BENNETTS - WARNING - THEY ARE APPALLING!!

Help & Advice Praise or Shame
1

I have recently a terrible experience with Bennetts, the most incompetent insurance company I have ever dealt with.

When it was time to renew my insurance, they quoted me £672 fully comp. I called to query this quote and said I was not going to accept it. I was then offered another cheaper quote of £500 and the guy said he would call me to confirm whether I wanted it.

Nothing happened, until £672 was removed from my account without permission (no standing order / direct debit had been set up).

I called to complain, they said they would call me in 2 days and it would be sorted. Nothing happened.

I called again and they said they were going to investigate it and would call me back in 7 days. Guess what? Nothing happened.

I wrote a letter of complaint asking that they get back to me. Nothing happened again.

I called and they said they would refund the money forthwith, with immediate effect, and that my bike would no longer be insured with them and they were canceling the policy. Great result!! I then insured my bike with Direct Choice for £270 (who sorted my policy out immediately) !!

However …with Bennetts, nothing happened again for a while. No money was refunded. I called again and they said I needed to send the certificate of insurance back ( which they had not informed me I had to do).

I did… guess what…no refund!! They stated they had not got the certificates.

A week later they mysteriously found the certificates and agreed to refund me £652 immediately. They were taking a £20 ‘admin’ fee!! I kicked up a fuss and they stated that they would of course then refund all the money – forthwith.

I called them today – because the money still has not been refunded and the accounts department have not ‘put it through’ for some reason. The man assured me that it would be refunded immediately!! Heard that one before.

They are a TOTAL disaster!! It’s been ages now since they stole my money from my account without permission and I have since read complaints about them on other internet sites, including a business complaint site. I have insured many things in my life and they are the worst and most incompetent insurance company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Only insure with them if you are a millionaire and have the patience of a saint. I am still out of pocket with a bike that’s now insured twice over!!

2

Seems like this is a party line a lot of insurance companies take. I wonder how much interest they make per month on cancellations… :slight_smile:

3

indeed Bennetts are crap!! iv been with them 1 year they just sent me my renewal thats 100 quid more than last year!!!

iv already found quotes for 150 quid less and have only tried 2 other company’s

but get this they guy i work with just got a call from some loan company saying he owes them because bennetts applied for a loan from then to pay his insurance!!

they tried to take the money from his account on renewal and couldn’t, then they sent him his certificate threw the post.

he thought thats funny i haven’t payed yet…
then he get the call saying he owes this loan company!! not only that but because its a loan his insurance is 450 quid with interest and not 220 quid he was quoted!!

Bejezuz!!!

4

That is absolutely appalling - that story is even worse than them stealing £672 off me !! They should be reported to the trading standards authority or watchdog. A mate of mine’s dads a solicitor, dealing with small claims etc, so he said he would write a letter for me if they didn’t refund it. I have asked the bank to send a cancellation request, which they have done, which means that Bennetts are now forbidden from removing any more money from my account.

Fight back against Bennetts I say! The more of these stories I hear the more I realise that they are sharks. An insurance policy is for a year. That’s what customers agree to. The fact that Bennetts have taken card details does not give them the automatic right to remove money from individual’s accounts without permission (when no direct debit or standing order has been set up). However, the more bad publicity they get, they less business they will get.

Let me know how it goes with your friend and his loan. I am interested to hear the outcome.

5

Surely if no DD or STO had been set up you have a big issue with your bank for allowing the unauthorised withdrawal as well as with Bennetts for taking it?

6

Hels, as mentioned above, your Bank have a legal obloigation to refund to you any direct debit money that has been taken in error, they have to do that immediately, it’s part of the direct debit scheme.

I agree Bennetts are bad, would never use them again, they do nothing to help, everything to get in the way and steal your money and don’t even offer good value.

7

Very true, but it depends whether it was acually taken by DD, rather than a direct payment / standing order in which there is no recourse.I would invariably charge them an admin fee and lost interest! :smiley: infact I did with a certain broardband supplier called onetel/talktalk who shall remain nameless! :w00t: :smiley:

8

its alll about suzuki insurance, with express, they are the bee knees so far, always call back when they say they will, and always helpfull!:smiley:

9

Yeah I asked my bank about this and they said they couldn’t refund the money :ermm: but they sent a cancellation order to Bennetts to prevent them removing anymore money from my account. Bennetts took it without a direct debit or standing order, they just used my card details, which they had from the time I took insurance out previously.:frowning:

Asking them to pay interest etc seems a grand idea :D:D

10

My first car was a mini, insured with bennets and they were just as bad. That was 17 years ago! Glad to see they have bucked up thier ideas *cough

R

11

This dreadful saga continues - Bennetts assured me again (after over 5 weeks of this malarky) they would be refunding the money on the 3rd July - nothing. After calling on the 4th July they said it would be refunded today on the 7th. I talked to them today and they said something was wrong with my card, which is why they couldn’t put the money back into my account. I then called the bank and they said nothing was wrong with my card and everything was fine.

