Direct Line Having A Laugh...

[Vern1961]

So I just received my invitation from Direct Line to renew my car insurance...
Price has jumped from @£230 fully comp for a 1.6 Kia Sportage to @£320.
Immediately ran GoCompare and getting several quotes around the £200 mark.
Direct Line Customer services now shut this time on a Saturday evening so unable to give anyone a rocket immediately, but it will be happening Monday morning.
Really don't know how they can get away with this - been a customer with them over 20 years and last claim was 15 years ago.

 

[Vern1961]

Oh yes, I know price gouging existing customers with a large increase has been a thing for a while and it is an annual ritual with car and home insurance plus broadband provider to haggle down to a sensible price. However I've never seen nearly a 50% increase come down the pipe!

 

[Vern1961]

As a postscript, then, not a happy ending for Direct Line.

First off they seem to have removed all telephone contact numbers from their web site so it was necessary to ferret around and try and find the inevitable 0345... number to contact them.

Three attempts made and each time dumped in a queue with goddamn awful elevator music playing. No answer after 10 minutes on each occasion so just hung up.

Finally resorted to the "chat" feature on the site. Presumably talking to a human operator I explained the situation but they would not budge on a price £30 more than I paid last year. On stating this was still not acceptable and unless they could at least match last years premium the chat was abruptly terminated. So picked one of the quotes from Go Compare, not the cheapest but even after chucking in legal protection and the hire car option, £30 cheaper than DL last year and £60 on their quote this year, the ultimate irony being the provider is Bank Of Scotland... who are the parent company of Direct Line!!