Don't become a Bennetts Motorbike Insurance cash cow!
I have been inspired to create this website based on my own personal 'VERY BAD' experience of closing my motorbike insurance policy with Bennetts Motorbike Insurance which eneded up with me being £120 out of pocket and being treated in what I consider an extremely inpolite and aggresive manner by Bennetts Insurance.
When I Googled "Bennetts insurance complaints" to see if anybody had suffered a similar fate to me, I discovered sprinkled across forums and blogs many individuals who have had similar experiences when closing their motorbike insurance policies with Bennetts.
This site is a compilation of these experiences gathered under one roof, for every complaint I have added to this site I could find 10 others, unfortunatley I have not the time to add them all. If you have had an experience like this with Bennetts Insurance, drop me an email and I will be happy to add your comments murray.price@sky.com
This website and domain is now for sale at £2000, please email me for more information at murray.price@sky.com
Badly treated by Bennetts
I have recently cancelled my Bennetts motorcycle policy. About 2 months ago i bought a CBR 250 which was not my cup of tea. This i insured with Bennetts. I traded this bike in 4 weeks ago for a FIREBLADE. Whilst at the dealer i contacted Bennetts who transfered the old policy onto the BLADE. They told me they would send confirmation by post.
I would be paying monthly for the policy and expected a reasonable increase. I went on holiday for 2 weeks and on returning home found the paperwork from Bennetts. They wanted £400 per year spread over ten more payments. This is nearly 4 TIMES MORE THAN I HAVE JUST RE INSURED IT FOR WITH INSURE BIKE INSURANCE.
I have now cancelled the policy and Bennetts are demanding £30 doc fees and £109 cancellation fees. I have been with Bennetts for 9 YEARS and this is how they treat you.
BEWARE ANYONE THINKING OF USING BENNETTS. DONT DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE DEFINATELY GOING TO KEEP YOUR BIKE FOR 12 MONTHS. IF YOU TRANSFER FROM ONE BIKE TO ANOTHER THEY CAN CHARGE WHAT THEY LIKE AND IF YOU DONT AGREE...... TOUGH ! HUGE CANCELLATION FEES.
Jonathon, September 2011
Badly treated by Bennetts
I was with Carol Nash for 12 years on my motorbike insurance when my policy was up for renewal this July.
I got a qoute from Bennetts Insurance at almost half the price of Carrol Nash saving myself £150.00 which I thought was great, i'll take Bennetts policy at £256.00.
I completed the form and was asked if I had any claims in the last 3 years which I have not had any on my motor bike insurance and have 10 years no claims through Carrol Nash this was on the 21/07/2011. I paid the direct debit and my money was taken by Bennetts.
On the 03/08/2011 I get a letter telling me my policy with Bennetts Insurance has been cancelled... Thinking there must be a mistake I rang Bennetts customer care team.
The reason they are giving me is I have had 2 claims throw my CAR INSURANCE, one of which has been settled through the 3rd party addmiting liability and it has been settled. The 2nd is on going as the 3rd party has addmitted liability and I am waiting for my car to be repaired.
Bennetts have cancelled my policy which has only been running for 2 weeks and said because I have made a fraudulent claim they will only give me £56.00 refund out of £256.00 for a cancellation fee and addminisration fees and theres nothing I can do, they never phoned or sent any emails of this cancellation.
I have since gone back to Carol Nash and had to pay another £303.00 for another policy which I can't afford. I told Carrol Nash of the problem with Bennetts Insurance and they said I had been badly treated as I was taking out motor bike insurance not car insurance and that I am not the guilty party in the car accidents.
I have been in touch with the financial ombudsman and they said this is wrong and are taking up my case. Looking at all your other emails it looks like I'm not alone on this subject!!!
Malcolm, August 2011
Contact watchdog
I took out a policy with Bennetts after going online to find a cheaper policy.
I’ve just cancelled my insurance due to selling my bike. This was cover I bought in January for £246.08. I still have 5 months left on my cover, so cancelled for a refund of the remaining balance.
I was charged the standard £30 cancellation fee which is clearly documented on my policy documents, but the additional unnamed percentage detailed in the document was 85% of my remaining balance. This left me with less than £6 balance.
I can only hope others will find this website before they get ripped off, and I urge everyone to contact watchdog as I have.
David, August 2011
OUTRAGEOUS cancellation charges
I cancelled half way through the policy with Bennetts. Now I have to pay the other half as a penalty…!!!
