# Instant regret



## MagpieRH

Insurance was up for renewal (from about 25 minutes from now actually, but we'll get to that), Aviva hiked my premium 16% from last year and couldn't give me a satisfactory reason why, so I looked around. Comparison sites saved me a bit, but all wanted me to phone them, seemingly because bolting on a piece of plastic means the online systems can't cope.

Anyway, filled out the online forms for Adrian flux, as I thought I'd heard good things about them. Said I'd receive an email shortly with details of the quote. 4 days later, got the email "phone us for our best deals".

Put it off for a bit, cos I hate using the phone, but I had to in the end. Spoke to a nice young lady, very helpful, went through all the details again but got the date wrong. She said the 6th but then for herself and said "you wanted it to start from the 7th, didn't you?" Confirmed, and she said she'd change that. Obviously their script must be adhered to, as she came back with "I've got you a fantastic price" which was £50 more than the lowest quote which I'd told her, with a £300 excess. Anyway, managed to get the excess down, and the cover included a few non standard bits so seemed reasonable. Paid for it, job done.

Details came through, checked through it, as they requested (I do anyway), start date 6th.
No problem, I thought, I'll drop them an email and ask them to change it.

2 days later, email response - yes, we can do that, £30 admin fee. For their error.

Took to Twitter, they responded to say someone would be in touch.

Another pleasant call handler, but didn't seem to grasp why their error being corrected costing me £30 was an issue. The policy hadn't even started yet.
"You can dual insure for up to 30 days"
"It's not as simple as changing the date, we have to cancel the policy and start again"
Not my fault, not my problem.

Anyway, I got fed up of banging my head against a brick wall and just accepted the day's overlap.

Limited mileage policy, so they requested my odometer reading at the start of the policy. Got an email 3 days ago telling me I hadn't filled that in yet. That's cos I didn't know until today what the reading would be.

Anyway, I won't be renewing this time next year, and can't say I'd recommend them. Absolute shambles with an antiquated computer system by the sounds of things. God help me if I need to claim in the next 12 months!


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## Kerr

Adrian Flux are a terrible company.


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## ashleyman

I phoned for a quote and spoke to a very horrible lady with a bad attitude. 

Went through all the details over the phone and then she said I'd been involved in an accident in 2016. 
No, I haven't. 
Yes, you have. The system says so. 
blah blah blah, she said she'd find out what it was...

She called back and said she couldn't find out what it was but I should look into it. 
I asked 'Can you tell me who to contact to get some more information?' 
She said, 'Well, Google it or something because I don't know. '

Fine. What the price please... 
£1600. 
Ok, well thats more than I've been quoted elsewhere for less cover but thanks. 
'Whats my best quote so far and I said £1050 including legal cover, courtesy car and extra injury cover. Looking online it was actually £1300 from Admiral including all those bits but she was rude so didn't need to know that' My renewal came in at £1900 from Admiral.

15 minutes later the phone rings. 'Hello Mr. Ashleyman I can do it for £1000'. 
'Does that include the extras?
'What extras? Legal cover and all that stuff? Nope, they cost extra. 
'How much?'
Don't know'

It was like speaking to a car salesman who forever had to go back to the sales manager and check things and get permission to offer figures.

I ended up saying if it's this hard to get a quote how is it going to be if I have an accident. Told her I wouldn't progressing the quote and hanging up. 

Haggled HARD and ended up renewing with Admiral for £1100. £800 discount from the renewal letter and £35 less than their best quote on money supermarket.


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## wayne451

I wouldn't use Flux if they paid me to be insured with them. Utterly f'ing useless. I had many issues with them but the main ones were;

Cancelling my insurance for not completing a modified vehicle form. I completed it on 3 occasions, twice they signed for it recorded delivery!?! Didn't bother to write or notify me that they'd cancelled it but still took monthly direct debit payments. I only found out after I was stopped for speeding and phoned up for a copy of my policy. I'd been driving around for weeks uninsured and completely oblivious. Thankfully someone I knew claimed I worked for them and so I completed the producer with their traders policy. Could have got a ban for that. Knowing what I know now I should've got the Ombudsman involved.

