Lancaster Insurance

[carlo]

I took out a classic car insurance policy with this outfit 6 weeks ago because the policy sounded quite good value (have since discovered it wasn't).  Last week I realised I was going to have to move the 405 off this policy onto my main one as I would be using it more than I thought.  The policy cost £146 for a year's cover with a 3000 mile limit.

 

So the conversation went like this

 

Me: Can you tell me how much I'll get back of my premium if I cancel after 6 weeks?

LI:   Yes, £6

Me: Oh, can I suspend the policy then until I find another car to put on it?

LI:   No, you have to cancel it or replace with another car now, assuming the other car qualifies and there is a £25 fee for this

Me: OK, how much to increase the mileage allowance to 5000k on the policy with the 405?

LI:   £70

 

I did get a "Have a nice day" though at the end of the phone call.  I thought they were taking the piss.

 

So basically if you sell the car or your circumstances change even after a few weeks you're stuffed.  They have since told me when I pushed them that the refund should be £21, not £6.

 

Are all classic car brokers this inflexible or is it me just being a pratt?  Certainly won't be going near them again

[carlo]

No opinion on this?  I thought some of you guys might have had dealings with this company.

[KruJoe]

I used them for a few years at a good price, but didn't need to cancel or do anything unusual. I only stopped insuring with them when they couldn't take on an old imported MR2, despite it being almost identical to a mid-range UK one. Been with FJ since then.

[alf892]

I'm with them.....went to them after getting fed up with Flux,

 

Pricing is good. Not had to do anything else really.

 

They can be a bit jobs worth.......I missed renewal last year by a day and they refused to renew at the quoted price and insisted on a full requote. I was about to tell them to stuff it when she told me it was ten quid cheaper.

 

When I first went to them I thought they were a nice small firm but they are just a big corporate using a small type name. Hence the shit customer experience..........

[Richard]

I think all insurance companies are twats now. The cost of insurance seems to have reduced recently so they have to hump you in other ways. My insurance company wouldn't transfer my policy when I changed my car, but they were happy to cancel the policy and start a new one. I cancelled the policy and went elsewhere.

[Barry Cade]

Yup, hate them. Insured my W126 S Class, great price, all good. Decided I wasn't an S Class kinda guy so phoned to cancel, and they wanted MORE THAN THE YEARLY PREMIUM to cancel. I declined, then they told me I'd be breaking the law to keep the policy going if I didn't own the car. Over a barrel. Twats.

[KruJoe]

That's shocking. Are there not rules against that sort of behaviour?

[EssDeeWon]

I got slightly shafted by them with the Scorpio, I was told I would only lose £20 admin fee if I cancelled...........only had the car a few weeks and did I get my premium back less £20? Did I f*£k !!

[EssDeeWon]

I'm with them.....went to them after getting fed up with Flux,

 

 

 

You and me both, Flux used to be so competitive when I was young but as I've got older and built up numerous years of NCB they have been a complete laugh when I get quotes, but I don't bother getting quotes anymore, waste of my time and their time.

[chaseracer]

I got slightly shafted by them with the Scorpio, I was told I would only lose £20 admin fee if I cancelled...........only had the car a few weeks and did I get my premium back less £20? Did I f*£k !!

 

"Calls are recorded for training and quality purposes..."

[Station]

I'm prepared to pay the silly deposit and then the ridiculous monthly premiums, but I refuse to pay cancellation fees and cancel all direct directs so they can't take any more money from me.

If they won't cancel anyway, I just cancel the DD and they can't take any money. I don't need credit so I don't care about the credit score.

[daveb47]

I'm prepared to pay the silly deposit and then the ridiculous monthly premiums, but I refuse to pay cancellation fees and cancel all direct directs so they can't take any more money from me.

If they won't cancel anyway, I just cancel the DD and they can't take any money. I don't need credit so I don't care about the credit score.

Careful,I have twice had companies take remainder of premium in full when i cancelled direct debit using debit card that i paid deposit with,over £250 in one hit in one instance.

[bub2006]

I have wondered why insurance company's are allowed to charge what they like without being regulated as such. Insurance is something we have to have but yet they treat us appallingly

[chaseracer]

Because they're all "bankers" and have friends in high* places...

 

 

[bub2006]

Also they know we need it and they can charge what they like so they do. Bring back the man who used to knock on your door

[Sigmund Fraud]

I thought it was pretty much industry standard that classic policies are not refundable ?

 

It should be clearly written in your policy documents, though. If it's not, then you can threaten them with an FSA complaint, which has worked for me in the past.

 

With regards to Lancaster's customer service*, I agree that there are much better classic brokers out there. Classicline and Peter James are two that I would highly recommend.

