It seems to me that in our online digital world that whilst some things have become a lot easier, other things are much harder.
Today's example. I am changing the tin-top. This morning, the dealer confirmed delivery of my 2.5 year old car will be on Monday. I recently moved my tin top insurance to Saga. Foolishly thinking that making a change of car from a 10 year old to a 2.5 year old of a similar model would involve a quick call and a few extra pounds premium, I called them this afternoon. The nice lady took all the details and then told me that to continue cover with Saga would require a change of underwriter. She then quoted the new price. Very nearly double the original premium. I thanked her and said I would shop around. A comparison web site data entry later and I got a quote on the new car. The cheapest was 5% more than for the old one. With Saga.
Once blood pressure returned to normal, I called Saga again. A different nice lady listened carefully to my tale and then said that her systems would not allow her to put it through as a policy change. She transferred me to another agent. The new agent turned out to be in a "new business department" - and obviously spent a lot of his time resolving issues like mine.
A waltz through the small print showed that my cheapest new quote wasn't for the same level of policy. A few minutes later and he had a price for me on a like for like basis with the old policy. At 20% more than the original. He did take the time to explain that annual mileage makes a much bigger difference to premiums than we expect and made me check my annual mileage properly. Once I accepted this, he told me the only way he could process this was to charge me the full premium and issue a refund for the balance remaining on the old policy. Apparently, the change of underwriter was the sticking point.
All together, the whole job took over an hour - even with the phone being answered relatively promptly by Saga on each occasion. Each agent was very helpful and very courteous. But their systems and procedures must have been created by Homer Simpson.
Why-oh-why did they have to make it so difficult?
Last edited by Paul F; 26/11/22 03:44 PM.
