# How to learn a lesson the expensive way !



## uruk hai

I'll start by saying that almost everything I'm about to describe is probably covered in the T's & C's of my policy but I'm not afraid to say that I don't always read every word and now it's going to cost me !

I have recently decided that I'm going to sale my car and then look for and buy its replacement, today I called my current broker who is Adrian Flux in order to get some idea of what sort of extra cost I would be looking at. I have been with them for 8 or 9 years without claim and always with very good service.

My current policy started at the beginning of March this year at a very reasonable cost of £225 for the year. The quotes I've had for what I hope will be my next car are around £250 - £275 so I thought if I have to pay an extra £100 to get to the end of the policy that'll be fine, I was sadly deluded !

The cost to take me to the end of my current policy is an extra £240 meaning I will have payed £465 for 3 months on my current car and 9 months on my next car, to be honest I just laughed and asked how much I would get back from my current years premium if I cancled with over 9 months left to run, out of my £225 premium I will receive £30 back !

To put it mildly I'm surprised but what surprised me more was when I said to the call handler that I would prefer to stay with Adrian Flux if possible but I got the impression that there is nothing that can be done and was advised to get a new quote after I had cancled my current policy. I'm disappointed by this but perhaps I'm just naive and this is how insurance brokers and companies work ? Either way it would appear that after years of claim free good service and a lot of money paid in premiums I've found myself in a no win situation that will almost certainly result in me taking my business to another provider simply as a result of inflexibility.


----------



## Darlofan

Insurers have you over a barrel when it comes to any changes. I've had it before when changing address, looking at quotes new address is cheaper but funnily enough it rises significantly when ringing current insurer! 
Car is bad enough but our dog insurance took the biscuit (excuse the pun) when we moved it went up £45, it was only just over 100 for the full year!!


----------



## uruk hai

I agree mate and I've learnt a valuable lesson ! 

The thing that I don't understand though is that rather than try to reach a reasonable outcome to keep my business and dare I say it "reward customer loyalty" the company will stand behind the T's & C's (which is fair enough, I agreed to be bound by them) but in all likelihood lose all future business/income from myself ?

But as I say lesson learned, albeit an expensive and memorable one.


----------



## wayne451

Think yourself lucky.

Adrian Flux are complete and utter ******s.

I'd not use them if they were free. They could've cost me my license.


----------



## Kerr

Adrian Flux did this to me as well a few years ago. 

The cancellation charges were extortionate and the quotes they gave me on my replacement car were plain crazy. They were by far the most expensive. That was one of the many reasons i wouldn't touch Flux again. 

Their effort to force me to make a fraudulent personal injury claim was unbelievable. They then sold my details, and our conversation, to personal injury claims company.

I've heard far too many bad things about them.


----------



## uruk hai

Appreciate the comments, in fairness to them I've never had a problem, perhaps because I've never had a claim ? They have always beaten any renewal quote I could find and until now that's been enough but this is an eye opener.

It won't stop me leaving them mid policy, I'll just factor in the cost of them retaining almost 90% of the years fee into the overall cost of changing cars.

I would welcome any advice or suggestions (legal ones ) if anyone has any ?


----------



## Nick-ST

Can't say I have ever heard of it being like that! I am an insurance companies worst nightmare as I do tend to change my cars every few months. But having been with Aviva and Admiral mainly for the last 4 years or so I can safely say both are effortless. I, like yourself have been a couple of months in to say a £500 policy and then I have changed cars for the remainder of the policy the cost of change has been minimal. Maybe a £20 admin fee if you do it over the phone. Plus or minus the difference of the cars. I have had refunds in some cases! 

Give Aviva a try, they are the best insurance company I have used over the years that's for sure! But they're not on any price comparison websites. Worst part about them is the naff team they sponsor!


----------



## uruk hai

Thanks, I'll be getting as many quotesas I can, it's not like there's a shortage of coverage for someone of my age and driving record.


----------



## Cookies

My experience is similar to Nick's, above. Mid term adjustments are where some insurance companies have you over a barrel, so to speak. As a customer, you've no negotiating power, so you'll likely just have to take it on the chin. 

Now, don't let them away with it. Send them an email and tell them you've put it on a number of internet forums, with several hundreds of thousands of members. I'd also fire a post onto their Facebook or Twitter pages, respectfully expressing your disappointment. One-to-one these companies really don't care how they treat their customers, you either take it or leave it; but they really don't like negative PR. 

