Dont' trust the online portal for your insurance details

[Zak33]

I am fed up.. fed up to the back teeth, with insurance company "portals"

They are, on the whole, utterly useless. And so is my local authorities one too for the matter.

The cycle of hell-
Get insurance quotes (online comparison sites) choose policy, click link, follow through to ensure it's the same as it said on the other page(often not) and pay... almost inevitably you need to set up a user name and password to access your documents.

We're all used to that.

But if you used them for something else, on another product previously, getting the two linked together is a farce. Which needs a portal!

Example - car insurance with Company A two years ago... now they're doing the House Insurance.. but I have to set up ANOTHER portal to see the documents, and request they merge the portal or delete the old one.

It gets bloody worse, because they're a bunch of ....

aaaaaanyway...

Name and Shame time :
Legal and General - was with them for last years house insurance, & of course the renewal went up with my lack of claims and general good behavoiur and cos they're all still shafting loyalty.. so I choose another vendor (who I have used for a previous product--- see above issue ref having two account for one portal)

L&G not open when I sort new policy, and I need to cancel the old one because I know they will try to auto renew, cant find the credit card detail page on their crap site.... to ensure it's cancelled. Call centre not open.....so use the portal messaging system

"Please allow my insurance to expire on it's expirey date (given) and do not renew. Please confirm this instruction... blah blah"

24 hours laters... email "your message has been received and you will get a reply in 48 hours"
1 week later.. no reply via portal or email or telephone.

Access portal - "please confirm the previous instructiobn received...blah blah..." it's definately in the system.. I can see it in my out box on your system...
24 hours laters... email "your message has been received and you will get a reply in 48 hours"
1 week later.. no reply via portal or email or telephone.

Call them on final day pre renewal..."yes we're having trouble with the portal" - really? shock news!

Honestly... what a total and utter shambles

1 week AFTER new insurance is runnning...postal letter from L&G "if you renew we will back date the insurance to your renewal date" !!!

NO... go away....

I dread this entire thing, year after year,...

house, contents, cars... it's an eternal puddle of futile dribble from the arse of the universe.

Council Portal - I had the need to send documents to the local authority, they needed the docs via the portal not via email, so i used it... and nothing..no reply.. I checked weekly... Eventrually i rang them... couldn't get through...then they emailed me to confirm the job was done... and I asked about the need for the portal. Thety don't reply using the portal, it's too slow to use!

\\ rant over... your turn!

[cptwhite_uk]

So true, had this with Legal & General too, they'd switched to a new system and I'm on the phone to customer services, they literally cannot use my e-mail which was used for a previous policy on their old system, and the new system won't register it because it's already in use, and the rep can't access the old system to delete it so I can re-use my regular e-mail. Even they were annoyed with the company's system. This needs a centralised system that all insurers can access it seems as it's so fragmented at the moment and causes massive headaches for all involved.

[Moby-Dick]

They don't reply using the portal, it's too slow to use!

This grates me. I don't know why , but I'll have a go anyway.

- feeding back to the wrong person, which is just plain unprofessional
- is it slow because the application is slow or the worker has been sitting in the same public sector job since they were using "calculating machines". Doing it their way ensures that they cant be "replaced by a computer"
- is it slow because the value has been placed on the front end look rather than the back end usability ?
- is it slow because they found they were relying on a 3rd party to create the system , which has been done in isolation without any thought to the big picture?

"portals" are so MSN! If its been done properly , its not a gateway into a previously unexposed single system. The problem with duct taping a web interface onto a legacy system is just the one you have described. The same interface might have been put over the top of multiple disparate systems which dont actually talk at the back end to each other - this could be because one was the result of an acquisition. creating an environment where those systems not only talk to each other now , but can talk to other parts of the business isn't an easy task, but its nice when they do get it right

[Moby-Dick]

So true, had this with Legal & General too, they'd switched to a new system and I'm on the phone to customer services, they literally cannot use my e-mail which was used for a previous policy on their old system, and the new system won't register it because it's already in use, and the rep can't access the old system to delete it so I can re-use my regular e-mail. Even they were annoyed with the company's system. This needs a centralised system that all insurers can access it seems as it's so fragmented at the moment and causes massive headaches for all involved.

