Everything goes swimmingly until you actually need to make a claim (Direct Line)

Member Name: BumpyBump

Product:	Direct Line
Date:	16/09/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: They're clearly not interested in paying out money legitimately owed to customers

I insured my car with Direct Line about 6 years ago purely because it was the cheapest offer I had from the few quotes I gathered. As with most companies, everything was fine until the day I had a problem. Someone drove into the back of me and did quite a lot of damage. The guy admitted it was his fault and told his insurance company so. Direct Line sent me loads of paperwork to fill out as well as receipts for the £300 of repairs that I had to pay for. I then heard nothing more.

My insurance was up for renewal a few months later and, as my claim was still being dealt with by Direct Line, I didn't feel that I could go elsewhere as I probably wouldn't ever see my £300 again if I did. So I begrudgingly stuck with Direct Line for one more year.

A fulll year after having my prang I called Direct Line to see what was taking such a long time considering that the the other party had admitted fault and considering that it was only £300 I was waiting for (a drop in the ocean for them but a huge sum of money for me). I was told that it was being dealt with and, what do you know, I got a cheque in the post two days later. What makes me cross is that the cheque was almost certainly sitting on someone's desk for months and months and they only bothered to post it to me when I started chasing them for it. I also got no apologies whatsoever and no explanation of what the hold-up was when I called. Poor customer service all round.

I have since spoken to people in similar situations who have been insured elsewhere and they told me that their company refunded money to them within two weeks, out of their own pocket, and then chased the other insurers for the money back. Why Direct Line can't have a policy like that is beyond me.

Summary: I will never use Direct Line again and would advise others not to also