Highway Robbers: Dick Turpin Doesn't Have A Look In! (AXA Insurance)

Member Name: kenjohn

Product:	AXA Insurance
Date:	29/12/07 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None. Nil. Zada.

Disadvantages: Too many to mention.

I first used AXA insurance way back in 1995 when I first took up taxi driving for a living.

Despite the fact that I was then 44 years old with a totally clean driving record (no claims or convictions for over 15 years) they refused to give me any credit or no claims discount whatsoever, and charged me over £5,000 (old Irish Punts) for my first taxi insurance. This was for an old 1988 Nissan Sunny 1.7-litre diesel that was probably worth no more than £2,000 at the time!

I opted to pay the premium in ten equal monthly instalments, (by direct debit) for which I was charged a further 4% or so credit charge.
I changed the bank account through which the direct debit was paid after about 5 months or so and the bank made a total cock up of the whole thing, the end result being that I missed a payment. The next thing I knew I received a demand from AXA stating that if I didn't pay off the balance of the premium in full within two weeks they would cancel my insurance. (And thus my means of earning my living!)
Despite my going to see them in person and explaining the situation, they point blank refused to give me any leeway or to allow the new direct debit to go through, insisting I paid the balance in full. This I did (I had no choice) by dipping into savings.

I felt that this was disgraceful customer relations on the part of AXA and simply couldn't wait to get away from them. The problem was that they were the *ONLY* insurance company (up until about 2002) who were prepared to offer taxi insurance in the Republic of Ireland.

I was stuck with AXA up until 2004, when I sat and passed the Institute of Advanced Motorist's Driving Test, which was sponsored by another insurance company called Hibernian who had recently entered the taxi insurance market.
Hibernian then offered me insurance at a mere 1,900 Euro, compared to the 3,000 plus Euro that AXA were still charging me. This was for a 2-litre Nissan Maxima. They also included extras like no claims bonus protection, windscreen cover, breakdown assistance, and to put my wife on my insurance as a named driver free of charge.

When I went in to the AXA office to cancel my policy the fella behind the desk became very agitated and upset, asking me why I was moving away from them. When I explained the situation he asked me to hang on for a minute until he spoke to his supervisor. He then returned and offered to match the premium I was being offered by Hibernian. They also offered the same extras inclusive in the price.
I was absolutely fuming and said to him that I was prepared to stay with AXA if they refunded me the thousands of Euro they had been overcharging me over the nine years or so I'd been insured with them. Of course, this wasn't an option as far as they were concerned! You can probably guess the few choice words I used then. It was something along the lines of "stick your insurance where the sun don't shine mate!"

This year I paid a mere 720 Euro for a fully comprehensive policy with full benefits for my taxi insurance with Hibernian.

In all conscience I couldn't recommend AXA insurance to anyone. As far as I'm concerned they are a bunch of highway robbers.

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© KenJ December 2007

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Summary: A bunch of highway robbers.