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We asked you to tell us who's left you feeling ripped off | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
and you contacted us in your thousands by post, e-mail, | 0:00:06 | 0:00:10 | |
even stopping us on the streets. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:12 | |
And the message couldn't be clearer. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:15 | |
I think there's a lot of hidden information about your bills | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
that should be made a lot more clear. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:20 | |
I don't feel I get treated how I should be. | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
You've told us with money tighter than ever, you need to be sure | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
that every pound you spend is worth it. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:28 | |
How do I get my money back? Cos I just think I'm entitled to it. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:31 | |
So whether it's a deliberate rip-off, a simple mistake | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
or a catch in the small print, | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
we'll find out why it is that you're out of pocket | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
and what you can do about it. | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
Keep asking the questions, keep... Go to the top if you have to. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
We do get results, I mean, that's the interesting thing. | 0:00:44 | 0:00:48 | |
Your stories. Your money. This is Rip-Off Britain. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
Hello, and welcome to Rip-Off Britain, | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
the programme that's always ready to fight your corner, | 0:00:56 | 0:00:59 | |
even though it might seem that no-one else will. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:02 | |
And today we're going to be taking on an industry | 0:01:02 | 0:01:05 | |
that every year, without fail, according to our mailbag, | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
is one of your biggest bugbears. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
We're talking about insurance - | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
a topic that upsets you more than just about anything else. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
Because whether it's a claim on your home or your holiday, | 0:01:16 | 0:01:19 | |
it seems there are no end of reasons why your policy won't pay out. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:23 | |
Now sometimes that's because you've been caught out by the small print | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
or indeed, the terms of your cover simply aren't clear enough. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:30 | |
On other occasions, perhaps the company's just messed up. | 0:01:30 | 0:01:33 | |
But whatever the explanation, | 0:01:33 | 0:01:34 | |
when you need help but your claim's turned down, | 0:01:34 | 0:01:37 | |
the consequences can be absolutely devastating. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
Later in the programme, we'll meet a family who know that only too well. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:46 | |
On top of everything else they've been through, | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
they now face losing their home. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:51 | |
Without the insurance payout, I can't afford to keep the house | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
because I can't afford the mortgage payments. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:56 | |
And the man who took on his insurers and won | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
after they deemed that even though he was bedbound in hospital, | 0:02:00 | 0:02:03 | |
he was still able to work. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
As one expert said to me - | 0:02:06 | 0:02:07 | |
medical expert - you'd have to be in a coma or dead to get a payout. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:11 | |
Now, it's bad enough that insurance companies expect us | 0:02:11 | 0:02:14 | |
to have read every bit of small print that's in their policies | 0:02:14 | 0:02:18 | |
but sometimes it's seems they expect you to read between the lines | 0:02:18 | 0:02:21 | |
and work out what's NOT included. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:23 | |
For the couple we're about to meet, | 0:02:23 | 0:02:25 | |
the thing they weren't covered for couldn't have been more basic. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:28 | |
When Sam Wyatt and his wife Kim planned a second honeymoon, | 0:02:31 | 0:02:35 | |
they decided to do it in style. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:37 | |
They plumped for a cruise, starting and finishing in Miami | 0:02:37 | 0:02:41 | |
and flying to and from there from Heathrow via New York. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:44 | |
We went on a cruise four years ago for our honeymoon | 0:02:45 | 0:02:49 | |
and we could only afford a week back then, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:51 | |
so we decided to go for two weeks this time. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
So October 2011, we saved up, | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
we went for two weeks, flew out to Miami | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
and sailed around the Caribbean. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
And in case anything went wrong, they'd bought travel insurance. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
Sam had done his research | 0:03:06 | 0:03:08 | |
and chosen the Super Saver policy from Holiday Extras. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:12 | |
At £32, it wasn't the cheapest quote they'd seen, | 0:03:12 | 0:03:15 | |
but at first glance, it seemed to cover most eventualities, | 0:03:15 | 0:03:19 | |
such as flight cancellation or lost baggage. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
Of course, they hoped they wouldn't need it | 0:03:21 | 0:03:23 | |
and right until the end, the trip was all that they'd hoped for. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:28 | |
Ah, the cruise was lovely. It was really nice. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:30 | |
It was even better than when we went the first time. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:33 | |
We did lots of nice things, did some water sports, that was really fun. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:36 | |
Had a great time. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:37 | |
The couple arrived at Miami Airport | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
for the first leg of their flight home. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:43 | |
But 1,000 miles away in New York, | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
a heavy snowstorm was causing chaos. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
It's only the fourth time in 135 years | 0:03:49 | 0:03:52 | |
that snow has fallen in New York's Central Park in October. | 0:03:52 | 0:03:57 | |
Sam and Kim's flight was grounded. | 0:03:57 | 0:03:59 | |
They were stuck in Miami, | 0:03:59 | 0:04:00 | |
but their luggage was already on its way to the UK. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:04 | |
It was a bit of a nightmare, really. We had no bags, we had no clothes. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:08 | |
-We had no nothing. -We had no money. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
The couple were told by the airline to check into a hotel | 0:04:13 | 0:04:16 | |
and come back two days later. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:18 | |
Frustrating as that was, they were confident | 0:04:19 | 0:04:22 | |
that thanks to their insurance, they didn't have to worry | 0:04:22 | 0:04:25 | |
about the extra costs for accommodation and living expenses. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
We thought we were covered for everything, | 0:04:29 | 0:04:31 | |
so even though we might have to pay out | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
for extra nights' hotel stays and things like that, | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
we thought we'd be able to claim when we got home. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:39 | |
