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Today I received my renewal quote since my car insurance for this vehicle is due to run out later this month.
Upon spotting that it was around £60 more than I paid last year, I thought I'd have a quick look online and see what I could find. I went to the KwikFit car insurance homepage and began a new quote, using all the actual details from my renewal documentation and of course my personal details, in order to make an accurate comparison.
The result was a quote some £300 less than the one they had sent me through the post.
I telephoned them and they told me that they could match the online price, but that different insurers gave them different rates and as an intermediary they had no control over it. I pointed out that it was the same insurer, Chaucer, both online and on my renewal documentation. I was then told that they had three rates and could only offer to renew at a particular rate and again offered to match the online rate.
I enquired regarding how this practice might fit with their FSA registration and was told that it has nothing to do with the FSA.
I then pointed out that I had used my real name and all my actual details in order to obtain an accurate quote and that their systems were too dim-witted to spot that I was already insured with them and not to quote me a lower price. I was told that it would be “underhand” of them to do this.
Apparently however, it is not underhand of them to quote me prices £300 higher when they are seeking an automatic renewal. I asked what would happen had I not questioned this, although of course, this was a rhetorical question, since the answer is blindingly obvious. They would simply have taken my money. The reply was, once again, that they would match the online quote.
I have requested that this be escalated as a complaint and I was told that I would receive a call sometime next week.
Whatever happens, once my insurance with them expires later this month, I will no longer use KwikFit.
This sort of sharp practice should not go unreported and I have written to Watchdog about this, in particular since they recently carried out an exposé of Kwik Fit tyre branches. BBC - Watchdog: Kwik to overcharge?
I appreciate that they only share a brand and are in fact not the same company, but to consumers, they are one and the same. They both benefit from the exposure of the name and as a result, command a position in the market that belies their true size.
Upon spotting that it was around £60 more than I paid last year, I thought I'd have a quick look online and see what I could find. I went to the KwikFit car insurance homepage and began a new quote, using all the actual details from my renewal documentation and of course my personal details, in order to make an accurate comparison.
The result was a quote some £300 less than the one they had sent me through the post.
I telephoned them and they told me that they could match the online price, but that different insurers gave them different rates and as an intermediary they had no control over it. I pointed out that it was the same insurer, Chaucer, both online and on my renewal documentation. I was then told that they had three rates and could only offer to renew at a particular rate and again offered to match the online rate.
I enquired regarding how this practice might fit with their FSA registration and was told that it has nothing to do with the FSA.
I then pointed out that I had used my real name and all my actual details in order to obtain an accurate quote and that their systems were too dim-witted to spot that I was already insured with them and not to quote me a lower price. I was told that it would be “underhand” of them to do this.
Apparently however, it is not underhand of them to quote me prices £300 higher when they are seeking an automatic renewal. I asked what would happen had I not questioned this, although of course, this was a rhetorical question, since the answer is blindingly obvious. They would simply have taken my money. The reply was, once again, that they would match the online quote.
I have requested that this be escalated as a complaint and I was told that I would receive a call sometime next week.
Whatever happens, once my insurance with them expires later this month, I will no longer use KwikFit.
This sort of sharp practice should not go unreported and I have written to Watchdog about this, in particular since they recently carried out an exposé of Kwik Fit tyre branches. BBC - Watchdog: Kwik to overcharge?
I appreciate that they only share a brand and are in fact not the same company, but to consumers, they are one and the same. They both benefit from the exposure of the name and as a result, command a position in the market that belies their true size.
