it appeared that even Liberty were in confusion and relented to allowing the van rental to go ahead and would further investigate the overall increase.
A week passed before I was again contacted by Chill asking for the 1,258 euro, which naturally received a heated response as I was informed that my insurance would be cancelled if funds were not received in full. I attempted to contact Liberty so that I could talk to them direct, but despite my efforts, they refused to take my call saying that this must be dealt with by the broker (Chill). 
I searched to find an alternative, but in all cases I would be required to start from zero no claims again and pay for a new year, which would rather defeat the purpose, although I did receive a quote for 1,900 euro from one insurer, a far cry from Liberty’s total of 3,458 euro.
Liberty had me on the ropes and they knew it. After I received notice of cancelation I had no choice but to pay.
I spoke to the Ombudsmen, although more recently to my lawyer (on another matter) and mentioned my dilemma; he has since asked for all documents relating to case – I am hopeful that this will be resolved.
Sincerely,
Anthony Keller

Liberty Insurance: Lisa K

Hi Anthony, can you PM me with your policy details so I can look into this for you. Lisa

Dorothea78

Hi TK88
How's it going with your situation? I have also experienced huge price hiking with Liberty. Disgraceful! Did you manage to get any answer from them?

TK88

Dorothea78 wrote: »

Hi TK88
How's it going with your situation? I have also experienced huge price hiking with Liberty. Disgraceful! Did you manage to get any answer from them?

Hi Dorathea78,

Yes, I did get a reply whereby they just skated around the point I was making and taking advantage of their customers with a ‘no win’ situation and then past the buck onto Chill Insurance. Their rather laughable response was as follows:

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]“Hi (my name), sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I have referred this to our broker dept who have advised that the additional premium for the change of address is correct… [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif](I didn’t ask if it was correct, I said it was a rip off. So basically, they mean ‘yes, correct we did rip you off) – the letter continues….[/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]…They have advised that if Chill insurance misadvised you of any premiums due that you would need to speak with them in regards to this. Lisa[/font]”

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]…i.e. we really don’t care about how much we charge our customers because we’re are not regulated so we can do what we like and as far as being quoted a lower sum initially, you can sort that one out yourself because we’re not interested.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]So that about sums that company up. As a matter of interest; in UK I checked with Aviva and they would charge 521 GBP for the same car with no no-claims nearly 3000 cheaper. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Bottom line AVOID Liberty Insurance at all costs, they will coax you in and catch you when you least expect it and turn their back on you when you need help.[/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]TK88[/font]

spodoinkle

If you choose to insure through a broker, you can only deal with the broker and not the insurer, that is simply the way it works. If you buy a car from a Volkswagen dealership and you have a problem, you go to the dealership and not Volkswagen direct, which is a similar principle. 

As for the address change, different counties have different prices, with all insurers, if your original quote was for Longford, it would have been 3 grand+.
 
You are wasting your time seeking legal advice on this and any solicitor who entertains you is leading you up the garden path.....

TK88

spodoinkle wrote: »

If you choose to insure through a broker, you can only deal with the broker and not the insurer, that is simply the way it works. If you buy a car from a Volkswagen dealership and you have a problem, you go to the dealership and not Volkswagen direct, which is a similar principle. 

As for the address change, different counties have different prices, with all insurers, if your original quote was for Longford, it would have been 3 grand+.
 
You are wasting your time seeking legal advice on this and any solicitor who entertains you is leading you up the garden path.....

Thank you for your input, but seriously? That’s the best you’ve got?

If I bought a Volkswagen that had a problem, you can be damn sure I would go to the manufacture for compensation as well as the dealership. As far Chill are concerned or any other brokerage for that matter they are just the middlemen. Humans are inherently lazy (and growing lazier I afraid), which is why the broker exists, they have no real power, they’re not the decision makers.

As for legal advice; I have worked very closely with lawyers over the years and they are not in the habit of “leading” their clients “up the garden path”, certainly not the ones I’ve the pleasure of working with.

Your note is not helpful, it is weak and complacent, which is exactly why insurance companies behave in the manner they do; no-one fights! “It is what it is, there’s nothing you can do, so let us all just lay down, pay and then find reason into our pitiful decision process so we can excuse ourselves for the outcome” and not to forget “all lawyers are crooks”.

Nothing positive will happen until you act, otherwise it’s a downward spiral. So, get up of your rear and seek out whoever is in charge and do something about it. Unless you actually work for liberty of course and thought it an idea to red herring my thread.
 

beauf

Liberty seem to changing their quotes at random. With no reason. (I thought they have to provide a reason). 


Its unclear why this would be a legal issue. Its been normal practise for decades. 


I would have assume you got these quotes in writing before proceeding. They usually are valid then for a fixed period. 

spodoinkle

I worked in  litigated motor claims for a long time, but have never worked for Liberty.
Brokers are middlemen (hence the official name is an insurance intermediary), perhaps my analogy was a bit vague, however the matter stands, when you are insured through a broker, the Insurer is under no obligation to deal with you direct.
I have stated the facts here,an insurance premium is based on risk, if you change details, the risk changes and the premium may change - do what you will with this information. 
If you feel you have a valid complaint you must exhaust a companies complaints procedure, then refer to the FSPO (insurance ombudsman) if you are not satisfied with the outcome), this is the advice your solicitor should be providing.
You will achieve no legal remedy for this matter, there has been no test case for this, as above, insurance is based on risk and premiums can be changed if the risk changes, Insurers are within their rights to do so, car insurance may be a legal requirement but it is also a product of which the pricing is based on the risk. You can roar and shout and not accept this all you wish, it wont change a thing.