I then had a right go on the phone to this poor man (I said it was nothing personal, i was just really angry at Bennetts) and demanded he sort it immediately. he said the money would be back in my account in 7 working days. I said that if it was not I would be taking them to court.

This whole thing is doing my head in - I work for a charity so £672 is a hell of a lot of money to be without for 5 weeks.

If you value your money, your sanity and your bike - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY they are a load of utter shite.

12

I’d love to clog up their sales line until you get a refund, can’t we all phone them asking why they won’t pay you your money ? :slight_smile:

13

Yeah - too right - B******s !!

I still want to know what happend to Adz’s mate from work (see above) when Bennetts actually took out a loan to pay for his insurance, which he hadn’t agreed to in the first place. That seems even worse than this palava with not giving me my money back!!

I really don’t know how an insurance company can operate in this manner and still expect custom!

Right - rant over for now!! I need a lie down :smiley:

14

Been with Bennetts a few years now. When it comes to renewal time I ALWAYS shop around to see if I can get a better deal for the mix of cover that I want, which includes PA, Helmet n Leathers and low excess. I’m one of them buggers who check the small print to see what is not covered. They seem to provide the best rates and cover mix, or be at least competitive enough not to be worth the bother of changing.

Having said that I have not made a claim, or had any dealings with them other than renewing. so no complaints here.

15

ok I had a very similar experience with elephant insurance, they gave me a renewal called and cancelled.

Then they take the money, I inform them (listen carefully now this will interest you) that it was against the law for them to hold debit/credit card details without my express permission. on top of this it was not my card it was my old mans (I did not have one at the time) and that if they would like me to report this… I almost literally had the money back in the account before the end of the conversation.

Throw the law in their faces and they will pay up, but thanks for the heads up as my renewal is due in a couple of days and I’m with them…

16

I am with Bennetts, when I took my insurance out they handed my monthly payments over to a company called Amber Credit, this confused me a little, I take my insurance out with Bennetts am covered by Norwich Union but make my payments to Amber Credit!!! Madness but I don’t pay anymore than I was quoted for so I don’t mind really, will definately be looking at other companies when it comes to renewal time though, you can’t be loyal to insurance companies these days, they just screw you over.

When you turn 25 I thought insurance was meant to come down a bit so I was shocked when my car insurance renewal came through after I turned 25 to find that they were trying to charge me an extra £200 a year!! no claims, no address change so no reason for this, called them to ask why they tried to get the qoute down but could only get it down by about £50 so shopped elsewhere and got if for a lot less than I was originally paying :smiley:

17

They gave me my money back today - after I threatened them with legal action and gave them the name of my solicitor. 6 weeks of faffing around and everyone person I spoke to saying different things. It’s been a nightmare and I won’t be using their services again.

Will be very careful in future !!

18

Interesting thread, so i might as well join in :stuck_out_tongue:

In 2004 I was insured by Bennetts with Norwich Union and also payed monthly via Amber Credit.

In 2005, when I received their reminder with a qoute for a further year’s insurance, I shopped around online and actually got a cheaper quote from Bennetts themselves with KGM.

I phone them up and payed for a full further year with KGM and was assured, by the humanoid I spoke to, that the policy with N Union would not be continued.

I received my documents for the new policy on 12th April and on the 13th April I also received a letter from them stating that, as per my instruction, the policy with Norwich Union will continue WTF???

I posted my notice of cancellation to Amber Credit on the 14th April and on 20th April I get a letter from Bennetts saying that Amber Credit have informed them that I have failed to comply with my credit aggreement with them.

I wrote a snooty letter back to them and did get a written apology, but I wonder how often this happens to others? Their service assesment team must be very busy

2005 was my last year with Bennetts and have been with another insurer since

19

yet another …

i was hit from behind by a driver who didn’t like being told he was a ****** for deciding has was not going to bother stopping at a red traffic light

anyway next roundabout he rams me ,then leaves the police turned up and we spotted where he had gone so they went and arrested him

apparantly , because now 3 weeks on i have still not heard from the police ( waste of space) anyway i did some reasearch myself and found out who owned the van and more details …phone yes you guessed it bennetts , and i get this response

“sorry as he deliberatly hit you your on your own” …

they can go **** for next year

20

Don’t bother speaking with Bennetts, they are a bunch of no brain fu*kwits and they will lie to you anyway, find out who the insurance company is and speak to them direct. That’s what I had to do when making a claim and there were no 3rd parties involved, just me and it’s my own insurance :frowning: