Mystery of the ditched customers
IN RECENT weeks, a number of readers have been in contact to complain about insurers jettisoning them rather than inviting them to renew their cover.
Although shopping around at renewal invariably makes great financial sense, this new trend is a rather perturbing one. For a start, it can leave vulnerable customers (especially those who are not internet savvy) struggling to find alternative cover.
It can also cause some people to panic, thinking they are being expunged because they have done something wrong. A situation not helped by the lack of detail as to why their custom is no longer wanted.
For example, one customer who has just received such a communication from General Accident (part of Aviva) was told his car insurance would not be renewed next month because he no longer meets the company’s ‘underwriting criteria’.
No further explanation was given with the email ending: ‘Our inability to invite your renewal [sic] should not be considered as an insurance refusal or cancellation and does not need to be disclosed to any other current or future insurers.’
Apart from ensuring future emails are grammatically correct, General Accident should be telling customers why they are no longer wanted.
Underwriters are the people who price policies according to how likely they think a claim will be made.
In the case of car cover, they will consider factors such as a driver’s age, their claims history, make of car and its security, and local crime figures.
I suspected that in the case of this General Accident customer, who has a 12-year no-claims discount, his age (71) might have had something to do with it.
Insurers don’t like elderly drivers because alongside younger motorists (17- and 18-year-olds) they account for a large proportion of overall claims.
But Aviva said age was not the reason. It said it had incomplete information on the customer. On Friday, in response to my enquiries, it issued a renewal premium. Miraculous.
IT HAS taken considerable time, but Syston in Leicestershire has finally got the banking hub it was promised back in December 2021.
The hub’s installation in the town’s community centre means residents and small businesses will be able to use it to do their banking – and on specific days speak to a representative from their own bank.
It has been well received. Rosemarie and Len Collins, both retired, are delighted.
Rosemarie, 73, says: ‘The town has been bankless since the summer of 2021 when Santander closed its branch. But with new housing estates cropping up all over the place, there is a real demand for a high street bank in Syston.’
In the New Year, the hub will move to a permanent home – the old Santander branch.
‘We are no longer out in the cold,’ proclaims Rosemarie, triumphantly. A small step for banking common sense.