Another occasion I phoned up to pay the rest of my policy. They didn't try to take the payment for another 3 MONTHS!?!?!

A friend renewed his policy with Flux by cheque. Funds left his account (paid the year in full) yet Flux didn't start the policy. Some guy hits his car outside the off licence so he reports it to the police. He has to produce his documents at the station, phoned Flux to find out they didn't start the policy!?! Ended up being taken to court and got points on his licence.

To say Flux are crap would be praising them to be honest. :lol:


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## c87reed

I am the same, I totally cannot be bothered going through the motions on the telephone. I've not rang for an insurance quote for about 15 years when I'd be finding motorcycle insurance, ringing each company only to reach the end and receive a huge quote.

Nowadays mine's cheap as chips, 30 year old, ST with Mountune kit, most it has ever been is £350 and that includes business cover.


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## Paul08

I tried the last year to get an agreed value policy for my octavia and agree they were useless over the phone. Took so long to get a quote and couldn't be sure what the policy covered. I'm 28 and now have all my cars, Octavia vRS, fabia vRS and Hyundai i10 insured through Sheila's wheels, the most I pay is 290 and that's because my wife is a new driver and main driver on the i10. All mods are declared and the vRS's too, Octavia is under 200 a year but only does 50 miles if that and fabia is 250 a year. For me they were miles more competitive than any other company and provided better service. I work with Aviva but for my age they are way too expensive.


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## Guest

Just to put the other side of the coin...I've just renewed with Adrian Flux without any issues at all.

The renewal was £40 more than last year with no changes for me. Checked a comparison site, could have got it about £20 cheaper with LV but couldn't be bothered to go through all that hassle for a £20 saving. Everyone else was much more expensive.

Renewed online by credit card, received documents by email, never even spoke to them, job done.


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## baxlin

AF have this price matching promise, and also a 'specialist' vehicle department, so I'd insured the 3 wheeler with them for 10+ years.

One year though, I looked around, and found one £20 cheaper (total prem around £120), so a big % difference. So I put it to AF who matched it no problem.

But the next year, it'd gone up to £160-ish, so I looked around again, and found I could save just under £50 by going elsewhere. Bearing in mind I do no more than 1000 miles a year in it, any saving is worthwhile!

I moved to the cheaper insurer, , and waited for AF to chase me, which they did. I have to say I 'suggested' to them that offering the price match was the lazy way of keeping business - let someone else do the research, then just tailor their figures to match. Trying it on once was OK, but each year? Not at my expense, and it makes me wonder how much I could have saved over the years, if I'd looked around.

I believe AF are brokers, not actually the insurer. Presumably they had offered me the best price from their available insurers, (well at least I hope they had) so who was funding my price match £50 discount?


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## danwel

I use Chris Knott for all my insurance needs and whilst they are a broker they are incredibly helpful and in the few years i have used them always found them really helpful and will genuinely do their best to beat or equal a like for like quote.

Plus the more policies you have you get more discounts.


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## LewisChadwick7

i thought it was just me that found them difficult to deal with! 

this was a rant from when i took my policy out.....

i've just insured the ST via Flux and i don't think i'll use them again..... what a bloody carry on! set this up tuesday and got a text this morning threatening to cancel my policy if i didn't send documents in ( i haven't been asked for any up to this point ) i thought it was a scam at first so was going to ignore it but thought i'll give it a try, was told i need to send the following in:



DVLA check codes for both me and my 2 named drivers

copies of driving licenses for all 3 people again

proof of NCB ( this i get which is easy)

modified vehicle report form

i mean what the hell do i need all this for? points 3 & 4 i get but the other 2 are pretty pointless IMO surely they can just get this from DVLA?

i've just set my insurance up on the FR no problems, no qustions asked!

i only want to get my car insured i aint applying to be a bloody asylum seeker!


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## Shiny

MagpieRH said:


> "You can dual insure for up to 30 days"


This is terrible advice! There is no 30 day limit on dual insurance, you can actually dual insure for the whole year if you really want to. However, depending on each insurer's policy wording, each will only pay their proportion of the claim although some may not pay out at all if their wordings say so. Either way, suggesting dual insurance as a solution to the problem they have caused by issuing cover a day early is most concerning, especially not knowing the dual insurance clause that would apply under your current policy!