When they arrived home three days later than scheduled, | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
they immediately put in a claim with Holiday Extras | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
for the money they'd spent - £280.46. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:49 | |
I was confident we'd bought the right cover. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:51 | |
We just filled out the forms and sent them off, and I thought, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
"That's the end of it. We'll get a cheque in the post." | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
But a month later, with their tans and their holiday memories fading, | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
the couple got a letter from Holiday Extras | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
to say they wouldn't be getting any of their money back. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
I couldn't believe it, to be honest with you. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
It just seemed that it was one big rip-off. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:13 | |
-Horrible end to the holiday wasn't it? -Well, yeah. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
I just couldn't believe they could wriggle out of paying the claim. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
It seemed their Super Saver policy | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
wasn't so super after all | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
because it didn't cover something most people would consider | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
a vital part of their holiday - | 0:05:29 | 0:05:31 | |
the entire return journey. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
Apart from cases of medical emergency, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
their policy didn't protect them for that leg of the trip. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
Sam immediately rang Holiday Extras | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
and when you hear this recording of the call, | 0:05:42 | 0:05:44 | |
you'll see why he found their explanation so surprising. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:48 | |
SAM: | 0:05:48 | 0:05:49 | |
AGENT: | 0:05:51 | 0:05:52 | |
Yes, you heard it right. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:13 | |
It's not just what your policy says that matters - | 0:06:13 | 0:06:17 | |
it's how you interpret what it doesn't say. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
No-one wanted to take responsibility for what had happened. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:25 | |
'They wanted to shift it on to me. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:26 | |
'Oh, it's my fault. It's my fault I bought the wrong cover.' | 0:06:26 | 0:06:30 | |
I should have read the policy wordings and interpreted every word. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
'It was my fault I didn't have' | 0:06:34 | 0:06:36 | |
the cover I thought I had. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:38 | |
With his complaint at a standstill, Sam contacted the airline direct. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
They agreed to give them £178 towards their expenses | 0:06:44 | 0:06:48 | |
as a goodwill gesture, | 0:06:48 | 0:06:49 | |
but that still leaves the couple out of pocket by more than £100. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:55 | |
They're angry that it wasn't their insurance policy that paid out. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:59 | |
We paid out for travel insurance. They should have paid the claim. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
Even without the extra hurdle of reading between the lines, | 0:07:04 | 0:07:08 | |
Sam and Kim feel the 14-page policy document they had to wade through | 0:07:08 | 0:07:13 | |
wasn't easy to understand. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:15 | |
It's a very lengthy document | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
and I think it's unrealistic | 0:07:17 | 0:07:19 | |
to assume that any ordinary person that purchases a policy like that | 0:07:19 | 0:07:23 | |
is going to actually sit down and read all of the small print. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:27 | |
But Holiday Extras don't agree. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:31 | |
The underwriter for their insurance | 0:07:31 | 0:07:34 | |
told us the couple's flights were delayed rather than cancelled, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
and that Sam had bought their most basic policy for long-haul travel. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:40 | |
They say... | 0:07:40 | 0:07:42 | |
But with such a wide choice of cover available... | 0:07:46 | 0:07:49 | |
Sam and Kim have learned the hard way | 0:08:07 | 0:08:10 | |
that your travel insurance may not cover you in the way you expect. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:14 | |
You just think, well, next time we go on holiday, | 0:08:14 | 0:08:16 | |
perhaps we won't bother looking into holiday insurance | 0:08:16 | 0:08:19 | |
if this is what happens. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:20 | |
Well, for something that seems so simple, | 0:08:23 | 0:08:25 | |
buying holiday insurance can be fraught with pitfalls. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:28 | |
Here's travel expert Simon Calder | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
with advice on how to avoid being caught out. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
When you're booking a holiday, | 0:08:34 | 0:08:36 | |
of course it makes sense to book insurance at the same time, | 0:08:36 | 0:08:39 | |
but beware - some really obvious things | 0:08:39 | 0:08:42 | |
that you might assume are covered | 0:08:42 | 0:08:44 | |
may not be. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:45 | |
What could be better than a fly-drive holiday? | 0:08:47 | 0:08:50 | |
A very popular way to get around | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
and many travel insurance policies cover thefts from cars. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
But be careful - some of them only apply between 8am and 8pm. | 0:08:57 | 0:09:03 | |
Life begins at 50 these days for so many people, | 0:09:04 | 0:09:08 | |
but not if you're planning an extended trip. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
Would you believe that | 0:09:11 | 0:09:12 | |
higher premiums kick in | 0:09:12 | 0:09:14 | |
as soon as you're a day over 50? | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
Finally, a couple of positive clauses | 0:09:18 | 0:09:21 | |
that will actually benefit you. Columbus says | 0:09:21 | 0:09:25 | |
if you're heading for Australia, then your policy will cover you | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
for walking up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:30 | |
I've tried it. It's very scary. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:33 | |
And Hole In One Insurance covers you for that unlikely golfing event | 0:09:33 | 0:09:37 | |
for all the drinks you'll need to buy | 0:09:37 | 0:09:39 | |
in the clubhouse at the 19th hole. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:41 | |
Now, around half of all adults in the UK | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
have some sort of life insurance policy - | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
the idea being, of course, that if the worst actually happens, | 0:09:50 | 0:09:53 | |
our loved ones will have some financial support and security. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:57 | |
But how many of us fully understand | 0:09:57 | 0:09:59 | |
the implications of what we've signed up to | 0:09:59 | 0:10:01 | |
or how devastating the effects can be, if it turns out | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
all those premiums haven't bought the protection that we expected? | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
This next story is about a family who were horrified to discover | 0:10:08 | 0:10:12 | |
a time restriction on a policy they believed lasted a full five years. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:17 | |
When you hear what happened to them, | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
if you've got life insurance, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:20 | |
you might just want to go and check the wording. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:23 | |
