Dial Direct Insurance

"6 Days ago - The worst insurance company in the UK. I tried to put a claim on hold for over 1 hour, then the so-called customer service person, who sounded like he couldn't be bothered or wanted to be at the job, put me through, took some details, put me on hold again and then hung up the phone! I sent a complaint to their complaints department email and got an auto-response that they would contact me in 3/4 working days. It's been seven days, and I only got a link to a survey on the customer service experience. They are truly not worth the pennies you save. 6 Days later- Still waiting for communication. Emails were sent to the complaints department and contact departments. So that you know – the claims made here that this has been escalated on the 21st mean nothing. They seem to respond on here quicker than the company itself. In total, it has been more than three weeks since my first attempt to make a claim, and still, nobody has picked up the phone to contact me. I have now sent all departments my third round of emails stating that if nobody contacts me in 24 hours, I will start a case with the Ombudsman. I will continue to update this thread as well."

"They renewed my insurance automatically with a much higher rate than the previous years. Found a policy for nearly half the price with better cover so tried to cancel within the 14 day cooling off period. Was told there is an additional fee of £25 called an administrator fee to pay and all insurers add this fee - this is not true as my new insurer doesn't add an administration fee. Very poor service and behavior. Wouldn't recommend them to anyone."

"I have just resorted to paying this company £33.28 that I did not owe them. When I moved house, four months into my insurance period, I was under extreme stress and allowed my home insurance policy to expire, rather than cancel. However, the following year I received a demand for a cancellation fee, which I did not owe. I spent many hours on hold, trying to resolve the problem, back in the summer, and thought an agreement had been reached. But this was dependent on proof of occupancy from the county council. I showed them my letter from the council confirming refund of council tax from my moving date but apparently this was not sufficient. While I have tried to get the council to send confirmation of my moving date they are never going to get around to it. So today another demand letter arrived and rather than continue the battle I have paid the sum out of desperation to make the situation end. I feel humiliated and bullied. I am disgusted at the total waste of time and life spent on this petty, false demand. The time spent must outweighs the small sum involved."

"Disappointed with unreasonable admin fees. Renewed my policy despite an unsuccessful claim in the first year, as this seemed easy enough and was happy to give them another go. This was so despite a significantly increased premium. My payment card had changed just days before renewal payment was taken, which I did not realise. Went to update this when i received an email notification from Dial Direct re issues with payment, but was not able to update card details online (no such functionality). When i reached out to an online agent, turned out i had to pay an extra £20 for failed payment fee. Delay in payment was only one week and no losses incurred by Dial Direct, so fee seems punitive and excessive, especially given i am a repeat client. Customer service not willing to waive the fee even though i was happy to pay the significantly high renewal price. Not happy with this approach - seems like the business is trying to charge as much as they can at every juncture. I expect better level of care and good faith business practices, especially during these difficult times."

"Would not recommend this company while I was in Australia and my car was off the road they automatically rented my insurance I got a shock when I saw the money had gone from my account, I had no notification. When I returned to the UK I spoke to a very nice gentleman who refunded my money and assured me I did not owe any further money. Since then i have had messages demanding money and yet when I phoned i was told i did not owe anything now I am receiving demanding letters and as a pensioner on a state pension i have found all the phone calls expensive and this has caused me so much stress and not once do Dial Direct call me I have to call them and have to hold on for at least 45 minutes after which I give up."