So I have to pay for a whole years premium even though I:
1. Don’t have the bike
2. Don’t live in the UK anymore
3. Am not insured!
Sick to the hind teeth of being ripped off
Lorraine, July 2011
DONT BUY FROM BENNETTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I took out a policy with Bennetts after going online to find a cheaper policy.
I had been with Carole Nash on a Classic Policy (I didn’t know that this doesn’t offer a no claims bonus), so took out a policy with Bennetts for what I thought was a good price! They requested proof of my no claims bonus which after ringing Carole Nash I realised I did not have any, the next day I had a letter from Bennetts (recorded delivery) cancelling the policy and I was to return all paperwork.
I sent everything back to them the same day and now after paying £120 they have only refunded me £20 for 10 days of insurance! It is just daylight robbery, you think you are saving yourself some money by shopping around but it costs you more in the long run, I went back to Carole Nash.
Katy, June 2011
Threatening behaviour
Same situation with bad practice and threatening behaviour from Dial direct which is part of Bennetts insurance group... so don't go with dial direct.
Last October I took out an insurance for my scooter but apparently I put the wrong number plate?? As I was away most of the time last October and November I didn't realise I had not received the policy.
8 months later they sent me an admin fee for an uncertain mistake by me. A 2009 made bike can't pass the 58 plate check, really! They need a more sophisticated system!!
Fabien, June 2011
Sound advice...
Unfortunately as it stands I have 2 policies with Bennetts and am a bit late to take action. The reason for my email is to see if you could post some advice on your site about taking legal action against them.
There are a lot of victims on your site who were concerned about bailiffs turning up at their door. Having some legal background it would be advisable to post that bailiffs can't do anything until there is a county court judgement. If the matter ever went to court the judge would always decide on our favour due to the fact that the practices are completely unfair. Bennetts would never even attempt to take the matter to court because it would not be worth their while.
Long story short I would advice the complainants to make sure Bennetts don't carry your card details or Account details on their database which I am aware they do. This then allows each individual (who want to cancel the policy) to default on the payment and ask Bennetts to take them to court which they never will.
Kio, May 2011
Bennetts have turned out to be quite crooked
I got the renewal notice for my bike insurance and paid by credit card. All that was listed was the price for the renewal premium.
After paying, the documents came and there were additional broker fees and charges listed. I rang them but they refused to cancel the policy or refund the payment until I’d posted the certificate of insurance back. Although last year’s insurance was still active, they sent me a cancellation notice which stopped cover immediately.
I’ve wasted over 3 hours on the phone chasing my refund for next (this) year.
Absolutely no joy.
Sean, May 2011
Stay away from Bennetts
Renewed my policy on the 18th Jan but sold my bike yesterday (19th Mar) as I was not using it and we have a baby on the way. Premium was £150 and becuase I am in the 3rd month of the policy by 2 days they are charging my 50% (£75) plus £30 cancelletion fee! Un-be-leivable. Gave me the old "its in the policy" line. Stuff the policy I am disgusted with the utter lack of transparency and the disproportionate charges compared to my original premium.
STAY AWAY FROM BENNETTS
Stuart, March 2011
A lesson in customer care...
Here is the main part of my recent letter to Bennetts, which will help explain what they have done me.
Dear Sir or Madam:
Further to my telephone call to your offices today 14th March 2011, I write to complain in the strongest terms about the recent cancellation of my motorcycle insurance policy. I wrote to advise you of my change of address and received confirmation and acknowledgement from you that you had updated my records to reflect this on 10th Feb 2011. However, your letter dated 10th Feb also served to highlight that there was an administration charge for making this change of £25.00 and you requested payment within 10 days.
I received no further communication from you except for your letter dated 3rd March 2011, in which you have served ‘Notice of Cancellation’ and informed me that my motorcycle insurance is now cancelled. You state that this is due to the lack of payment for the change of address administration charge.
I find this situation totally unacceptable and wish to complain in the strongest terms for the following reasons:
1) Having written to me on 10th Feb and requested payment it is unreasonable to expect me to make payment within 10 days without any further correspondence to remind me and request payment. Your own call centre staff inform me that the delay with Royal Mail and your internal processing means that this is difficult for you to be confident that payment has not been received within this period.
2) The administration fee of £25 does not warrant the cancellation of an insurance policy worth over £200 with 6 months remaining validity. I also believe that the administration charge for change of address is not appropriate for the actual costs involved.