It was January 2011 | 0:10:25 | 0:10:27 | |
when Kim Holland thought it would be worth her husband seeing a doctor. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:32 | |
But she had no idea it might be serious. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
Paul didn't really have any symptoms. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:39 | |
Um, he sort of had a kind of a symptom in January | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
where he would be taking calls at work | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
and if he had to write things down, | 0:10:46 | 0:10:48 | |
he'd find that he was almost going dyslexic. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:51 | |
So he was working from home one day | 0:10:51 | 0:10:53 | |
and I said, "I've made an appointment for the doctor's for you, | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
"just to have a check-up." | 0:10:57 | 0:10:58 | |
The doctor sent him for a scan | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
and that's when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. | 0:11:00 | 0:11:04 | |
The news hit the family very hard. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:06 | |
I just felt like someone stabbed me in the heart. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:10 | |
'Shock, disbelief, | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
'just...unbelievable.' | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
I felt I was living in a dream | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
just because he'd been so healthy, never ill or anything. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:22 | |
Yeah, same, just devastated, really. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:24 | |
I think you never think it's going to happen to you | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
and all of a sudden, your world comes crashing down in seconds | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
and it's...it's awful. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:31 | |
By the next month, the doctors had concluded | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
that Paul's tumour was inoperable, and terminal. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:38 | |
They thought he may only have four or five years left. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:43 | |
And while no-one could have predicted any of this, | 0:11:43 | 0:11:46 | |
Paul had taken steps to ensure that should the worst happen, | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
his family would be protected. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
We've always had life insurance, | 0:11:53 | 0:11:54 | |
Paul always made sure we were covered, you know, | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
from when we were married. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:59 | |
In 2006, Paul had taken out a five-year life insurance policy | 0:12:00 | 0:12:05 | |
with Royal Liver. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:06 | |
So after receiving his diagnosis, he phoned the company to discuss it. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:12 | |
A lady took the telephone call and said she would get back to him | 0:12:12 | 0:12:16 | |
and when she got back to him, | 0:12:16 | 0:12:18 | |
she said that it wasn't valid. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:22 | |
'We were just shocked, in shock, absolute shock. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
'We just couldn't believe it.' | 0:12:25 | 0:12:27 | |
Royal Liver told Paul | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
that for his policy to pay out for a terminal illness, | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
that illness would have had to have been diagnosed | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
before the final 12 months of the policy. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
So as Paul's was only spotted later, he wouldn't be covered. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:43 | |
And though such a condition is common in policies of this type, | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
Kim considers it very unfair. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
'Because we hadn't given them a year's notice. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
'Paul hadn't said, "I've got a year now,' | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
"I'm giving you a year's notice because I have a terminal illness," | 0:12:53 | 0:12:57 | |
which is absolutely stupid | 0:12:57 | 0:12:59 | |
because how can anybody tell how long they've got to live? | 0:12:59 | 0:13:03 | |
'What we thought we bought was a five-year policy' | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
but in actual fact, it isn't a five-year policy, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
it's only a four-year policy. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:11 | |
So, you know, why would anybody in their right mind | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
take out a policy like that? You just wouldn't do it. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:17 | |
Unfortunately for the Hollands, the clause is based on | 0:13:19 | 0:13:22 | |
an industry-wide definition of "terminal illness" | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
which is that death occurs within 12 months of diagnosis. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:30 | |
But it's a clause that's frequently missed or, indeed, misunderstood. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:34 | |
The only other way that Paul's insurance would pay out | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
would be if he died in the policy's few remaining months | 0:13:40 | 0:13:44 | |
so although this seemed unlikely, he continued paying the premiums. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
And as his health deteriorated, | 0:13:49 | 0:13:51 | |
his family's future was very much on his mind. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
Paul never stopped talking about it. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:56 | |
You'd go in every single day to the hospice | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
and he was just so worried about us, | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
what would we do, who would look after us. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
Despite the initial prognosis, | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
very sadly, last December, Paul died. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
He did everything he could for us, all the time. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
I can't even put it into words how good he was. He was brilliant. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
Paul died after his policy had run out | 0:14:20 | 0:14:23 | |
and as his terminal illness had been diagnosed within its last few months, | 0:14:23 | 0:14:28 | |
his death didn't meet either of the terms under which | 0:14:28 | 0:14:32 | |
his life insurance would pay out. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
So as well as dealing with their grief, | 0:14:34 | 0:14:37 | |
his family have had to face up to leaving their home. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
'Without the insurance payout, I can't afford to keep the house' | 0:14:40 | 0:14:45 | |
because I can't afford the mortgage payments a month. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
So we just... I've had to put the house on the market. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:52 | |
We did everything together in this house. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:54 | |
Paul and I did the garden. It's a family house. | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
The children were brought up here. It's very sad. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
I'm so upset about it. It's our family home, we've grown up here. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:05 | |
All our memories of Dad are here. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:08 | |
For us to leave, it is quite devastating. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:11 | |
Insurance company Royal Liver is now part of the Royal London Group. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:16 | |
Now when we contacted them, they reiterated the terms | 0:15:16 | 0:15:19 | |
under which Paul's policy would have paid out | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
and explained that... | 0:15:23 | 0:15:24 | |
