What Happens When Parents Start Pushing Up Daisies (Endsleigh Insurance)

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Endsleigh Insurance
Date:	26/01/04 (432 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I got a payout

Disadvantages: It took ages

There are lots of things to consider when choosing insurance, not least what it costs and what you get for your money. Luckily, I have never had to be the one responsible for home insurance, having been covered by parental or company insurance in most places I have lived. However, since September this year I have been fighting a battle with Endsleigh that has only just come to an end. If all you care about is saving money then this op will not be all that informative - you need to get online and crawl around for quotes to meet your needs, comparing the best different companies can offer you. But, if you are the sort of person who likes to know that, should the need arise, claiming on your insurance will be a relatively efficient and pain free process, then what I am about to say may well influence you to scrap Endsleigh from your list of possible insurers.


In September this year I received the home insurance policy for my final year's accommodation at university. Reading the cover out loud for fun (£1000 for my laptop, but only £400 if I lose an eye!) until I happened across the fact that it includes cover for accidental death of a parent. Now I have a parent whose death certificate lists that as the cause, and was covered by a similar policy the year that it happened. A quick check with a mother who works in insurance confirmed that there are very rarely "claim by" dates on these things, so even though it was a while back, I could probably still make a claim. I rang Endsleigh and they confirmed this, so I put my claim in writing to them. Initially, they were helpful. I *thought* I had been insured with them, but they said not to bother making sure since they would check it automatically. I also did not need my old policy details - they gave me the one number I needed, and it went from there.

That was in September, and at this point I was promised an answer within a week, which I duly received. The letter said I was eligible for
a payout of a healthy amount and just needed to provide them with some documentation backing up my details. That afternoon we photocopied some forms and sent them off, expecting the same speedy response. A month later, having heard nothing, I contacted them again only to find out they had "not received" the forms I had sent. I do find it interesting that on a day-to-day basis very few letters get lost in the post, but this very few can become quite a lot when dealing with companies such as this one. Anyway, I resent the documents, but heard nothing once more, so went into a local branch one day while I was passing, and asked for help. Interestingly, the branch at the staff have, in their own words "nothing to do with claims" and could neither bring up my details on their computers nor provide me with any help. I still don't know what the half a dozen staff there do all day, since I imagine very few students arrange insurance during the year, and at any time in person rather than over the phone or online.

I was eventually asked to send the papers again, preferably by fax. I did this, at great expense (our local Spar costs £1 per sheet, and they wanted pages and pages of documents), only to have the faxed sheets posted back to my mother (her name was on the top of one) a week later with a note saying it had obviously been faxed to them accidentally. Lovely. A stroppy phone call and a snide letter later, and I had confirmation that they had finally received the documents. Around a month later I rang to see what was holding up the claim this time, to be told they had sent me a letter the day before (how convenient) and that my claim had been approved. "The cheque's in the mail" line seemed to be true, for once, as a week or so later it arrived, and was duly cashed - there was no way I would have written this until the money was safely in my account. Throughout the whole process, I received no written apologies, nor explana
tion as to why it took so long.

I did not choose to be with Endsleigh - insurance is automatically included in the rent of the place I live. It's a deal called "Block halls insurance" and covers people who live in halls of residence for a fairly low fee (or free as in my case) as these are (supposedly) safer and less prone to crime than ordinary houses, flats and so on. They cover on all items, not just dead parents, are perfectly reasonable and, if you pay for the premiums yourself, they are rather affordable. But the customer service and office organisation, or lack thereof, leave a lot to be desired. I wondered initially if the delay was to do with the amount of the payout (more than you'd get for a stolen TV, for example), but insurance-working mother assured me that in big business terms my pay out was still pennies to them. I was in no hurry to get the money, but that's beside the point. It should not take more than 3 months from claiming to receiving a payout, especially given the fact I provided the full written confirmation they requested immediately, and as such Endsleigh are a company I really do not feel I can recommend.

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