Having paid this administration fee, I am now told that my motorcycle insurance policy remains cancelled and that I am not entitled to a refund either of the £25 or the 6 months balance remaining of the original policy. This is completely unacceptable and I wish to pursue this through your complaints procedure, Finance ombudsman and national press.
I had a call from their Customer Relations team today telling me that they won't reinstate the policy because they gave me sufficient notice.
It's completely outrageous that they can cancel your policy with over 6 months left to go because of an admin fee, which they actually credited to my account on 3rd March the very same day that they wrote and cancelled my policy.
Matthew, March 2011
Taking advantage of young drivers
My son took out insurance with Bennetts on the 5th July 2010 for 12 months.
They sent him a letter, which clearly states in the 2nd paragraph that he is covered for a 12 month period. It also states in their terms and conditions that if at any time they are going to cancel the policy they will send a recorded delivery letter. We received no such communication or warning from them that they had in fact cancelled his policy.
Imagine my sons horror when today he is pulled over by the police and told that he has no insurance, they take his bike away and issue him with 6 points which means he could lose his licence.
They very happily took his money from him for 12 months insurance and without any warning at all cancelled it!!!!!!
I spoke to one of their ladies today only to find that they had put £225 in a credit account for him ... BUT NOT TOLD US. So they insure him for 12 months at a cost of £425.33 charge £200 for 1 months insurance and then cancel it.
We have received no communication from them what so ever, and they have caused my son stress and upset as the police have taken his motorbike and he could lose his licence because Bennetts did not inform him that they had cancelled his insurance.
Is this the way the company makes their money by taking advantage of young drivers and by not communicating with them. We have received no letters from them recorded or otherwise and no phone calls or emails or warnings of any kind!!!!!!
Mary, September 2010
Bennetts!
My bike got written-off by a woman driving into it whilst it was parked, believe it or not. It got written off, Bennett's (AXA) paid me the write off of the vehicle, and then charged me an extra £192.91 when I "cancelled" the policy. I asked them why the heck I had to pay it when I got my bike written off, but they said it's nothing to do with it. I paid the policy by direct debit, and had only paid 4 months, so I had to pay 60% of my premium. I sued the driver of the car, and today in Court, the Judge said I had no legal ground to claim that money from her because I would have had to pay the full insurance premium anyway. I said yes but I would have also been riding happily around on my motorbike too. But nope, he claimed that even if I had have paid all my premium up front - and got the bike written off on day 1 of the insurance, I wouldn't have received any insurance back. So even the JUSTICE system is defending these insurance companies now. Are they seriously saying that time you are using the bike for is NOT a factor in what you pay? If so, why do they give you an annual premium and not just say you pay once and that covers you for life? Also, when you insure someone temporarily on a policy, say, a week - why is it less than a year - if time makes no difference. In other words, how could I NOT be entitled to get premium back when I had use of the bike for 4 out of 12 months paid for...? Apparently I should have made a claim for the other driver causing me to lose use of the vehicle - not for the insurance premium itself.
But Bennetts and AXA were a disgrace, and at no point offered me advice on this or told me to claim for the loss of use of the vehicle. They wrote my bike off then charged me for "cancelling" the policy. Disgusting. I make sure to tell everyone I know with a bike, not to use Bennetts.
Baz Pope
Bennetts, policy documents and contracts...blah blah blah!!
I sold my bike recently as my son was born and decided to stop riding for a bit.
I rang up just before going away for the week to cancel my policy and was told that there may be a charge for cancelling. I expect this kind of thing from companies as they add admin charges to any and everything!
Anyway,I pay my policy by direct debit and my policy had been renewed in Dec09. I cancelled in April10 (just after my April direct debit). When I got back from my week away, I had 2 letters from Bennetts. The first stating that I owed £120 and the second sent just 7 days after stating "final warning" threatening me with debt recovery action......hold on!! i thought!! give me a chance!! So i looked at the other letter again! £30 admin charge and £90 outstanding balance. My policy had only cost me £300 in the first place and i had only used 4months of it!!
So i called up to ask WHAT the £90 was for. The guy on the phone started rambling on about terms and conditions and policy documents and contracts...blah blah blah!! I had read the policy document after i got the letter and found the whole "early cancellation stuff" but i wanted to know what i was actually going to have to pay the £90 for.