They said they're... | 0:15:34 | 0:15:35 | |
..but stress it's... | 0:15:38 | 0:15:40 | |
And they said if Kim believes the insurance was mis-sold, | 0:15:56 | 0:16:00 | |
she should raise that with the advisory firm | 0:16:00 | 0:16:02 | |
responsible for the sale. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
Meanwhile, Kim is preparing to leave the family home. | 0:16:07 | 0:16:09 | |
Well, it's all nearly completed now. I've got a buyer for it | 0:16:09 | 0:16:15 | |
and I'm probably due to move out within five to six weeks. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
I wouldn't want anybody to go through | 0:16:18 | 0:16:20 | |
what I'm having to go through, to lose their house. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:22 | |
I would tell them to read their policy | 0:16:22 | 0:16:25 | |
and I would certainly tell them to not take that policy | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
if it's got that clause | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
where you have to give a year's notice for a terminal illness | 0:16:30 | 0:16:33 | |
because you just never, ever know what's around the corner. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
Thousands of you write to us with your complaints and gripes | 0:16:46 | 0:16:49 | |
but we've come to Gateshead | 0:16:49 | 0:16:50 | |
to meet as many of you as we can face to face. | 0:16:50 | 0:16:53 | |
MUSIC PLAYS | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
Overnight, we've transformed this space into our very own pop-up shop | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
and inside, we have a whole team of experts | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
ready to answer your consumer questions. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
Now, insurance policies are supposed to give us total peace of mind | 0:17:11 | 0:17:15 | |
just in case something unexpected happens. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
But as we hear all too often, I'm afraid that's not always the case. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:21 | |
When Craig Crawford started work as a bus driver, | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
he was advised to take out extra insurance | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
to protect him if he lost his licence through ill health. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:31 | |
As far as I was aware, I was covered from the moment I signed the paper. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
Around about eight month later or so, I was admitted to hospital. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
I'd had a seizure while I was driving my car. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:42 | |
They found I had a rare condition on the brain. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:45 | |
I returned to work, my licence was revoked. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:47 | |
When I came to claim on this insurance, | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
I received a letter to say | 0:17:50 | 0:17:51 | |
-I wasn't going to receive any payout. -Giving what reason? | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
That I fell short of the qualifying period. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
How long had you been paying into this scheme? | 0:17:58 | 0:18:01 | |
It was around about seven, eight month. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:03 | |
I was two or three weeks short of this qualifying period. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:06 | |
So, James, you've got the actual document. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
Where does it say that on the document? | 0:18:09 | 0:18:11 | |
You can see here, buried right in the middle of the small print | 0:18:11 | 0:18:13 | |
that 39 weeks there, very hard to read at all | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
and if you weren't even given that paperwork at the beginning, | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
it sounds like you do have a valid claim and, you know, | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
if I were you, I'd write them some strongly worded letters | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
and say, you know, "If you're not willing to compensate me," | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
you can take that complaint on to the Financial Ombudsman Service. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
A couple of avenues open to you there. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:33 | |
Still a chance you'll be able to get your hands on this money. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:36 | |
Just keep trying. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:37 | |
We've come up with a place where you can share your consumer complaints. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
We call it our gripe box - | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
a place to really speak your mind. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
And it seems that the price of car insurance | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
is pretty high on the agenda. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:51 | |
No it is, it's ridiculous to try and get insured on your car. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:56 | |
We pay, like, over £1,000 per year, each. | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
Car insurance, it's like that's just going straight through the roof. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:02 | |
It's virtually impossible. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:03 | |
You end up paying triple what the car's actually worth. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
I've paid £2,200 for me first year's insurance | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
and that's just a total rip-off. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:11 | |
New driver Natasha is also in danger | 0:19:11 | 0:19:13 | |
of being forced off the road by the high price of her premiums. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:17 | |
I passed my test in November. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:20 | |
I feel my car insurance is a lot more than what it should be. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:23 | |
OK, so what are we talking about here? | 0:19:23 | 0:19:25 | |
-£5,000. -£5,000 a year? | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
-A year. -Wow. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:29 | |
-It's a lot when you've got a baby too. -Of course, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:31 | |
you could buy a new car for that. You're coming up for renewal now? | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
So why don't we put your details into one of the comparison sites | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
and see what they come up with here? | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
It's coming up with some quotes here at the moment. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
So far, we haven't got any better than £2,500 | 0:19:43 | 0:19:48 | |
which is still an enormous amount of money | 0:19:48 | 0:19:50 | |
but one thing you might be able to consider | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
for bringing your premiums down further next time | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
is a number of new companies | 0:19:55 | 0:19:56 | |
that have popped up over the last couple of years | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
that put a black box in the back of your car... | 0:19:59 | 0:20:03 | |
-Oh, yeah. -..and then monitor how you drive, | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
and so if they see that you're driving responsibly, | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
that brings your premiums down even further. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
We'll be having a closer look at how those black boxes work | 0:20:12 | 0:20:15 | |
a little later in the programme | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
although Natasha's not keen on the idea. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
It would probably be my last resort if I had to | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
but I probably would do it. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:24 | |
You know, unfortunately, this is the plight of the young drivers | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
