Taken for a ride by insurers
LETTER: My car insurance policy came up for renewal the other day. At the bottom of the letter inviting me to renew the policy there was a statement that if I found a lower quote and provided my insurance company with the details then they would match the lower quote.
Call me naive, but to me this translates as, "we will take you for a ride for as much as we can and as far as we can, but if you catch us out we'll come clean". Surely this is no way of doing business?
But the saga of my insurance company goes on. My travel insurance policy expired on February 28, and before the insurance company would renew they demanded more detailed information of medical treatment I had received in 2008. Fair enough, so I obtained the required documentation and forwarded it to them, but it took until March 10 for them to confirm that the policy could be renewed.
I therefore asked that the renewal be effective from March 10. This they refused saying that the original renewal date must stand.
I asked them if, had I made a claim on say, March 5, would they have entertained the claim?
Believe it or not their answer was, "I don't know". I take that as a "no". The reason I write this letter to you is to try to find out if others have "suffered" from less than open and honest dealings with their insurers.
Do insurance companies need to be watched and examined to the same degree as our wonderful neo-nationalised banks? I wonder what are the retirement provisions of the CEO of my ex-insurance company.
Peter Sharman
Powys
