Direct Line ?

[BRUN]

its looking like ill be insuring with Direct Line this year, they are finally competitive for me and the policy is very good, nothing seems to be missing and a few welcome extras against some other places

has anyone ever had to make a claim with them before ?

is the customer service centre UK based ?

what about modifications, im over 25 so reading on the website it shouldnt be much of an issue, and the ONLY mod id ever be doing would be lowering it 25mm and i might not even do that tbh

[Big Mikey]

Hey bro, I was with Direct Line for a few years when I had my first car (a Vauxhall Corsa) and they were pretty good. I had to make a claim when a driver went up my a$$ (ooh err!) and then claimed it was my fault (for stopping at a red light!) and they were very good and sorted everything out for me, even when the other guy's solicitors started trying to bully me.

The customer service centre is indeed UK based. I modded my Corsa by fitting alloys and a back box and it increased the premium by about £150 I think.

I'm with Halifax at the moment, their renewal price for this year was £620. I phoned Direct Line to see if they could beat that but unfortunately the best they could come up with was £785 (damn postcode lottery) so they weren't competitive for me unfortunately.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[giandougl]

Hello,

I shop around every year for best car insurance deal.

It's surprising what you can get by throwing one insurance company against another.

Balancing your budget and getting the cover that suits you is the main goal.

Last renewal of insurance, I got all I wanted with payments over 9months and saved approx £100 as well.

It's a dog eat dog in the insurance business, and I take full advantage each year.

Good luck. :thumbup:

[Octavia Vrs!]

I had a nightmare claim with Direct line, this was most likely an unlucky and rare ocasion but the woman who dealt with my claim did not have 2 brain cells to rub together, I swore I'd never go back, but in fairness - they're all as bad as each other!

[Evening Star]

Couldn't give me a decent quote, unless I set an exorbitant excess, I won't even bother with them next year.

They seem to think that an accident in which I was rear ended on my m/c was my fault, which is odd considering I was at a junction & a muppet hit me!

I'm currently with privilege and back in June, I had a shunt, my foot slipped off the brake & I rear ended a Range Rover of all things!

Luckily I was only about a mile & quarter from a VW dealership & just managed to get there, from then on they took over & it was superb service from them.

So I'll be staying put with them next year.

One thing I do find odd is that Direct Line underwrite Privilege, yet for some reason can't compete with them on price! :confused:

[BRUN]

ive always been happy with Adrian Flux you see so dont really want to move if i can avoid it but i dont think the renewal that is going to come through will compete and i like the vandalism cover you get with direct line

they have never ever been anywhere close on price, but this year they are bang on

i had a complete NIGHTMARE with Liverpool Victoria, i went through so much stress with that and the claim took about 6 months+ to be paid out on

[Bertee]

I was with Direct Line last year, I've just renewed and Chris Knott saved about £100 on my renewal price this year.

[BRUN]

gave them a call and if i lowered the car, the price would go up from £773 to £989 !

[Alex]

Don't know about modifications with Direct Line, but myself and my wife have been with them for 2 years now, I shop around every year and they have been extremely competative for us. I am 27y/o 6yrs no claims Octy 2 1.9 tdi 20,000 miles p/a full business use fully comp with all the extras Derbyshire postcode 209 quid! SWMBO Felicia 1.6 7500 miles 1 years no claims fault claim last year fully comp with all the extras 320 quid.

SWMBO's claim last year (run into stationary traffic ) was sorted by D/L no hassle UK call centre.

[sms]

i wont touch them with a barge pole, was with them last year and had been for years. when a van hit my last car they gave in to the other insurers even through i had photo evidence and could prove the 3 seater van had 7 passengers and was over weight. The next claim was with this car after a woman swerved onto our side of the road forcing me off the road resulting in new wing mirror and two new alloys, again the backed down even through i had photos showing the damage, skid marks etc this ended up as a 50/50 claim but they said it wouldnt affect my insurance as i wasnt to blame, insurance renewal came in and ended up £100 more.

Now with morethan who were the cheapest but will be shopping around again next year.

[BRUN]

ive had that before with a previous insurer, if nobody will back down it drags out and ends up a 50/50, PITA !

[riph72]

I am with them and made a claim a few years ago, went through painlessly, although it was an attempted break-in so there was no other party to complicate things.

I find they are competitive on price and they have some neat "extras" that many other policies don't have.

One word of warning though; don't even consider going with them if you want to modify your car significantly. You'll have a significant premium added to the policy (most insurers do that), but worse, you'll find that the excess will be huge.

[BRUN]

i think ive now decided its staying 100% standard

[BRUN]

seems they are the clear winners this year, beating Flux by £200+, just got my renewal through, and its a very thorough policy too

[BRUN]

but now it seems Flux are willing to match on price, just afraid they wont be able to match the policy, its the dogs

[fluffmeister]

I had a nightmare claim with Direct line, this was most likely an unlucky and rare ocasion but the woman who dealt with my claim did not have 2 brain cells to rub together, I swore I'd never go back, but in fairness - they're all as bad as each other!

I had a nightmare repair by Direct Line, their repair centre near Manchester bodged the wrong model of towbar onto mine and then never used any crimps in the wiring, I **** you not they just twisted the bear wires wound and left them under the boot carpet, not even a strip of insulating tape. Oh, and they forgot to paint the inside of the boot floor and left the rear parking sensors taped inside the rear bumper.

niiiiiice

[BRUN]

been in contact with Flux again today, they are certainly trying very hard to keep my custom, feels nice to be appreciated for once !

[sms]

@fluff did you contact directline about the poor workmanship? i would and i would get a quote from another garage and ask them to sort it out or you will contact the insurance ombudsman.

[fluffmeister]

@fluff did you contact directline about the poor workmanship? i would and i would get a quote from another garage and ask them to sort it out or you will contact the insurance ombudsman.

It happened a few years ago now mate, it all got sorted, the accident was bizarre in itself and caused the M60 to be shut for a while.

I was in the wifes Stilo JTD as it had a towbar, I had my bike trailer on the back with my ZX9R Kawasaki on it, a Coca Cola truck just drove straight into the back of me at the lights where the M60 intersects with the M67. Lights where on red, I had been stationary with handbrake applied for a few seconds, Coke truck just came up Manchester road and drove straight through me.

Bike launched off the trailer, over the roof of the car over the guard rail dropping 30 odd feet to the M60 below, mercifully it landed on the hard shoulder, I was knocked out for a bit and came to not knowing what day it was. There was a motorcycle copper on the other side of the road waiting for the lights to change, so what better witness to the accident.

The Stilo went to direct line's Salford repair centre where it was bodged and rejected by me 3 times the worst was when it had the panel damage repaired and the wrong towbar fitted. In the end my brother in law who is a solicitor worked his magic using some of the references above you mention and finally got them to write it off, and it was replaced with a new Stilo (the original was a week or two over the 6 month cut off for new replacement, but after an independant inspection organised by my brother in law it was found that the towbar had twisted the chassis during the impact).

They are probably fine now, but if I was insured with DL and had an accident, I would under no circumstances let their repair centre fix it, I would dig in and insist it went to a franchised dealer.