Good luck chum. 

Cooks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## scuba-phil

Iv had a similar experience with flux. Changed my car, they wouldnt cover the new car so i had to cancel and then got bummed on the refund after about 4 months of the policy


----------



## uruk hai

Cookies said:


> My experience is similar to Nick's, above. Mid term adjustments are where some insurance companies have you over a barrel, so to speak. As a customer, you've no negotiating power, so you'll likely just have to take it on the chin.
> 
> Now, don't let them away with it. Send them an email and tell them you've put it on a number of internet forums, with several hundreds of thousands of members. I'd also fire a post onto their Facebook or Twitter pages, respectfully expressing your disappointment. One-to-one these companies really don't care how they treat their customers, you either take it or leave it; but they really don't like negative PR.
> 
> Good luck chum.
> 
> Cooks
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not on Twitter or Facebook which is why I decided to post it on here, I suppose as a cautionary tale and in hope of hearing from others who may have had a similar experience.


----------



## shl-kelso

That does sound like rough treatment. 

My private car (usually an electric car) has been insured with one of the normal large companies (although I have to play the “match my best price or I leave” dance at renewal), and I’ve just changed mid-term for no additional cost/fee with Churchill. I was also able to temporarily add my dad to my policy last year for a couple of weeks for no extra charge/fee too.


----------



## Cookies

uruk hai said:


> Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not on Twitter or Facebook which is why I decided to post it on here, I suppose as a cautionary tale and in hope of hearing from others who may have had a similar experience.


No probs. Send them an email advising them that you have posted your experiences on a public forum with almost 100k members. If you can find an email address to their marketing department, or a senior officer, it'd do no harm.

I'm a firm believer in highlighting poor service, but also praising excellent service. Sounds like your experience sits well within the first category.

Hope you get sorted.

Cooks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## uruk hai

Cookies said:


> No probs. Send them an email advising them that you have posted your experiences on a public forum with almost 100k members. If you can find an email address to their marketing department, or a senior officer, it'd do no harm.
> 
> I'm a firm believer in highlighting poor service, but also praising excellent service. Sounds like your experience sits well within the first category.
> 
> Hope you get sorted.
> 
> Cooks
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Thanks again, I'll have to try and reach higher up the organisation and see if that has any effect ? I've spoken again this morning to try and get a price for starting a new policy from scratch if I were to cancel mine and take out a new one. To be honest I was more disappointed, I explained the situation and was met with little more than apathy and given a quote that wasn't even competitive, the person I spoke to just questioned the accuracy of the other quotes I had elsewhere !


----------



## DimitriUK

Nick-ST said:


> Can't say I have ever heard of it being like that! I am an insurance companies worst nightmare as I do tend to change my cars every few months. But having been with Aviva and Admiral mainly for the last 4 years or so I can safely say both are effortless. I, like yourself have been a couple of months in to say a £500 policy and then I have changed cars for the remainder of the policy the cost of change has been minimal. Maybe a £20 admin fee if you do it over the phone. Plus or minus the difference of the cars. I have had refunds in some cases!
> 
> Give Aviva a try, they are the best insurance company I have used over the years that's for sure! But they're not on any price comparison websites. Worst part about them is the naff team they sponsor!


Same on my side with Aviva changed car on the policy online from an alfa to merc and difference was GBP 10. Since then moved to Admiral, nice to hear they offer similar service.


----------



## wayne451

Aviva were very good.

I queried the cost and necessity of OBU with them via email as was going for a Christmas meal on works time so they added it free of charge.

When the renewal came through it was still cheapest so I just paid in full.

They are a great insurers, the EXACT OPPOSITE of Adrian Flux. :lol:


----------



## uruk hai

I got a quote from Aviva earlier and it's not particularly competitive, not overpriced but not among the lowest prices. Price hunting begins in earnest tomorrow!


----------



## Caledoniandream

Try”Original” very fair treatment, reasonable cost when changing car. 
Renewal price fair (not the cheapest but the only one who guarantees original parts, and a brand approved repairer)


----------



## uruk hai

Thanks for that, I'll have a look at them later.