these days and your car's not worth much. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:29 | |
No. You know, I mean, it's crazy, you're paying a premium | 0:20:29 | 0:20:33 | |
that's almost three times worth what your car's worth. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
Keep your fingers crossed that when you come round for renewal again | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
in a year's time, those premiums will come down. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
Later in the programme, the gadget supposed to bring down the cost of your car insurance. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:49 | |
But does it really work? | 0:20:49 | 0:20:51 | |
I still believe premiums are far too excessive. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
The other big insurance companies do also need to take on this new technology. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
Next, a spirited man who's really taken on the big boys. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:06 | |
Chris Hargreaves is battling to change a type of insurance | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
that as far as he's concerned, turned out to offer almost | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
no protection whatsoever. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:14 | |
He's worried that what caught HIM out | 0:21:14 | 0:21:16 | |
could lead to the same nasty shock for tens of thousands of other people relying on similar policies. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:21 | |
So in a way he started a one-man campaign, | 0:21:21 | 0:21:25 | |
to make sure that what HE went through can't happen | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
to anybody else. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
Chris Hargreaves loves the chauffeur business he's spent | 0:21:33 | 0:21:37 | |
the last 15 years building up. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
But in 2009, all that was threatened | 0:21:40 | 0:21:42 | |
when he had to spend three months in hospital with internal bleeding, | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
a blood clot on the lung, and suspected cancer. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:49 | |
To have started the business at 21 | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
and to have been passionate about building a business and working | 0:21:51 | 0:21:55 | |
for myself, this was the first time ever I've not been able to work. | 0:21:55 | 0:22:00 | |
And to see my business being financially damaged as well, | 0:22:00 | 0:22:05 | |
you know, it was...heartbreaking. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:08 | |
Amidst all the uncertainty, | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
Chris was very grateful for the support of his parents. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
It was very, very difficult, seeing him | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
so poorly and still trying to run the business | 0:22:18 | 0:22:21 | |
and the hours that we work and everything else. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:25 | |
We did find it very hard at the time. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:28 | |
And as if all that wasn't enough, Chris's wife was made redundant. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:33 | |
We had to live on the statutory Jobseeker's Allowance | 0:22:33 | 0:22:36 | |
which was about £62.50 a week, which left us having to go | 0:22:36 | 0:22:41 | |
cap in hand to her parents who had to buy our food and our essentials | 0:22:41 | 0:22:45 | |
because we just couldn't afford it. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:47 | |
But Chris was relieved he'd taken out Income Protection Insurance, | 0:22:47 | 0:22:52 | |
so that in a situation where he couldn't work, he'd be covered for any financial losses. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:57 | |
But when he tried claiming on the policy, | 0:22:57 | 0:23:00 | |
he was told by his insurer, Scottish Provident, | 0:23:00 | 0:23:03 | |
that it WASN'T going to pay out. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:05 | |
As far as they were concerned, despite being bedbound in hospital, | 0:23:05 | 0:23:09 | |
Chris WAS able to work. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
Now I've been racking my brains for three years | 0:23:12 | 0:23:16 | |
and I still do not know a job that I could have done from my hospital bed. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:21 | |
Chris's claim was rejected because his policy didn't simply assess | 0:23:21 | 0:23:25 | |
whether his ill-health stopped him from doing his own work. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:28 | |
It tested whether he was capable of doing ANY work. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:32 | |
So his insurers wrote to say they'd considered whether he could do any basic work tasks such as - | 0:23:32 | 0:23:38 | |
walking. Could he walk 200 metres on a level surface without | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
stopping or severe discomfort? | 0:23:41 | 0:23:45 | |
Lifting. Was he able to lift a kilogramme from table height | 0:23:45 | 0:23:48 | |
and carry it five metres? | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
Using a pen, a pencil or indeed, keyboard. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:54 | |
Hearing. Could he understand someone speaking in a normal voice? | 0:23:54 | 0:23:59 | |
Speech. Could he make himself understood in a quiet room? | 0:23:59 | 0:24:02 | |
And vision. Was he able to read 16-point print using spectacles | 0:24:02 | 0:24:07 | |
or other aids? | 0:24:07 | 0:24:09 | |
Scottish Provident concluded that Chris WAS able to do | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
two of these tasks while he was in hospital. | 0:24:12 | 0:24:15 | |
So he could work. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
The way that they're worded, | 0:24:18 | 0:24:19 | |
they're so fluffy that I might not be able to read 16-point print | 0:24:19 | 0:24:24 | |
because I'm 95% blind, but the insurance company comes along | 0:24:24 | 0:24:29 | |
with a giant magnifying glass and gives it you | 0:24:29 | 0:24:33 | |
and now I can make out that text, | 0:24:33 | 0:24:35 | |
or I can blink twice for no and once for yes | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
so that means I can communicate! | 0:24:38 | 0:24:40 | |
Chris wouldn't have been assessed this way | 0:24:40 | 0:24:43 | |
if he'd had what's called an Own Occupation Policy. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:47 | |
But because his job as a chauffeur was considered high risk, | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
he was only able to get cover described as "any occupation". | 0:24:50 | 0:24:54 | |
And claims under this sort of policy are subject to these tests. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:58 | |
But Chris now thinks it's unlikely he'd EVER have met | 0:24:58 | 0:25:02 | |
the criteria for his cover to pay out. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
As one expert said to me, medical expert, you have to be in a coma | 0:25:04 | 0:25:07 | |
or dead to get a payout, | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
which the likelihood of you being in a coma are very low. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:14 | |
On the basis that his doctors agreed he was unable to work, | 0:25:14 | 0:25:18 | |
Chris complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
They initially ruled there wasn't sufficient evidence | 0:25:21 | 0:25:25 | |
to challenge Scottish Provident's decision NOT to pay out. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
My insurer said, "Just cos I was in hospital for three months | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
"doesn't mean I was ill, there's no evidence whatsoever | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
"to clarify I was ill." | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
Scottish Provident argued that although they appreciated | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
Chris was very ill, the information they had been provided with showed | 0:25:42 | 0:25:46 | |
that the criteria under which they would've paid out hadn't been met. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:50 | |
But refusing to give up, | 0:25:50 | 0:25:51 | |
Chris went back with medical evidence to back up his claim. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:55 | |