Paid for by Whom?

[Gerrard]

Pensions are another annoying one. I think the company has changed owners 2-3 times in the 6 years I've been at this place of work, and listening to somone trying to track down their pension between the companies is painful!

[Zak33]

Pensions are another annoying one. I think the company has changed owners 2-3 times in the 6 years I've been at this place of work, and listening to somone trying to track down their pension between the companies is painful!

i was avoiding the non insurance financial sector but ok.. fair enough....

Some pension sites still take you to their old site when you request seeing the balances etc. So you log into one site and when you want the detail.. you go to an older portal.. and then back out to the original.

I just worked out I must have over 10 portal accounts for insurance sites and most are not used because their renewal was too expensive and as we all know.. once you leave.. it gets cheaper again next year. I've been back to some insurance companies after a 1 or 2 year break and had to start all over again.

utter farce

its one thing that Money SUperMarket/Compare the Mark etc cant sort.

What would be good is if the comparison site fired the quuote into the insurers database using key things such as postcode, reg number, surname as references and when you log into the portal, it's sitting there awaiting your agreement to run with it.

[Zak33]

This grates me. I don't know why , but I'll have a go anyway.

- feeding back to the wrong person, which is just plain unprofessional
- is it slow because the application is slow or the worker has been sitting in the same public sector job since they were using "calculating machines". Doing it their way ensures that they cant be "replaced by a computer"
- is it slow because the value has been placed on the front end look rather than the back end usability ?
- is it slow because they found they were relying on a 3rd party to create the system , which has been done in isolation without any thought to the big picture?

"portals" are so MSN! If its been done properly , its not a gateway into a previously unexposed single system. The problem with duct taping a web interface onto a legacy system is just the one you have described. The same interface might have been put over the top of multiple disparate systems which dont actually talk at the back end to each other - this could be because one was the result of an acquisition. creating an environment where those systems not only talk to each other now , but can talk to other parts of the business isn't an easy task, but its nice when they do get it right

this.. with golden local authority bells on it.

When I signed up for it, I didn't know my missus also has one, same addresss and at no point did the system warn me that there was one open... (I know it could have been previous owner of the home, but it would have set off a bell for me to check before creating the new portal account)

Now we have two and neither are used by the authority to send us anything. It's almost like a cheap crap data capture...that they didn't need as we're on the database anyway.

[badass]

Food for thought. All of these companies have rubbish systems because in each case, the cost of change is calculated to be more that continuing to fudge until it all falls down. All of them just keep bringing in more "new" systems then don't look after them. Ever heard of lifecycle management, muppets! Then they end up with loads of legacy systems that are critical to day to day running.

Now imagine how much effort answering a GDPR Subject Access request when someone has to go through every system to provide the answer.

Now imagine a sizable number of their customers put in an SAR. Every year. All of a sudden the cost of maintaining their junk has gone through the roof. Cost of change is now lower than keeping current systems.

[spacein_vader]

Food for thought. All of these companies have rubbish systems because in each case, the cost of change is calculated to be more that continuing to fudge until it all falls down. All of them just keep bringing in more "new" systems then don't look after them. Ever heard of lifecycle management, muppets! Then they end up with loads of legacy systems that are critical to day to day running.

Now imagine how much effort answering a GDPR Subject Access request when someone has to go through every system to provide the answer.

Now imagine a sizable number of their customers put in an SAR. Every year. All of a sudden the cost of maintaining their junk has gone through the roof. Cost of change is now lower than keeping current systems.

I've no idea about insurance but I can confirm answering a SAR at a local authority is a monumental pain in the arse due to the reasons above.

Even new systems won't simplify it completely, just doing a search through the email system (searching for "Joe Bloggs" in any email in any employees inbox or sent items,) is a chore. Doubly so if they have a reasonably common name.

[Saracen]

I have a surefire way to avoid all these problems, but you internet-loving types aren't going go like it.

I use a decent, local broker. Have done for years. I done use a portal (no mate, don't have that intereeb thingy .... and what's email?)

