Admiral - any good?

[mercdriver25]

Hi guys,

Its that time of year again - motor insurance renewal due. The cheapest quote so far is by Admiral. This beats other quotes by about 400 quid.

I just wondered if anyone is with them right now, and what they're like? Done an online search and there really are some bad horror stories. Customers seem to rate them really bad...

Thanks in advance..

 

[mikestrivens]

I use Admiral for my small fleet and have not had any problems. They even gave me a lower quote than last year, mind you I have not tried to claim, yet.

 

[drmw]

The problem with all insurance companies (and brokers) appears to be twofold - they will rip you off when they think they can get away with it and in any event, they cannot be trusted.

I've extolled the virtues of Adrian Flux many times - have used them off and on for years.

Insurance up for renewal a week ago.

These are all round numbers.

Last year's premium £450 with Aviva via Adrian Flux with £650 excess.

Renewal (nothing changed) £550 with £650 excess.

Tried Saga - £460 with £350 excess - all "benefits" at least equal.

Called AF to say don't renew.
Expected question asked - "Why?".
Explained.
"Wait a moment please"
"We will do for £455 with £400 excess"
"So you would happily rip me off until you thought I would go elsewhere?"
"Not like that sir, but we value your business"
"Please hold the renewal between your forefinger and thumb and insert in a spiral movement where the sun doesn't shine".

Loyalty is not a concept the insurance industry understands.

Honesty is a challenge

You must speak to the potential insurers in person - comparison sites and indeed all webistes are indicative only. Most will deal to get the business and they have a pretty big margin to play with

 

[Smiler]

I do the 3 cars with Admiral; SL65, E320 and a VW Lupo for the kids, all for£1150 with low excess. Customer Services (Sales) were very helpful.

 

[roscoc180]

I'm with Admiral for my two cars and very pleased, over the years I have paid quite a lot to protect my no claims they charged me a couple of quid.

Ross

 

[Tatts]

I know I'm new around here.

Anyway, I was with Adrian Flux for 3 years. Each year I had a long drawn out arguement with them, as my car would never show up on the MiD. Each year it took months to resolve, with the promise that it won't happen again. I took my custom elsewhere eventually.

I found their customer services poor, and thats being kind to them!

 

[Rappey69]

Friend of mine has insured his familys cars with admiral multiquote and says he has saved a fortune..
Adrian flux--- Hmm, renewed my bike for £147.. thought about it and decided it has jumped up from the £77 the year before..
Got the E certificate in email, £88..
OK, not so bad, bank statement tells me £147
Rang them and asked what the rest of the cost was, admin, arrangement etc...
They would not budge on price and then found Every quote on compare the market was cheaper...
Rang them within 24hrs to cancel, charged me £70
Insured my bike with mce for £58 so saved literally a few quid..
Turns out mce and adrian flux both used equity red star so what a rip off form flux.. Told them wont be re insuring my quad or enduro bike with them when insurance runs out either...
Really does pay to shop around every renewal.

 

[jberks]

My experience with brokers is that they don't chase the lowest premium. In their defence I suspect there are deals where they can make a profit and cheaper deals where they can't so they're forced to use the old new customers only principle and hook you with a good deal only to try to bump the preium back to survivable levels next year. Many people accept and pay, others, myself included, do a bit of research and invariably move on.
I don't know what Admiral's renewal premiums are like. I don know their introductory ones weren't that competitive for me so I haven't used them, but for others, if you fit the exact parameters they're looking for that week, it may be a bargain.
All insurers these days will try to wriggle out of paying. I'm taking one to the ombudsman this week. Previously reputable - suddenly using irrelevant clauses to try to wriggle out of a perfectly legitimate claim. They know they'll lose as well as I do, its just a game and they get to keep the cash a little longer.
That said, I'm still insured with them, They're dodgy, sure, but so is everyone else so I don't move around on reputation, just terms and price.

 

[drmw]

Re the Ombudsman - be prepared for a very, very long wait. I just concluded a case there - it took two years. And they found against me despite evidence in writing from the other side which proved beyond any shodow of doubt that they had lied.

Life however gets to be too short sometimes to go through the angst of dealing with faceless, jobsworth bureaucrats

 

[ccrcom]

i just renewed my CLK200 Auto with Elephant who were the cheapest by far (£670 or so) and a division of Admiral i think?
I shopped around, tried the awful comparison sites, even trying Chris Knott (with MBO-associated discount!) but noone else could even get under £1000 despite 5 years no claims! (my postcode lets me down i think)

Luke

 

[Blobcat]

My bike claim took 9 months but with help form the ombudsman I got what I was after and interest for the 9 months. I hate all insurance companies with a passion but accept they are a necessary evil and shop around every year.