And THAT did the trick. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
The ombudsman finally ruled that they should pay out, | 0:25:57 | 0:26:00 | |
and with no right of appeal, the insurer Scottish Provident | 0:26:00 | 0:26:04 | |
had no choice but to pay up. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
Chris received a total of £4,800 for his insurance claim, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:10 | |
plus £100 compensation. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:13 | |
I just burst out crying. | 0:26:13 | 0:26:16 | |
All I saw was I'd won and it was such a big weight off my shoulders. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:21 | |
But that's NOT the end of the story. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
Policies like the one Chris had are common throughout the industry. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
So, believing them to be unfair and stacked against the customer, | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
he started a one-man campaign | 0:26:32 | 0:26:34 | |
to try and change Income Protection Insurance. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:37 | |
And it very quickly got noticed. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
I just set up a Twitter account | 0:26:41 | 0:26:44 | |
and had a handful of people following me who then started | 0:26:44 | 0:26:50 | |
to tell me that there was a serious issue with these policies. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:54 | |
And as the followers grew and became into the thousands | 0:26:54 | 0:27:00 | |
it became quite clear that these policies don't work. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:05 | |
Chris now has attracted over 13,000 followers | 0:27:09 | 0:27:12 | |
to his Angry Policyholder campaign's Twitter page. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:16 | |
And James Daley from Which? Magazine thinks that that can only be good news. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:20 | |
People aren't questioning the small print | 0:27:20 | 0:27:23 | |
and I think that companies have got away with it for far too long, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
creating policies that are complex and working in ways | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
to ensure that they don't have to pay out | 0:27:29 | 0:27:31 | |
when customers really need it. | 0:27:31 | 0:27:33 | |
And so, it seems that finally there's a bit of a head of steam | 0:27:33 | 0:27:35 | |
behind a movement for change here and hopefully, | 0:27:35 | 0:27:39 | |
we'll see more insurers following the lead of some of the big ones | 0:27:39 | 0:27:42 | |
who are starting to have better quality policies | 0:27:42 | 0:27:44 | |
and higher pay-out rates. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:45 | |
Insurance giant Aviva has already altered its income protection policies to make them "less severe". | 0:27:45 | 0:27:52 | |
And now the company he took on is changing theirs as well. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:56 | |
Scottish Provident told us that although its income protection policies | 0:27:56 | 0:28:00 | |
have been... | 0:28:00 | 0:28:01 | |
Chris's case showed them there is... | 0:28:06 | 0:28:08 | |
So alongside other insurers, they're... | 0:28:15 | 0:28:18 | |
as well as reviewing which occupations are eligible | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
for their "own occupation" cover in order to make their products... | 0:28:24 | 0:28:28 | |
The changes will come into effect next year. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:35 | |
But it's a great success for Chris | 0:28:35 | 0:28:37 | |
and he's determined to carry on campaigning. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:40 | |
I set this campaign up to try and make a difference | 0:28:40 | 0:28:45 | |
but it's still so upsetting and distressing that I've had to do it. | 0:28:45 | 0:28:51 | |
I think it's disgusting that anybody can be treated | 0:28:51 | 0:28:53 | |
like the way that we were treated. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:55 | |
When you feel you've had a raw deal, it can be hard to know | 0:28:59 | 0:29:02 | |
what to do or where to turn. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:04 | |
So to help you, we've put together a new booklet full of | 0:29:04 | 0:29:07 | |
practical tips and advice. | 0:29:07 | 0:29:10 | |
You can download the free guide on our website. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:12 | |
Or to receive a copy in the post, send an A5 stamped | 0:29:16 | 0:29:19 | |
and self-addressed envelope to the address that we'll give you | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
at the end of the programme. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:24 | |
In our last series, | 0:29:24 | 0:29:25 | |
we investigated the spiralling cost of car insurance, | 0:29:25 | 0:29:29 | |
especially after so many of you told us about the eye-wateringly high quotes that you were getting, | 0:29:29 | 0:29:35 | |
which, in some cases, put the cost of driving totally beyond reach. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:40 | |
But it seems that there may be a way that you can bring | 0:29:40 | 0:29:43 | |
those premiums down. | 0:29:43 | 0:29:45 | |
Drivers of ALL ages have noticed a whopping leap | 0:29:47 | 0:29:49 | |
in the cost of their car insurance in recent years. | 0:29:49 | 0:29:53 | |
In fact, the AA says premiums have more than doubled since 2008. | 0:29:53 | 0:29:57 | |
But there's one group that's been particularly badly hit - | 0:29:57 | 0:30:01 | |
young drivers, | 0:30:01 | 0:30:02 | |
who say that high premiums are pricing them off the road. | 0:30:02 | 0:30:07 | |
In our last series, Peter Nolan and mum Julie told us about | 0:30:07 | 0:30:12 | |
the eye-watering quotes that they'd had after Peter passed his test. | 0:30:12 | 0:30:15 | |
Some of them were £17,000, | 0:30:15 | 0:30:17 | |
which at that point you just think, "Oh, my God! What's going on?!" | 0:30:17 | 0:30:22 | |
Julie just couldn't afford to insure Peter, | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
leaving him still dependent on her for lifts. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:29 | |
You want to go and drive, but you can't. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:32 | |
You can go out with your mates, but it is not the same thing. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:34 | |
It's young men aged between 17 and 22 | 0:30:34 | 0:30:39 | |
who pay the most for car insurance on average. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:41 | |
Almost three times the typical premium for all age groups. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:45 | |
The cheapest price I got when I was first looking for quotes | 0:30:45 | 0:30:49 | |
was around four or five grand. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:50 | |
The dearest going up to 27, 28 grand which is ridiculous. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:55 | |
But there IS a way that you can bring those prices down... | 0:30:55 | 0:30:57 | |
provided that is, that you're a good driver. | 0:30:57 | 0:31:01 | |
And it's by fitting one of these little black boxes to your car. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:04 | |
Insurance companies can monitor how well you drive | 0:31:04 | 0:31:07 | |
in order to more accurately calculate your risk | 0:31:07 | 0:31:10 | |
and your premiums. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:12 | |
It's called telematics technology. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:16 | |
And it's being used by an increasing number of insurance companies. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:20 | |
It means if you're in a high-risk group, | 0:31:20 | 0:31:23 | |
but you drive in a low-risk way, | 0:31:23 | 0:31:25 | |
your insurance could come right down. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:27 | |
Of course, if you drive in a way that makes you a higher than average risk, it could go up even more! | 0:31:27 | 0:31:32 | |
Julie considered having a box like this fitted last year, | 0:31:35 | 0:31:39 | |
but at the time, the premiums were still too high. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:43 | |
Then she heard that quotes for drivers with telematics | 0:31:43 | 0:31:47 | |
had tumbled, so she decided to give it a go. | 0:31:47 | 0:31:49 | |
Julie went with Co-operative Insurance, | 0:31:51 | 0:31:53 | |
who fitted the box earlier this year. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:55 | |
