Direct line insurance

[m13lky]

Picked up my new carbon black m sport today from halliwell Jones wilmslow, no problem changing over insurance so I thought as its really only a colour change from the White f15 I was trading in with a near identical spec, how wrong was I, direct line treat all factory fitted options as modifications which is the first I've heard, I've been with them 5 years nearly & this is my 3rd X5 I was trying to insure with them, the main issue they have is with 7 seaters they told me their underwriters will not cover this at all, I explained that these are factory fit options that around 70% of X5's will have & my current & previous cars had this option but they would not budge, so they are calling me tomorrow to cancel my policy, they did add the new car for 1 day so I could drive it home.

To sum up any factory fitted option in their eyes is a modification & you must inform them & under no circumstances will they insure any X5 with third row seating!

I am absolutely astounded by this & will be taking it further with them, I told their duty manager that I can remember the conversation last year when I bought my first F15 where I explained there were only factory fitted options to my car & told them it was a 7 seater, they said then as long as the manufacturer did them before I took delivery then that was ok, which seems like common sense in my opinion!
Anyway be warned about direct line on this & get ready to cancel & move just like I am having to do!

Good luck!

Malc

[X5Sport]

Sounds plain wrong to me.  If the vehicle is built as a 7-seater I can't see why they want to walk away.  Perhaps they just don't want that sector of the market any more?

I have heard of other companies treating options as mods though.  Some companies seem to only want to cover a 'vanilla' build and charge extra for everything else even though it is a factory build!

I use John Lewis Insurance these days.  Direct line wanted far too much for a policy though they used to be good - a decade or more ago!

[m13lky]

X5 sport, thanks for the tip I will try john Lewis for a quote, bmw came in around £170 more than direct line with a lot lower excesses & other add ons, I will go with them if no one else can get close.

Cheers

Malc

[pvr]

I have redialed the same company again after they did this stupid game with the extras. A second person was much more knowledgeable in that instance.

Did you get through to India? I tend to end the call and call back at a different time to ensure I get a Scottish call centre.

[m13lky]

Pvr after the carry on yesterday I checked their website, it states in the small print that they class anything that alters the manufacturers standard spec as modifications even if they are factory fitted options or words to that effect, I am moving to M&S who are underwritten by axa, I have had a long discussion with them & they state as long as the extras are factory fitted options then there is no problem & they are actually cheaper for the same cover!

[pvr]

Mine is insured with Admiral (all 5 cars), they seemed to have been ok with the factory mods.

[Golfather]

Just plain daft iuam

[mark hamster 28]

Strange this as My X5 ins is due in a few weeks. I have been insured with Hastings Direct for the past few years and and my other car is too, so i have multi car Ins with them. This year thou, they will not re-insure the X5 as the underwriter wont cover it for some strange reason ?? No problem as i can get it insured with many company's still and a few well known ones for still under £300.! Told them obviously the will loose my other cars insurance when it's due as hopefully where i'm going will do multi ins also.

[x6edge]

Just reinsured my X6 with LV without problem. I have another car insured with them so have gone for the  multicar discount. Asked them about the modification policy and they stated that if it was same spec as when delivered then no problem.

[kenniff]

My last insurer changed over my E70 to F15 without a problem but come renewal told me they were getting out of that "profile". These things happen i guess and I found elsewhere without a problem.

The 7 seat thing is just plain wrong - probably a mistyped GUI being read by people who are not trained in insurance but instead are only trained to follow the script.

[m13lky]

Finally got the insurance sorted out today, I must have been the most worried insurance customer out there, I have a set of mudflaps to fit to the new car as I did on my white one, my wife said I should let them know I was fitting these after the nonsense with the factory extras, well you would have thought I was fitting a complete body kit, hardly any companies would even quote as they class mudflaps as an aftermarket modification, finally I went with the IAM surety for under £400, they do not worry about factory extras & they don't bother about the mud flaps & this is mentioned on the policy, common sense at last, that's taken nearly a week to sort out.

I should probably not have told them as much information but this car is on a pcp so I didn't want to take any chances just in case something happens.

I would say either tell them everything & be prepared to move companies if needed or keep quiet & take your chance.

[X5Sport]

Anyone would think they don't want customers!

I wonder why so many are getting out of the SUV market - particularly the 7-seater variants?

[kenniff]

There's only ever one reason for getting out of a market (in car insurance at least) and its called claims experience.

Insurers are not clever enough to predict bad experience before it happens, they tend to overreact after the event instead. It's never personal, and their ability to differentiate between good and bad risks is poor - partly because it isn't actually easy and partly because they are "driving" to  commoditise car insurance as much as possible to reduce the admin cost. Therefore they ask fewer questions, rely on more catch-all exclusionary statements and have less human attention / intervention throughout.

It may sound like i'm bashing insurers, but then bear in mind that they are historically (over the last 20 years at least) rubbish at making money on car insurance, so overall the public are winning!

[GD]

I use BMW. £315 for my Msport and my wifes 6 month old Z4 was £190.  I was £380 for a new 318d (that was stolen) with Admiral who I used because I have my daughters Fiat 500 and the total was £900.

Admiral were really good to deal with when the 3 was stolen, UK based UK claims handlers called back when they said they would.

[Steamyrotter]

[quote="X5Sport"]
Anyone would think they don't want customers!

I wonder why so many are getting out of the SUV market - particularly the 7-seater variants?
[/quote]

Probably 6 potential litigation suits???