Principal Insurance

"Personally, I don’t understand why this company get so many bad reviews. I have been with Principle Insurance ever I got my first moped at 16 and I’m now upgrading my license to a 600. Each time (about twice a year) I have rung them, the staff are super friendly and nice and have helped me with any claims and questions I’ve had. Maybe because I’m a young rider I’m not seeing this from the same perspective as older riders/ drivers but personally I couldn’t recommend them enough to new riders or people just getting into riding/ driving."

"Terrible experience, had a hire bike for a few weeks & didn’t get the payment for a bit less than a year. Took "

"Got a quote from principle insurance for a motorcycle, didn't know your no claims discounts can only be used on 1 policy?? Phoned today 5 days in to fix it, was told I can't be insured by them I need at least 1 years no claims?? (I have 5+,) so have to cancel with them & get charged £44. Not very customer friendly at all, was compared to kids getting insurance for bikes & cancelling on the 13th day! Also took payment out of my account 5 minutes after setting up the insurance, but when cancelling it will take 10 days?? No common sense or consideration used in my case at all."

"I went through a comparison site and got a great price on my van insurance. My only comment is that they requested I call them to confirm the details they already had of me. Whereas when I have started a policy with other companies it has been a straightforward matter of confirming everything online. And not having to spend time on the phone. Having said that.... The gentleman I spoke with was very pleasant and helpful."

"Insured with Principal for two years. Motorbike was stolen while 80 miles from home, along with all my kit. Be warned that they outsource their claims "handling" to a third party, who in turn outsource calls to an overflow call centre. I called seven or eight times over five days and simply got read a call centre script promising me a call back - never happened. Only one of these staff managed to even record the reg number of the bike. After offering to find their MD on LinkedIn and message him, one of their brighter staff suggested I ring the sales number rather than claims. I did this, and after 2.5 hours chasing round various departments, eventually spoke to a human at the underwriters - who registered my claim. Effectively I did the work that their claims handlers should do. Genuinely appalling - cheap for a reason, rubbish business model, and I'd suggest avoiding at all costs. I was convinced after the fifth call that they were a shadow company and I'd not been insured. Thankfully not the case, but really added to the stress after having a £15K bike stolen."