And Amy Kilmartin from the company can explain how it works. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:59 | |
This is the Smartbox, | 0:31:59 | 0:32:01 | |
and dependent upon the car, it's wired into the vehicle. | 0:32:01 | 0:32:04 | |
It's not visible to the customer. | 0:32:04 | 0:32:07 | |
It looks at things such as speeding, cornering, acceleration, | 0:32:07 | 0:32:10 | |
the time of day that the car is driven | 0:32:10 | 0:32:13 | |
and all that data is fed back to our servers | 0:32:13 | 0:32:15 | |
to give us a reading on how Julie and Peter drive their vehicle. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:19 | |
It's had one instant and long-awaited result. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:24 | |
As you can see, Peter is getting in that car without mum Julie. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:28 | |
Because as soon as she had the box put in, | 0:32:30 | 0:32:32 | |
the quote for an annual policy that also covered Peter | 0:32:32 | 0:32:36 | |
came out at a more affordable £1,400. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:40 | |
Still not cheap by any means, | 0:32:40 | 0:32:42 | |
but a massive improvement on the thousands she'd been quoted before. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:46 | |
And Peter's over the moon to be behind the wheel at last. | 0:32:46 | 0:32:49 | |
It's nice to be on the road. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:51 | |
I like driving around being independent, really. | 0:32:51 | 0:32:54 | |
And there are benefits for Julie as well. | 0:32:54 | 0:32:57 | |
Her driving is also monitored. | 0:32:57 | 0:32:59 | |
When I first got it installed, I did think | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
"Oh, I'm going to be conscious of this box in the car," | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
but I've adjusted to it really well. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:07 | |
Obviously they monitor you, | 0:33:07 | 0:33:08 | |
so if there's any issues, they'll alert you, | 0:33:08 | 0:33:11 | |
and if you are driving well, | 0:33:11 | 0:33:13 | |
every 90 days they'll readjust your monthly payments. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
On the computer, my mum can log into the insurance company's website | 0:33:16 | 0:33:21 | |
and you can, from there, check how well you're doing. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:24 | |
They give you a score from 1 to 5. | 0:33:24 | 0:33:27 | |
This is your dashboard, | 0:33:27 | 0:33:28 | |
and it's broken down into speed, acceleration, | 0:33:28 | 0:33:31 | |
braking, cornering too fast and driving at dangerous times. | 0:33:31 | 0:33:36 | |
I've been doing very good on that recently, | 0:33:36 | 0:33:38 | |
apart from accelerating and braking, which I need to work on. | 0:33:38 | 0:33:41 | |
Julie is thrilled she can finally get the cover her son needs | 0:33:43 | 0:33:47 | |
to drive by himself. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:49 | |
And the icing on the cake? Her premiums have gone down as well. | 0:33:49 | 0:33:53 | |
The safer you drive, your policy is reduced. | 0:33:53 | 0:33:56 | |
If you don't drive safe, your policy's increased. | 0:33:56 | 0:33:58 | |
I've just had a letter of congratulations | 0:33:58 | 0:34:00 | |
saying I've been driving well | 0:34:00 | 0:34:02 | |
and I've now got an £80 reduction in the cost. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:06 | |
Insurance companies believe that | 0:34:08 | 0:34:10 | |
the technology not only reduces premiums, but also accidents. | 0:34:10 | 0:34:14 | |
At Insure The Box, we have around about 75,000 customers | 0:34:15 | 0:34:18 | |
with these devices in the car. | 0:34:18 | 0:34:20 | |
Having the box in the car means that you're much less likely | 0:34:20 | 0:34:24 | |
to have an accident and it cuts that accident rate by about half. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:28 | |
The telematics box also allows you | 0:34:28 | 0:34:31 | |
to assess actual driving performance when it comes to renewal. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:35 | |
So we don't have to take into account | 0:34:35 | 0:34:38 | |
the traditional factors of the type of car, | 0:34:38 | 0:34:42 | |
your gender, your age, etc. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:45 | |
We can base the renewal price on actual driving behaviour. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:48 | |
So if you have driven well, we reflect that in our renewal price. | 0:34:48 | 0:34:53 | |
Back in the 1980s, | 0:34:54 | 0:34:57 | |
the idea that cars could have smart technology like this | 0:34:57 | 0:34:59 | |
was the stuff of TV sci-fi. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:02 | |
But now it's a reality, | 0:35:03 | 0:35:05 | |
and one that could save you money. | 0:35:05 | 0:35:08 | |
Constant monitoring won't suit everyone, | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
especially as some policies may question | 0:35:12 | 0:35:15 | |
whether you're driving too often at times when | 0:35:15 | 0:35:17 | |
the risk of accidents is statistically higher, | 0:35:17 | 0:35:20 | |
such as night-time. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:21 | |
But Julie, still angry about what Peter would have to pay | 0:35:21 | 0:35:24 | |
for insurance without telematics, | 0:35:24 | 0:35:28 | |
is pleased that technology is becoming more common. | 0:35:28 | 0:35:30 | |
I still believe premiums are far too excessive. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:33 | |
Lots of kids who've just passed are never going to get to drive. | 0:35:33 | 0:35:36 | |
The other big insurance companies | 0:35:36 | 0:35:38 | |
do also need to take on this new technology. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:41 | |
The Smartbox is making me a safer driver. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:43 | |
I'm always on me toes and alert | 0:35:43 | 0:35:44 | |
to what's going on around me when I'm on the road. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:46 | |
We get a lot of letters and emails | 0:35:51 | 0:35:53 | |
about the stories we're going to be hearing about today. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:56 | |
Insurance is one of the subjects that you write to us about | 0:35:56 | 0:35:59 | |
more than just about anything else and really, that's not surprising. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:03 | |
The UK insurance industry is the third largest in the world, | 0:36:03 | 0:36:08 | |
with some 290,000 employees | 0:36:08 | 0:36:11 | |
providing cover of one sort or another | 0:36:11 | 0:36:13 | |
for just about every adult in the country. | 0:36:13 | 0:36:16 | |
But what do we really know about the policies that we're getting? | 0:36:16 | 0:36:20 | |
You've got to read the small print. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:23 | |
There's too many clauses for you to understand, | 0:36:23 | 0:36:26 | |
for the normal layman to understand, anyway. | 0:36:26 | 0:36:29 | |
None of my friends read their insurance policies, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:31 | |
but I'm sure there are people that do. There must be. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:33 | |
I mean, they're there for a reason. | 0:36:33 | 0:36:34 | |
The majority of insurance claims are successful. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:38 | |
But of course, it's the ones that are rejected | 0:36:38 | 0:36:41 | |
that we usually hear about. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:43 | |
And when we do, though it can seem as if | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
insurance companies are just trying to wriggle out of paying, | 0:36:46 | 0:36:49 | |
all too often it turns out | 0:36:49 | 0:36:52 | |
that you've bought a policy that was not right for you | 0:36:52 | 0:36:55 | |
and that never gave you the cover that you thought it would. | 0:36:55 | 0:36:58 | |
It's not only claims you write to us about. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:01 | |
Insurance premiums are a bone of contention with you as well, | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
and not just because you think that too often they're too expensive. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
It's also because it's not always clear | 0:37:08 | 0:37:11 | |
exactly how those premiums are worked out. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:14 | |
They'll typically be worked out according to your postcode, | 0:37:14 | 0:37:18 | |