So i asked nicely to speak to a manager who was very pleasant and again went over the same trivia of policy! She stated that the early cancellation fee was because Bennetts were a business and that they had to recoup money from cancelled policy. I stated that this was not the best way to carry out business as i had not moved insurers but i was temporarily without bike and that i because of this, i would not be returning to them as a customer so as a business they were losing out. I went on to explain that it still didn't seem necessary for me to pay over 1/3 of my policy to cancel because policies are issued on a risk based assessment and given that i was no longer a risk by not having a bike, i was therefore a zero cost to them. She agreed but that it was policy and that as a good will gesture, she would waive the £30 admin fee. I stated that i needed to think about my options as i had only just returned from my week away. She said she would allow me 2 weeks to think it over and would speak to the debt recovery team to get them off my back! So thats where I am now!!
My feeling is that this sucks big time but thinking of it from another point of view, if I had paid up front, I would be having a rebate right now and I probably wouldn't be checking how much so the delta is quite big!!
I guess my only guidance for dealing with Bennetts is to be nice and polite and you may get somewhere but I think that we don't have a leg to stand on with the cancellation fees.
James, Bristol
Bennetts motorbike insurance, never again
Same for me Murray, rip off Bennetts – never again
Mark Walker, Nottingham
Bennetts Insurance, they push you into a corner!
I too have encountered some probs with Benetts recently. I called to cancel my policy (about 4 months remaining) and was told I would have to pay a £30 cancellation fee plus a ridiculous percentage of the original premium. Basically repaying double what I have already contibuted towards it over the months. They push you into a corner so it is cheaper to carry on paying for insurance you no longer require. I too questioned the ethics and legality around this particular cancelations policy. Beware indeed!
Jason Halsall
Bennetts, they swiped my cash!
I phoned Bennets in June 2009 to get a policy on a CB750. They said they wanted to charge me an extra 30 quid EACH to change my existing Z1 policy and my existing CB900 policy just because I told them my my employment status had changed.( I'd been paid-off .) I said "no -way". Then they said they wanted 30 quid EACH when I threatened to cancel my existing Z1 and CB900 policies. So, I said "no way" again and went somewhere else to ensure my CB750. BUT they still insisted that I had to change my occupation on my 2 existing polices as my employment status had changed. So, after alot of raised voices, they finally agreed to only charge me 30 quid insted of 60 to change my other 2 policies......When my Z1 policy ran out I didn't bother to renew it becuase they were obviously trying to rip me off. I insured it somewhere else too........
Last week they sent me a new policy document for the CB 900 which I had actually sold in July 2009. I had policy with Bennets for it too but I didn't bother to cancel it coz I knew it was going to cost another 30 quid so it wasn't worth it.... I just let it run out and forgot about it and my sad experiences with Bennetts. Bennetts now say they sent me a reminder about the CB900 in late December but I didn't get it.... maybe it got lost in the snow.... They obviously kept my credit card details on-file for a year without my knowledge (or permission) and just swiped another 85 quid for the CB900 on 19th January 2010. They didn't tell me or try to contact me to confirm I wanted their ~~~~py insurance policy b4 they swiped my cash . Then, to add insult to injury , when i phoned up on 21st January to complain, they said they wanted want ANOTHER 30 quid off me to cancel a policy I didn't ask for in the first place on a bike I sold 6 months ago! ....W9A9N9K9E9R9S....... My advice...Don't go near them with your mates bike, let alone you own !!,,,,,,,,and tell everyone you know with a bike not to touch these thieving ~~~ts..........
T.E. Youngman....another dissatisfied ex-customer
Bennetts Bike - Online Insurance Rip-off
Where to start....
Ok, My husband bought, online bike insurance from Bennetts, include commuting to & from a place of work and Legal cover, at a fair price after we had shopped around.
When the policy arrived, it had neither commuting nor Legal cover, so we gave them a quick ring to be told that if it's not on the document it's not included & wasn't included in the price & we would have to pay extra for it. Once you click to accept the quote, it automatically adds Legal Cover at £25.99, which we kept as we'd got £20 cashback from Quidco [Thanks MSErs!] so I KNOW we kept it, and hubby wants to ride it to work in the summer - it's why he bought the bike so it would be daft not to cover this on the insurance. But no - Bennetts didn't want to know. They couldn't check their records to see what was quoted for, and I lost the quote data once I'd clicked to buy.
I put in another quote for the correct policy details and got a quote for £1 dearer through the same insurer, including commuting & Legal, but Bennets didn't want to know, They just wanted an extra £70 plus whatever they were going to charge for a policy amendment.
Fed up, we wrote & complained, but decided to cancel within 14 days, which they now tell me they will charge £30 to do.