[SambaS]

6 years and nearly 20 policies and no problem with Lancaster yet. Sometimes they cant swap one car for another, sometimes I cant add drivers, other times I can. I pay monthly, when I want to cancel I send the docs back and stop paying. That's about it.

[Grundig]

Only problem I had was with Ellephant . co  - Automatic renewal - 1st I knew about it was an email "congratulating me on taking out another years cover with them" just took the money from my account - twats - imagine if every business operated that way? the restaurant that helps itself to your money, just because you & the Mrs had an anniversary meal there once 

[outlaw118]

Had the Capri insured with them last year, good price then, but renewal was a bit steep.

In the end I'm too skint to get the car out this year, so haven't renewed. Not possible to get a "laid-up" quote online though.

 

(Really should get round to that....)

[Micrashed]

Cherry is still insured with Lancaster as to cancel it cost more than letting the policy lapse naturally. As it was £87 for the year I couldnt really grumble.

 

I expect the same will be the case if I ever manage to sell the Maverano

[Barry Cade]

Cherry is still insured with Lancaster as to cancel it cost more than letting the policy lapse naturally. As it was £87 for the year I couldnt really grumble.

 

I expect the same will be the case if I ever manage to sell the Maverano

This is technically ill eagle now, so they told me and I suppose they are right as ANPR will see the car as insured whoever is driving it. Flowery Twats they are.

[carlo]

Well you learn something new all the time, never knew classic insurance was like this.  Should have just kept it under the Direct Line other policy I had - it was only £50 dearer.  (And they will suspend policies, and it would have accrued NCB).

[Micrashed]

This is technically ill eagle now, so they told me and I suppose they are right as ANPR will see the car as insured whoever is driving it. Flowery Twats they are.

Flowery Twats indeed

[mouseflakes]

Bring back the man who used to knock on your door

 

The Jehovah's Witnesses do insurance now? Great!

[chaseracer]

Underwritten by faith, not Lloyds...

[New POD]

Yup, hate them. Insured my W126 S Class, great price, all good. Decided I wasn't an S Class kinda guy so phoned to cancel, and they wanted MORE THAN THE YEARLY PREMIUM to cancel. I declined, then they told me I'd be breaking the law to keep the policy going if I didn't own the car. Over a barrel. Twats.

That HAS to be a lie. There is no reason you can't have insurance on a car you don't own.  I would ask them to confirm that in writing and then take it up with the FSA

 

It would be illegal to claim, obviously as your loss is zero. 

[Wilko220]

Only problem I had was with Ellephant . co  - Automatic renewal - 1st I knew about it was an email "congratulating me on taking out another years cover with them" just took the money from my account - twats - imagine if every business operated that way? the restaurant that helps itself to your money, just because you & the Mrs had an anniversary meal there once 

 

Just had this with Flux. I have asked for a refund. Yeah, let's see if that happens...

[richardmorris]

When I first became a 2 car owner, I insured the 2CV with Lancaster (1999). not much of a problem but the underwriter (Drake) went bust, so I was understandably concerned and tried to contact them (pre internet really). First said there was no problem at all with drake, then said there may be a problem, them said I'd been transferred to a different underwriter (Red star I think) and they may need to cancel the policy and re-issue.

Gave up on them after 1year as they tried to double the premium.

[Jikovron]

I once utilised my telecommunications electronics package to contact that organisation as i noticed they did exceptionally low priced policies 

however when asked for my average mileage i said well i do 25-30'000 of those linear units per year and as such the chap implied that i had wasted his time forthwith vis a vie the company would not suite my needs

 

this would have been ok however i had at the time 3 cars on the road at the same time and could have easily had one on a 5k miles per year policy , in summary that fact was not believed by the man and he hung up like a scalded bough!

[Station]

Careful,I have twice had companies take remainder of premium in full when i cancelled direct debit using debit card that i paid deposit with,over £250 in one hit in one instance.

 

I'm sure they can't just take money out of your bank?

I've done this over 10 times in my life. I know it's a contract, but the amount I'm paying should allow me to cancel whenever I feel like without paying a cancellation fee. I've even had threatening letters, some for about 40 quid which I'm sure would be worth taking to court.

I didn't pay my water bill for a whole year (I work away and spend most of my life in work so had very little time etc blah blah). I got round to paying it, and it was something silly like 16 pounds. They didn't even threaten me and even offered to do it in monthly instalments. They're offering an actual proper service but didn't resort to these rancid legal action things that banks and insurance companies do.

 

Lancaster is great though, I paid £110 for the year on my Porsche 924. I couldn't believe it.