but it could be that the insurance company will assess your risk | 0:37:18 | 0:37:21 | |
based on your age, your job, and whether or not you're married | 0:37:21 | 0:37:24 | |
to the person with whom you're living. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:26 | |
But by the end of this year, thanks to a ruling by the European Court, | 0:37:26 | 0:37:29 | |
it'll be illegal for them to set rates based on gender. | 0:37:29 | 0:37:33 | |
So whereas previously, | 0:37:33 | 0:37:34 | |
favourable rates of car insurance may have been available | 0:37:34 | 0:37:38 | |
exclusively for women drivers, | 0:37:38 | 0:37:40 | |
from now on, that won't be the case. | 0:37:40 | 0:37:43 | |
But could we all end up paying | 0:37:46 | 0:37:48 | |
higher premiums in the coming months? | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
After this year's heavy rain, | 0:37:51 | 0:37:52 | |
British insurers face the worst bills for flood damage since 2007, | 0:37:52 | 0:37:57 | |
so it's quite possible that their increased costs | 0:37:57 | 0:38:00 | |
will get passed on to customers. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:02 | |
With insurance premiums and problems | 0:38:07 | 0:38:09 | |
pretty high on your list of concerns, | 0:38:09 | 0:38:11 | |
I've come here, to the headquarters | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
of the Association of British Insurers | 0:38:13 | 0:38:15 | |
to talk to their top man and find out why it is | 0:38:15 | 0:38:17 | |
that so many people think that insurers are more interested | 0:38:17 | 0:38:21 | |
in looking after themselves than their customers. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:25 | |
Sad to say this, but it is pretty clear | 0:38:26 | 0:38:29 | |
that most people that write to us, | 0:38:29 | 0:38:31 | |
and indeed, I think quite a large proportion of the population, | 0:38:31 | 0:38:34 | |
still feel insurers are people who are much more interested | 0:38:34 | 0:38:36 | |
in protecting themselves than looking after their customers. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:39 | |
How do you answer that criticism? | 0:38:39 | 0:38:42 | |
Insurers want to look after their customers, | 0:38:42 | 0:38:44 | |
and they want to give them cover | 0:38:44 | 0:38:47 | |
which suits their needs and which pays out when they need it. | 0:38:47 | 0:38:50 | |
And when things go wrong, | 0:38:50 | 0:38:51 | |
we want to make sure that they're put correct quickly. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
You say that, but we have caseloads of people | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
who say that they have fought tooth and nail | 0:38:57 | 0:39:00 | |
to try and get compensation from insurers, | 0:39:00 | 0:39:03 | |
and insurers just are very good | 0:39:03 | 0:39:05 | |
at wriggling out of ever paying anything back. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
Well, insurers pay out £10 million a day on domestic property claims, | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
£22 million a day on motor claims, | 0:39:11 | 0:39:12 | |
and that's not wriggling out of their obligations. | 0:39:12 | 0:39:16 | |
The key is to be careful when you buy the insurance. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
Think carefully about what your needs are, | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
what your cover needs are, | 0:39:21 | 0:39:22 | |
and read the policy documents when they arrive. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:25 | |
I know it's boring, but read them when they arrive. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
But even if you read them, sometimes the terms and conditions | 0:39:28 | 0:39:30 | |
are so complex and complicated, | 0:39:30 | 0:39:32 | |
that people actually still don't necessarily understand | 0:39:32 | 0:39:34 | |
what they're signing up to. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:36 | |
Shouldn't the onus be on you | 0:39:36 | 0:39:38 | |
to make those contracts a lot less complicated? | 0:39:38 | 0:39:41 | |
Well, insurers try to write them in plain English | 0:39:41 | 0:39:43 | |
and they need to produce a Key Facts document | 0:39:43 | 0:39:46 | |
which makes clear what the main issues round cover are, | 0:39:46 | 0:39:48 | |
and that should make things clear to the consumer. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:51 | |
So can you honestly say you think that insurance companies | 0:39:51 | 0:39:54 | |
go far enough to ensure | 0:39:54 | 0:39:55 | |
that when they sell a policy to a member of the public, | 0:39:55 | 0:39:59 | |
that that consumer is getting the best deal possible? | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
Our members want to sell products which suit the people | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
to whom they're selling them, | 0:40:05 | 0:40:06 | |
which deliver when they need to and deliver on time, | 0:40:06 | 0:40:10 | |
and it's in no-one's interest for that to go wrong. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:12 | |
They don't want to have lots of complaints | 0:40:12 | 0:40:14 | |
coming to programmes like yours, | 0:40:14 | 0:40:16 | |
they don't want lots of complaints going to the ombudsman, | 0:40:16 | 0:40:18 | |
and they'll work hard to make sure that doesn't happen. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:21 | |
One final question about the amount that you charge as premiums, | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
because people find that their insurance on the whole | 0:40:24 | 0:40:27 | |
tends to go up year after year. | 0:40:27 | 0:40:30 | |
Well, premiums don't necessarily go up year on year. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
People tend to notice when they do go up, | 0:40:32 | 0:40:34 | |
and they notice less when they go down. | 0:40:34 | 0:40:36 | |
Insurers have to have reserves for big events. | 0:40:36 | 0:40:39 | |
But equally, if you have a year in which | 0:40:39 | 0:40:41 | |
a very large number of events happen, | 0:40:41 | 0:40:43 | |
then premiums have got to come in to cover that. | 0:40:43 | 0:40:46 | |
And the last couple of years, they've paid out a huge amount | 0:40:46 | 0:40:48 | |
in burst pipe claims, which is less noticeable for people, | 0:40:48 | 0:40:52 | |
and we haven't seen a massive increase in premiums as a result. | 0:40:52 | 0:40:55 | |
Confused over your bills? | 0:40:57 | 0:40:59 | |
Trying to wade through never-ending small print? | 0:40:59 | 0:41:02 | |
You can write to us: | 0:41:02 | 0:41:03 | |
Or send us an email: | 0:41:13 | 0:41:14 | |
The Rip-Off team is ready and waiting | 0:41:18 | 0:41:20 | |
to investigate your stories. | 0:41:20 | 0:41:22 | |
As we've seen, you only have to miss a few words | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
in an insurance policy for you to discover | 0:41:27 | 0:41:30 | |
that you're simply not protected in the way you thought. | 0:41:30 | 0:41:32 | |
And because of that, there're many, many people | 0:41:32 | 0:41:35 | |
paying premiums on policies that won't pay out | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
should they need to make a claim. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:39 | |
Well, we know it's really boring, | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
ploughing through all that small print, but unless you do it - | 0:41:41 | 0:41:44 | |
or you're prepared to take advice from someone who will do it for you - | 0:41:44 | 0:41:47 | |
sooner or later you could end up with a nasty surprise. | 0:41:47 | 0:41:50 | |
And if you're like the people we've been hearing from, | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
that could happen at the worst possible moment. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:54 | |
And unfortunately it obviously happens quite a lot, | 0:41:54 | 0:41:57 | |
because the number of letters that we get on this topic suggests | 0:41:57 | 0:42:00 | |
that there really is a lot more insurance companies themselves | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
could do to make their policies a lot easier to understand. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:06 | |
So don't let up, and make sure that we know | 0:42:06 | 0:42:09 | |
if you think you've been treated unfairly. | 0:42:09 | 0:42:12 | |
So meanwhile, let's just say that we will see you the next time, | 0:42:12 | 0:42:15 | |
when we'll be looking at even more things | 0:42:15 | 0:42:17 | |
that have left you feeling ripped-off. | 0:42:17 | 0:42:20 | |
-But until then, from all of us, bye-bye. -Bye-bye. -Bye. | 0:42:20 | 0:42:22 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:42:43 | 0:42:46 |