BGL group profits are rising nicely!
Bennetts recently auto renewed my policy and after a heated discussion with them agreed to cancel my policy for a £20 fee. I was within the 14 day distance selling cooling off period so thought this would be straightforward. I returned the policy documents by recorded delivery and this morning received a cancellation letter showing a charge of £50! (representing an unreasonable 50% of the polciy premium).The renewal policy price had also increased (surprise!) from last years by approx. 100%!
It appears this is rather a profitable scam by the insurance company, which comes under the BGL Group headed up by Peter Winslow. BGL are also the brains behind 'Compare the Markets' website with the dodgy Meerkats that to me seem to mimic an Eastern European crime gang (this now makes sense knowing how this group operate).
Personally I would like to see Peter Winslow on BBC Watchdog attempting to defend this practice of auto-renewal. It is particularly nasty in the unfortunate possibility of the policy holder dying before renewal and the partner being hounded for cancellation fees.
BGL group profits are rising nicely due I'm sure in no small part to fleecing money off their customers using this apparently legal practice.
Garry Clasper September 2009
Bennetts are a scam
Where to start....
Last year I brought insurance with bennetts for quite a reasonable price but when the time came to renew this year they had put my premium up to £694 (up nearly £200) on last year despite not having had an accident, anyway I decided to go with Caroline Nash who quoted me £220 for a very similar policy so I went with them, unforchantly however I received a letter from bennetts telling me that I had been charged for a years policy (£694) and it turns out that in the small print you have to opt out of renewal, so I phoned bennetts and asked for a refund but I got nothing but poor attitude once they found out that I was cancelling. I was told that they would charge me a £30 admin fee plus £50 for five days cover despite being covered by another insurer. The insurance was due to start on the 17th and I phoned on the 20th to cancel but they didn’t charge my account until the 21st . So I’ve paid £694 for insurance with bennetts and £220 with carol Nash.
Now it seems to me that bennetts lure you in with a competitive rate for the first year and then hope you don’t notice the small print and charge you an uncompetitive rate for the next years insurance. You’ve been warned!
Bennetts are a scam!
CW October 2009
Even there staff know how bad they are...
I am writing to you to inform you of my very recent negative experience with Bennett's Motorcycle insurance, which must be verging on the extremities of the law and will hopefully make people think twice before insuring with them. I'm sure I'm not the only one to be facing hard times in this current economic climate and therefore needing to sell my motorbike. Now I unfortunately made the mistake of changing my motorbike insurance supplier this year and going with Bennett's, as at the time I thought they seem to portray a good professional image and could be trusted in times of need - I was very wrong!!!
Just to set the scene I also decided that this year I would pay by instalments to spread the cost over the whole year, which I obviously had to pay more for, to cover the cost of the interest on the premium - to be expected.
So after selling my motorbike this weekend, two days after I have paid this monthly instalment, I called them to cancel my insurance. I was informed that I have to pay a charge of £30 for cancelling the policy, again expected, but I am now being told I will have to pay for at least 90% of the policy even though I haven't used the full life of the policy and won't do as the bike no longer belongs to me. Which seems morally and legally incorrect to me, how can I be charged for something I haven't used?
Their reason is that it will cost them in order to cancel my policy, on top of the £30 admin fee, this is now going to work out more expensive than the original policy. How can this possibly be? If the bike policy is now cancelled, it's no longer an insured risk, so therefore can not possibly cost them anymore money as I will not potentially be claiming for anything.
I also have had bikes for a decade now and I have never been through this before, normally the insurance companies in this instance seem to be honest and fair enough by returning the money that you haven't used to the nearest month and with the £30 surcharge of course - but this is to be expected.
The Bennett's representative told me this is all clear in their terms and conditions which I clicked on to legally except them, now this they will continue to hold on to I'm sure and I will have to pay. But after having countless insurance policies with some of the bigger more respected insurance companies I wrongly assumed that they would all be offering the same sort of service, conditions and ethical policy, I have been proved incorrect, so all I ask is that people think twice in future before taking out any insurance policies, as it appears although some of them like to masquerade behind the same professional image, they don't' all seem to play by the same rules, I know that next year when I get round to getting a new bike, I will not be getting a quote from my friends at Bennett's. I also asked the representatives that I spoke to how they felt about this morally, one spoke out and said I know how it is, I understand how annoyed you must be, his line manager, just stayed silent.. even their staff know how bad they are....
Paul December 2009