> "It's not as simple as changing the date, we have to cancel the policy and start again"
> Not my fault, not my problem.


They are right, the only way they can process this is by cancelling the policy and setting up a new one. However, there will be no time on risk charge by the actual insurers as cover is not in force and there should be no admin fees as they are correcting their processing error. I am pretty shocked to see that a Broker is trying to pass on admin fees for their mistake!

The only other thing to watch out for is that don't try to also charge extra premium for 1 day when you will have nil NCB as it was still being used on another policy!


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## MagpieRH

I was under the impression you could only have one policy on any one vehicle, so I was caught a bit off-guard when she threw that one in.

I tell you what, if they raise any issues whatsoever in terms of no claims or anything to do with policy details, I'll go ballistic.

Next year, I think I'll do a bit more research on here first :lol:


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## Shiny

Yeah, people often think that dual insurance is illegal, but it isn't.

Generally, if two insurers cover 100% of a risk each, then the claim will be split proportionately between to two insurers at 50% each. You will need to pay an excess on both policies.

You can not profit from insurance, so you can't claim 100% of the loss on each policy. But as both insurers were covering the loss equally, then a claim most be made on both policies and they will only be responsible for their % proportion of the loss.

Things can get very messy. Some commercial insurance policies state that they will only cover over and above any limits of any other insurance in place. I don't know any private car policies that have these wordings, but it wouldn't surprise me if some do. If, for example your current policy had this in their wordings, then they would not pay out as 100% of the risk was being covered elsewhere. Flux's policy would then only then pay out their 50% portion as 100% of the risk was being covered elsewhere. So basically, only 50% of the claim would be covered. Flux should be checking your own policy cover before suggesting dual insurance as an option and also explaining what would happen in the event of a claim.


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## Bungleaio

I would rather give up my car than have to insure with Adrian Flux. I had a big argument with them about a policy around 10 years ago and I cancelled. Despite having paid in full for the 12 months they still said I owed them money after I'd cancelled and they had given me a refund. 

Then the final show of incompetence was when they sent me a letter demanding money from me they also included a load of other letters and documents that should have gone to other people. It had their address' car details, claims history, loads of stuff. Massive breach of data protection. They denied it until I read of details that I could only know if I had either hacked into their database or they had sent me it. 

Absolute shambles.


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## Rayaan

Adrian Flux is a joke of a company. Today a guy said this:

"Computer says the RX is £4k". I was shocked - I paid £800 for both cars last year and the cheapest quote so far has been £700 for the RX!


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## Sharpy296

One of the reasons that a lot of insurance premiums have gone up is due to a change in the Ogden Rate.

The Odgen discount rate which hadn't been changed in many years changed from +3% to -0.75% earlier on in the year. The extent of the change was much greater than anticipated and cost motor insurers (and reinsurers) several £100m.


This rate affects high value injury awards and the lower discount rate means large claims are much more expensive than they were. 

Which unfortunately means that these costs are passed on. Also worth mentioning that Aviva have just announced a scheme to reward loyalty more and not just offer the "best rates" to new customers... exactly what that looks like remains to be seen but it sounds like a good start, albeit too late in this instance.


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## Fentum

Because I need a 365 day a year Green Card, I insure my cars with a policy offered by Stuart Collins. 

I don't think the prices are any worse than most for fully comprehensive modern cars and their service is exemplary!

Peter


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## Mikesphotaes

This thread has really amazed me!

I always thought Adrian Flux was a great company and THE place to go with a kit car or a modified one.

Never needed to use them myself and won't now from these posts!

Many thanks for all the info.


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## danwel

Adrian Flux are useless. I had same problem as OP. wanted to change the start date by a day or two and even though the policy hadn't even begun they wanted a £30 administration fee !!! Never again will i use Adrian Flux !!!


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## Rayaan

danwel said:


> Adrian Flux are useless. I had same problem as OP. wanted to change the start date by a day or two and even though the policy hadn't even begun they wanted a £30 administration fee !!! Never again will i use Adrian Flux !!!


