Does anyone else have bad experience of "Budget insurance company... when I first insured with them they gave a great quote, but a renewal and 2 policy amendments have all resulted in huge premium jumps, I find now that the renewal will be nearly £200 more than their competitors... even Norwich Union... just amazing how the price can go up when they think they "have you"... well they dont... sorry budget, i'm going elsewhere....
Rip off
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03-07-07 20:09Just to follow up, in my two years with budget i have changed car twice and moved house. My policy started at £350, todays price is £500 after these "expensive" changes, however I have just put my details into their website for a quote and it says £312... What an absolute rip off..... -
05-07-07 20:51Budget
My car is insured with Budget - Last year, my car had nail polish thrown over it. I contacted the police for advise, and they informed me that I should inform the insurance company 'just in case I want to claim', I informed them of the incident, but categorically told them that it was not a claim, as I will try and get the polish off myself, of which I did........They put it down as a claim, and there seems like nothing I can do about it -
13-07-07 13:44MartinL : Motor insurance is a non loyal product. Most insurers operate on such small margins and expect a high turnover of clients simply because a big enough proportion of people are too lazy or too unaware of market conditions to shop around at renewal when the first years sale discounts are gone. For this reason, for every clued up shopper like you who actually queries it they are more than happy for you to either leave or take up a new quote online as a new customer. For every one of you, there is another who would go "blimey, rates have gone up this year!" and let it renew by Direct Debit. Motor insurers only make money in two ways, charges and tertiarry arrangements like DD, admin fees etc, and people renewing on DD automatically without realising or challenging at a higher price.
Essexguy6: Insurers may not load your premium because you report an incident to them but subsequently do not claim. They will however keep it on record. They are now obligated to not penalise you unless they can statistically prove that you are a worse risk and they may only take into account claims that you have made...not notifications that are non claims. -
05-10-07 20:32Budget - What a rip off
I am fuming over the service I have received from these people. Here's my story and please let me know your opinions and any legal advice you may have to offer:
I have had a company car for 5 years and decided to opt for a car allowance this year. I ended up buying a van and chose budget to insure it through. I completed the application online and received a competitive quote of £165 for 3rd party fire and theft on condition I proved I had 5 years no claims discount through use of a company car. I paid the premium over the phone in one go and decided to also purchase RAC breakdown for an additional £70. All going well so far.
I received my insurance documents and noticed that next to breakdown cover it said "none" so I rang them up querying this. They said it was an error and would send the pack out. Never arrived, rang again. Never arrived rang again and this time after saying "we'll send it" for the 3rd time they also said I needed to send proof of No Claims Discount in within the next 7 days. I explained that it would not be a problem but that I was off on holiday for 10 days and that I would get it straight to them when I returned on 19 Sept, this was on the 7 Sept.
When I returned from my holiday I faxed them over the information they requested and thought nothing more of it. UNTIL this Mon when I got a letter saying that the NCD proof was inadequate and that the premium was increasing to £604 and that they would be taking this money out of my account on Wed 26 Sept. I rang them up and told them, in no uncertain terms, that they had no right to take money from my account without my permission and that if the cover was increasing to that amount I would go elsewhere. I asked them why the proof of NCD was inadequate and they said it never had the name of the insurance company on it. I stated that I would get on to my company head office and provide this. I faxed this over on the Tues. In the meantime I rang my bank to check that no payment was pending to Budget and they said no. I asked the bank if they could take money without my permission and they said it was a grey area, that if I owed them the money then yes but if I didn't and they took it they would request it back and if they refused it would be reported as card fraud. My bank advised me to cancel my card and they would mark it down as lost and send a new one out, this way there was no way they could take the money. Wed I check my bank and the money has been taken! I ring the bank and they said Budget had requested it on Fri but they could not understand why it was not showing up on their systems. They said they would request it back and it should take 3 days (so my card has been cancelled for nothing). In the meantime I ring Budget to ask if the extra NCD proof I sent through was acceptable and they said they have not received it. I said I have a fax receipt, they then say they have got it but it can take 2 weeks to process and update. I was surprisingly calm up until the point this guy from Budget starts trying to sell me some extra legal protection cover!
I feel I have been shafted by the banks incompetence and the fact that Budget can just take money from my bank account without my permission. If they requested this money without my permission from the bank on the Friday, I only got the letter on the Monday giving me no time to act . Are these companies able to do this??? I was also told some *** and bull by a guy at budget that the NCD proof I sent in was not acceptable because I'm insuring a van and it related to a car! Budget taking this money has resulted in my account going overdrawn for which RBS kindly said they would wipe-out any charges!
I know this has been a long post but I would appreciate anyone’s else's views and/or advice. -
05-10-07 22:09have had the same with barclays.no imformation.and when called for service,it was so poor.not the patrol, but the man on end of phone.i did,nt understand.think he was from some were else???????????????????????.am not happy with my bank 4 this service.am leaving
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07-10-07 22:40budget
That was another annoyance with budget, it felt as if the person on the phone was having trouble with basic English.... I called them three days ago to say i'm not renewing and strangly they straight away offered me a cheaper quote, although the renewal letter said "we have searched our companies and can offer you this"... i've gone to Zurich... between budgets bottom and top quotes, but at least they will be reliable... -
21-11-23 00:51@MartinL I have just had a renewal from rac and I feel like I've been kicked in the face, I've been with the rac for 6 years and been driving for 44 years with maximum no claims discount,
My Renewal is due in December and I'm currently paying 460 pound a year but from December they wanting nearly 1200 pound , what is going on with this Rip-off company,
I'm going to send my renewal email to the governing body as I believe the RAC are literally Ripping motorists off big style.
Never again will I use RAC for insurance or Breakdown services as the customer service is the worst I have experienced from a company as big as rac, it won't end here I'm going to seek answers as to why my policy has gone up 110%, im even going to report this to my local MP as i believe there are many more motorists being Ripped-off by RAC -
21-11-23 11:52I think insurance companies will blame the Luton Airport car park fire fir premium increases.
I have quite pleased that over the last two years my premium has reduced fron £300 to £220. Just had a look on confused.com and found the cheapest quote there is £320. I shall wait 'til February and see what my renewal quote is. -
21-11-23 14:00
What "governing body" do you have in mind? I'm not aware of one.
Have you shopped around yet? Premiums have gone up massively in last few months - you may well find the RAC is not alone.