----------



## Hereisphilly

I had the exact same thing when I was with flux, they absolutely shafted me when I moved house 4 months into a new policy

Our new house is in a much quieter area, not in the town centre and comparison quotes I got put the car insurance at a much lower premium

Flux didn't see it this way and charged me an extra £150 due to the house being in a "high risk" area. Cancelling would have meant I didn't get any refund so I just had to swallow it, and I was absolutely fuming

After going up as high as I could go I got a cursory £20 discount chucked in

Needless to say I haven't renewed with them


----------



## Kerr

It's pretty disgusting that this rip off behaviour appears to be standard policy.


----------



## Sam6er

Its surprising how many forums have complaints about Adrian flux, even on sites where they are sponsors. They dont even respond to their bad publicity anymore from some of the threads i have read. Very poor company with even worse customer service.


----------



## alfajim

You get to know a good insurance company when you have had to make a claim. Wouldn't use this lot again, even if they were the cheapest.


----------



## uruk hai

Sam6er said:


> Its surprising how many forums have complaints about Adrian flux, even on sites where they are sponsors. They dont even respond to their bad publicity anymore from some of the threads i have read. Very poor company with even worse customer service.


I'm not sure if he's active on here at the moment but someone who helped me with quotes and changing to Adrian flux was [email protected] and he was very helpful, shame the people I've spoken to in the last week haven't been the same !


----------



## Sam6er

uruk hai said:


> I'm not sure if he's active on here at the moment but someone who helped me with quotes and changing to Adrian flux was [email protected] and he was very helpful, shame the people I've spoken to in the last week haven't been the same !


The main issues people seem to have is not when taking a new policy, but when you need to make a claim or change your policy. This is where all the issues i have read about seem to appear from. Iv not had a policy with them so cannot comment first hand, only what i have read from various other peoples issues with them.


----------



## sshooie

Kerr said:


> Their effort to force me to make a fraudulent personal injury claim was unbelievable. They then sold my details, and our conversation, to personal injury claims company.


I'd be reporting this to the insurance ombudsman


----------



## [email protected]

uruk hai said:


> I'll start by saying that almost everything I'm about to describe is probably covered in the T's & C's of my policy but I'm not afraid to say that I don't always read every word and now it's going to cost me !
> 
> I have recently decided that I'm going to sale my car and then look for and buy its replacement, today I called my current broker who is Adrian Flux in order to get some idea of what sort of extra cost I would be looking at. I have been with them for 8 or 9 years without claim and always with very good service.
> 
> My current policy started at the beginning of March this year at a very reasonable cost of £225 for the year. The quotes I've had for what I hope will be my next car are around £250 - £275 so I thought if I have to pay an extra £100 to get to the end of the policy that'll be fine, I was sadly deluded !
> 
> The cost to take me to the end of my current policy is an extra £240 meaning I will have payed £465 for 3 months on my current car and 9 months on my next car, to be honest I just laughed and asked how much I would get back from my current years premium if I cancled with over 9 months left to run, out of my £225 premium I will receive £30 back !
> 
> To put it mildly I'm surprised but what surprised me more was when I said to the call handler that I would prefer to stay with Adrian Flux if possible but I got the impression that there is nothing that can be done and was advised to get a new quote after I had cancled my current policy. I'm disappointed by this but perhaps I'm just naive and this is how insurance brokers and companies work ? Either way it would appear that after years of claim free good service and a lot of money paid in premiums I've found myself in a no win situation that will almost certainly result in me taking my business to another provider simply as a result of inflexibility.


Hi there,

Sorry to learn of the issues you've been having. If you'd like to message me your full name / postcode I'd happily investigate this for you.

Thanks.

Dan


----------



## uruk hai

Hello Dan, sorry for the very late reply. Message sent.


----------



## uruk hai

Thanks Dan

A more positive conversation was had shortly after your involvement today.


----------



## Sicskate

Any updates?? 

I didn't renew with flux after being with them about 8 years due to lack of support after my parked car was hit. 

I even got the guys details...

I'm with Chris Knott now.


----------



## uruk hai

Sicskate said:


> Any updates??
> 
> I didn't renew with flux after being with them about 8 years due to lack of support after my parked car was hit.
> 
> I even got the guys details...
> 
> I'm with Chris Knott now.


Not really but that's down to me being rather busy at the moment.


----------



## uruk hai

I spoke to Adrian Flux again today and I think it's fair to say we've reached the end of the road, or will have as soon as I sale the Focus.

Such is life !


----------