Chris Knott are always helpful and have found them to be very competitive - they try to beat your lowest quote each time unless they really can't.

I should also mention that my wife claimed when I was with them and it was handled quickly. I opted to choose my own repairer and the vehicle was fixed within 7 days. They also waived the excesses as it was a single vehicle incident.


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## G.P

I've no experience with AF but have had similar awkwardness with Footman James.

Although not always quite the cheapest Chris Knott as said above are very helpful..


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## Tombo

I binned Adrian flux off after 14 years with them, in helpful time wasters. Best thing I ever did.


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## Kerr

Rayaan said:


> Chris Knott are always helpful and have found them to be very competitive - they try to beat your lowest quote each time unless they really can't.
> 
> I should also mention that my wife claimed when I was with them and it was handled quickly. I opted to choose my own repairer and the vehicle was fixed within 7 days. They also waived the excesses as it was a single vehicle incident.


Chris Knott are sponsors on a BMW forum. They appear to have a catalogue of excuses why not to insure certain people.

They won't touch anyone with their first RWD car. They also refused insurance to people who jumped too much power between cars.

There was some really silly excuses. They do appear to cherry pick their custom.


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## Caledoniandream

Kerr said:


> Chris Knott are sponsors on a BMW forum. They appear to have a catalogue of excuses why not to insure certain people.
> 
> They won't touch anyone with their first RWD car. They also refused insurance to people who jumped too much power between cars.
> 
> There was some really silly excuses. They do appear to cherry pick their custom.


More insurers are doing that, too young, too old, original driving license not supplied in the UK, too much power, you name it. 
Sometimes there are underlying reasons, many times it seems to be a bit random, certain insurer avoid certain postcodes, while the same postcode is no problem to others.

The whole insurance business seems to be very random, prices rises like going out of fashion, but when you challenge they come down like a deflated balloon.
Where is that all about?
It feels all like a double-glazing salesman business. 
It lacks feeling and sense. 
Never mind when you have a claim, then you find the proper companies, who support you, who stand on your side, and don't try to screw you over.

The other annoyance is International coverage, what is that all about? on the continent you receive ALWAYS a green card with your insurance, doesn't cost extra, no phone calls when you leave and come back malarkey. 
Why is it all so difficult for British insurers? In the Netherlands you insure the car, and everybody who can legal drive can use the car, no hassle with adding drivers etc.

Found a company who fulfils a lot of my wishes, like guarantee of using of original parts. International cover for 90 days a year, courtesy car, legal protection and all for a reasonable price.


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## Rayaan

Kerr said:


> Chris Knott are sponsors on a BMW forum. They appear to have a catalogue of excuses why not to insure certain people.
> 
> They won't touch anyone with their first RWD car. They also refused insurance to people who jumped too much power between cars.
> 
> There was some really silly excuses. They do appear to cherry pick their custom.


That's odd. They insured my wife on her first RWD car and second. And they didn't even ask about it being her first RWD car. It never even came up in the questions they asked.

Id presume it may be down to the policy companies too. I ended up going to Admiral after Highway insurance gave quotes in the thousands to get rid of me I think. Since then ERS specialist insurance has been fairly competitive

I've stayed with Admiral this year though - renewal quote was £1400 for both but 15 min phone call got it down to £1036. Told them I had a cheaper quote from brokers and they've given me £50k personal injury for life - hopefully won't have to use it.

Chris knott were £36 cheaper but they wanted admirals renewal quote, NCD proof, Drivers licenses and share checks for both of us which I just can't be bothered sorting out for the sake of £36


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## Helicopter_red

Well i think the insurance companies are very pickie and random

I was insured with ERS through a broker for 3 years modified car, it seems last year my broker for what ever reason i dont know, (possibly to retain me) left some of my mods off, thank god i only found out 2 days before renewal as i would of been cacking myself, the price did drop by £100 last year i should of twigged!
Well once they corrected their administrative error ERS would not insure me although all mods were declared on original inception and policy was just auto renewed! 

I really dont know if this is a broker problem or Insurer but i definitely think they are pickie


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