Also, I don't use comoarison sites. I get sn actual person, with years of experience, to do the work for me. Sure, they charge an admin fee, usyally about £25, but .... neatly always seem to manage to get better quotes than my "-keep 'em honest" checkquotes by about .... um ... £25.

So, I rely on good old expertise, and can ... and I know this is a novel idea .... actually talk, on the phone, to the specific person doing it, not a call-centre drone. Not that I have anything against call-centre staff but the clue is in "call centre" - by definition, they're there to answer calls, not insurance experts.

Oh, and I can even pop in, sit the other side of a desk and discuss my needs over a cup of suprisingly decent coffee.

Even if it does cost me £25, it's well worth it.

Oh, and I pay by cash or cheque. I've yet to have someone try to auto-renew a cheque payment. Horribly 20th century of ne, I know, but it works.

In 20+ years, those brokers have yet to fail to contact me about a month before renewal, but I have a 30-day and 5-day calendar alert set up, and it's on the printed kitchen cslendar too. I neither need nor want auto-renewal which, IMHO, is a blantant opportunity to get hit with the loyal customer surcharge, which is basically an apathy surcharge anyway.


I know most of us lead busy lives, and want the cheapest deal for minimum fuss, but sometimes, the "cheapest" deal proves to be not the cheapest, absolutely not the best, and a long way from fuss-free.



Oh, btw, for calls of this type, to call centres, banks, insurers, and retailers-with-complaints, etc .....RECORD YOUR CALLS, 100% OF THE TIME.

It's surprising how often it cuts through the crap of "we have no record of that call, sir" when you respond with "that's okay, I recorded it. Would you like to hear it?".

I've lost track of how many times that has short-circuited the uusual complaint merry-go-round.

[spacein_vader]

I have a surefire way to avoid all these problems, but you internet-loving types aren't going go like it.

I use a decent, local broker. Have done for years. I done use a portal (no mate, don't have that intereeb thingy .... and what's email?)

Also, I don't use comoarison sites. I get sn actual person, with years of experience, to do the work for me. Sure, they charge an admin fee, usyally about £25, but .... neatly always seem to manage to get better quotes than my "-keep 'em honest" checkquotes by about .... um ... £25.

So, I rely on good old expertise, and can ... and I know this is a novel idea .... actually talk, on the phone, to the specific person doing it, not a call-centre drone. Not that I have anything against call-centre staff but the clue is in "call centre" - by definition, they're there to answer calls, not insurance experts.

Oh, and I can even pop in, sit the other side of a desk and discuss my needs over a cup of suprisingly decent coffee.

Even if it does cost me £25, it's well worth it.

Oh, and I pay by cash or cheque. I've yet to have someone try to auto-renew a cheque payment. Horribly 20th century of ne, I know, but it works.

In 20+ years, those brokers have yet to fail to contact me about a month before renewal, but I have a 30-day and 5-day calendar alert set up, and it's on the printed kitchen cslendar too. I neither need nor want auto-renewal which, IMHO, is a blantant opportunity to get hit with the loyal customer surcharge, which is basically an apathy surcharge anyway.


I know most of us lead busy lives, and want the cheapest deal for minimum fuss, but sometimes, the "cheapest" deal proves to be not the cheapest, absolutely not the best, and a long way from fuss-free.



Oh, btw, for calls of this type, to call centres, banks, insurers, and retailers-with-complaints, etc .....RECORD YOUR CALLS, 100% OF THE TIME.

It's surprising how often it cuts through the crap of "we have no record of that call, sir" when you respond with "that's okay, I recorded it. Would you like to hear it?".

I've lost track of how many times that has short-circuited the uusual complaint merry-go-round.

Might have to see if there is a local broker in this neck of the woods

[cptwhite_uk]

Paid for by Whom?

By the insurers themselves, with potential for regulation by an industry body.

[Zak33]

I have a surefire way to avoid all these problems, but you internet-loving types aren't going go like it.

I use a decent, local broker. Have done for years. I done use a portal (no mate, don't have that intereeb thingy .... and what's email?)

i may go this route.. I know one to try and frankly it might be worthy