I have defended Bennetts in the past - I have been a customer for many years and, personally, have never had any problems with them : until now... I renewed my "multi-bike" policy (Ducati ST4 and Laverda 750 Formula) by phone at the beginning of June. Despite asking for the policy documents to be sent by post, they arrived by e-mail. Three weeks after renewing I got a letter saying that I still owed the full amount and if I didn't pay they would cancel the policy. I phoned the "customer service" department and was told, basically, that it was not their fault and that I should check with my bank. Having checked with the bank, I found that Bennetts HAD taken money from my account - over £30 more than they should have done ! I went back to Bennetts, who denied all knowledge of any transaction; they were spectacularly unhelpful and obstructive. My bank supplied the transaction authorisation code, even that wasn't good enough for Bennetts. Their next action was to send me a letter threatening me with a debt collection agency if I didn't pay ! After many e-mails (I gave up trying to e-mail them, they NEVER answer e-mails) and several lengthy phone calls I have finally got them to admit that it was their mistake - no phone call, no letter of apology, just one short e-mail saying I will get a refund and my insurance will not be cancelled. The refund has not yet materialised (surprise, surprise...). In the meantime, I tried to add my new Honda CRF on to my "multi-bike" policy - turns out that "multi" isn't what it sounds like. Two is fine - three is far too difficult. They then tried to offer me a separate policy - costing more than the existing policy does. A quick check with the friendly meercat got me insurance from Saga (one advantage of being old) for less than a third of what Bennetts wanted... The upshot is - despite being a Bennetts customer for nearly three decades, this is the last time I will ever use them... Their customer service is nothing short of appalling !
The ironic thing is they have adverts all over the motorcycle press saying how great their customer service is and how they are the most recommended insurer... Utter drivel ! And I still haven't got my £30 back either...
July 17th - "the situation has now been rectified and the refund will be processed back into your account within seven working days". August 10th (sixteen working days later) - still waiting...
If its any help I found the help and assistance from 4th dimension one of their operating partners to be absolutely abysmal too... just never returned any emails or phone calls and even though I finished the deal they still haven't noticed, agreed or even commented to date
Postscript to the original post... Got the money back, eventually (in September)... No apology from Bennetts, just a very short e-mail. Well - the renewal has just arrived. "we have checked everywhere, and this is the cheapest quote available..." Oh really ? Five minutes on the internet got it 10% cheaper... Bye-bye Bennetts !