 

[Blobcat]

i just renewed my CLK200 Auto with Elephant who were the cheapest by far (£670 or so) and a division of Admiral i think?
I shopped around, tried the awful comparison sites, even trying Chris Knott (with MBO-associated discount!) but noone else could even get under £1000 despite 5 years no claims! (my postcode lets me down i think)

Luke

My Halifax post code put by E over £850 but my Waccy one dropped it to £550

 

[S500 Pete]

Just moved to Admiral (£337) after Direct line upped my policy renewal (£427). Direct line's comment was that many insurers offer 1st year discounts. In which case I will change every year.

Simples

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Just moved to Admiral (£337) after Direct line upped my policy renewal (£427). Direct line's comment was that many insurers offer 1st year discounts. In which case I will change every year.

Simples

I have been with Admiral for several years now. Their quote has always been competitive and their administration is good.

This year they quoted rather more than I expected and I looked around. It would have been possible to achieve a lower total price by insuring each of 3 cars separately, so I phoned them up and explained. They then dropped their price to one which I felt was reasonable and I have stayed with them.

 

[rf065]

Just moved to Admiral (£337) after Direct line upped my policy renewal (£427). Direct line's comment was that many insurers offer 1st year discounts. In which case I will change every year.

Simples

I paid around £340 with Admiral last year, this years renewal was £460. Hastings Direct were only £350, so went with them. Very seldom do I stay with the same insurer as the 2nd year is always a lot more expensive than the 1st.

Russ

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I paid around £340 with Admiral last year, this years renewal was £460. Hastings Direct were only £350, so went with them. Very seldom do I stay with the same insurer as the 2nd year is always a lot more expensive than the 1st.

Russ

That is a very fair generalization Russ, and if applied to all the insurances we tend to hold, makes a big difference year on year - and keeps the insurers honest!

 

[Matt32AMG]

I insure all my four cars with Admiral - £950 the lot...
In terms of choice, no other company can do multicar from what I can tell. I have a £300 Excess but not had the experience to have to claim, (thank heavens :roll, so I have no idea as to how they stack up against MB Insurance for example, other than when I first Insured the 32 AMG with them they were extracting £1200 a year out of me, and that was with 100% NCB (Never had a claim) and had been driving 20+ years!

My niece was with Direct line and they were useless
She had a head on with someone insured with the same company, it was not my daughters fault, but definitely the other driver's who overtook a parked car, and in order to do so she had to cross into the oncoming traffics lane and hit my daughters car. Despite all the photographic evidence, Clear road superb visibility, the company split it down the middle, They even paid the guilty party for whiplash . DOH!!!

Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

 

[rocky112]

Admiral car insurance is really best and its almost 3 years for my car insurance and offers good benefits like windscreen cover is offered for free for comprehensive policy holder, personal belongings cover up to £100 in the event of car being damaged or stolen.

 

[stuartmac]

Hi,

Re the Ombudsman - be prepared for a very, very long wait.

Intriguing. I resort to the Ombudsman almost immediately I get any stalling from an insurance company, and ime the FOS invariably get things moving.

Case 1: In July 2007, I stuck the W124 in a ditch. :Oops: My insurer wrote the car off but then tried to offer a pitiful settlement that even the most basic internet research wouldn't support. At one stage, they even said they'd found cars with prices less than their offer; when I said send me the URL's, they "couldn't find 'em again"! :roll: I involved the FOS, got the settlement I'd wanted all along within three months.

Case 2: Back in April, some dopey bint with her head in fairy land rammed the W210 at a crossroads. Although we had everything on our side, our insurer - Liverpool Victoria - were utterly useless. Called the FOS and within a day we had 'Customer Liaison Service Improvement' 'phoning and writing to us. Just as well because their engineers were starting to put up a fight about the settlement figure :roll: - CLSI were so keen to see the complaint settled, we got another £1200 with only some very tame haggling. :twisted:

Bear in mind that, as soon as you complain to the FOS, even if all they do is rattle the insurer's cage, it costs the insurer several hundred pounds. That was what was so stupid about LV - our claim wasn't going to cost them anything, we had the other driver 'bang to rights' - but simple abysmal customer service cost them a FOS fine. :roll: Duh!

Ironically, had we not bothered with LV and gone straight to the third-party insurer - Aviva - my impression is we'd have had a lot less agg. By the same token, when another driver clouted a W210 wing in a car park incident, her insurer - Direct Line - were on the 'phone literally withn a couple of hours asking if we'd let them sort out the claim - damage, courtesy car, etc.

Hth.

Regards,

 

[The mallard]

One thing to watch is 'read the small print'

I have a c class with the panoramic glass roof. A lot of companies (Admiral for one) do not cover sun roofs. When i phoned to ask re the panoramic roof I was told it was not covered as glass, but would be covered if damaged in a collision. So any break. crack or act of vandalism would mean no cover unless I made a full claim, paid full excess and lost my NCD, and even that sounded dubious!