Join and regret it (Direct Line)

Name: January

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Product:	Direct Line
Date:	16/01/08 (244 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: none

Disadvantages: Half your cars value back if you have an accident

I have been on my partners car insurance for years, but due to this I never gained any no claims bonus as I was a named driver, so after having a bad accident last May I got my own car and had a look around to see which car insurance would suit me.

Direct Line was one of the cheapest and as it is advertised on television and the internet I thought it might be a good insurance company to start with.
I logged onto the site and filled in the online form, after going through he form I was given a quote for £279 which for my first years insurance with no claims bonus I thought this was reasonable.

I got fully comprehensive insurance and a guaranteed hire car, so I phoned them up to ask about the policy and get my car insured.
Once on the phone I was told that I would be insured from that day, I asked them for the full price so I could pay by debit card and was surprised to hear that the quote I had got online was now £20 more, when I asked why I was told it was some kind of insurance premium tax which everybody had to pay.

I was under the impression that whatever the quote was online that's what you paid, so the advertisement on the television states, but no this wasn't true so I was told.
Anyway, as I wanted insurance I bought it there and then over the phone.
My policy was sent three days later and everything seemed alright.
About four weeks later, a woman came flying around a corner and smashed into the front drivers side of my car, writing it off and leaving me stranded in the middle of no-where.
I rang Direct Line as soon as I got a lift home, explained what had happened and they said they would pick up the car, take it to their garage and assess the damage. They arranged to do this the day after and said that they would arrange a hire car for me, which they did that day.
I went to pick the hire car up the next day, then got a phone call from Direct line asking if I could meet Green Flag at the damaged car to hand over the keys.
This I did and carried on going to work and waiting to see what would happen with my claim.

A week went by and I had heard nothing, so I rang up the garage which was supposed to have my car for assessment, they told me the car wasn't there but it was supposed to have been delivered to them the day after the accident.
I rang Direct Line to see what had happened, they rang me back to say that because my car had to be picked up onto the back of an accident recovery lorry, Green flag wasn't able to move it and the garage they had arranged to move it for them had only taken my car to their garage and not passed it onto the other garage for assessment.
They told me this would be done that day and not to worry, but keep using the hire car and all will be sorted out in time.
Three days after this I looked at my online bank statement and saw I was being charged for the hire car each day the payments were being taken from my card.
I rang Direct line who said that I had only got the hire car for fourteen days then I had to pay myself.

I spoke to a supervisor who said they would look into this form me.
They rang me back and said that it was up to me to pay for the hire car.
I was fuming, and told them that it was their responsibility to pay, as they were the one's who had lost my car. If my car had gone straight to the garage assigned then the claim would have been dealt with within fourteen days and I would have not been charged for the hire car. After lots of phone calls and Direct Line checking the recorded calls I had had with them, they finally agreed to pay for the hire car, as I had been told to keep the hire car until the claim was dealt with and this was on one of the phone calls that had been monitored as they record all calls.

I then got a letter with a cheque in it for payment for my car, saying it had been written off by the insurance assessor and payment had been finalised at £400.
I was stunned, my car was worth £800 and they hadn't even rang me to ask if this was what I would accept, they just sent the cheque and that was the end of the claim. I took the hire car back and because I have paid for the years insurance, swapped the cover onto another car. When I rang them they said i could open a dispute which i did and so far I have heard nothing.
I will not be renewing with Direct Line, as I am angry with the way they deal with things.

Customer service is very poor and you have to argue for hours to try to get to speak to someone higher up the ladder.
They finalised the claim without consulting me and tried to charged me for the hire car. They do not keep you informed of anything an you have to make all the phone calls to ask any questions.
I find this unacceptable from a company who advertise to be, better that others.

I would not recommend them to anyone and have already advised others not to go with them.

Summary: Not good at all