CAR INSURANCE SPAIN LINEA DIRECT

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Having just cancelled 2 insurance policies after 5 years, I continue to have difficulty with this firm.

Initially they declined to refund my 46 weeks unused insurance on my first car . Theyve said I can do what I like, complain, get a lawyer on to them, speak to the ombudsman, it will make no difference, I wont get any money back. AND I cant speak to a supervisor either!!!! I;m still up in the air as to whether I,ll get my money back.

On my second car, I,ve  cancelled the insurance IN WRITING  from 8th October, the renewal  date BUT THEYVE COCKED UP and cancelled it immediately . They say they cannot reinstate it but what they can do is send me  a 'pretend renewal' cover note ,just so I;m covered, but at a  headline cost of nearly 500 euros ( but I should ignore that because they wont  chase me for the money yet???) showing the incorrect dates too.  

Can they send me an email just explaining their proposal and confirming I wont have to pay anything?

No they cant put anything in writing.

Can I speak to a supervisor then,

NO:

Why can,t they just recognise thier balls up and honour the correct cancellation date.  CANT DO THAT EITHER

Clearly , I,m not happy about this. I,ve insisetd they just recognise their mistake and reinstate the policy. They wont. They wont let me speak to a supervisor. I can do what I like about it and the operator refused to give me his name ( Michael.................)and put the phone down on me!!!!!

WHAT A WAY TO RUN A BUSINESS: EXPATS BE WARNED

 Thanks for that  tip JohnZX!

 I am with johnzx in regards to the refund however I would not write off the refund 100% but.......dont start plans to spend it as you may just lose it.

One suggestion when dealing over the phone or counter with people, in Spain or anywahere for that matter.

When you are speaking to people whether its Linea Directa, Movistar, Vodafone etc, first thing you do is write down the name of the representative plus the time you called, number called etc. I have noticed a big difference in the way I am treated when I confirm the  FULL name of the person I am dealing with as quite often I get magically cutoff during a complaint or problem. You will also find that many companies record the phone call so if you have a name, and time then when you make an official complaint its easier to find the evidence.

I totally understand that Spain has different laws etc and whilst I am not a lawyer that specialises in EU law I think the old excuse of "we are in Spain its different here" does make my blood simmer some what.

IMHO, for basic things like Spanish waiters rudeness, sure, we can say "we are in Spain deal with it". 

But for something like this I am not 100% convinced that we should like it and lump it, as Insurance as far as I can tell is a product regulated across the EU States. As Spain is part of the EU (which they only seem to remember when they need bailouts or UK Tourism money) they would need to adhere to EU law (again, IMHO).

Here is an intersting link I found on the EU Comission site: ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/consumer/mediation/index_en.htm

I dont know whether it helps in terms of getting a refund off Linea Directa as its related to mediation but it does show that its a serious issue and worth looking into in the case that they have sold insurance and not stated the terms correctly. It happens (PPI anyone?).

In all cases as jonzx said "make a compaint at the Consumers Office at the town hall", then at least its official.

Cheers for that Craig.

I did ask for his name-he refused to give it!!!! ( Just his first name)

The lesson learned , as you say, is ask for it first!!

I,ll be taking up Johnzx,z advice re town hall.

Craig

                      "we are in Spain its different here"

But that is exactly so. 

As very basic example they drive on wrong side !   That is the law. 

The same apples to many other thing.

Another very different thing here it that if there is not a Law which  says,  you can do something then you cannot.   In UK,  if there is no law which says you cannot do it then you can.

Sorry John.

We will have to agree to disgaree on that particular point becasue I have found more than often in Spain that many companies consider their "internal company policy" to override laws especially when it comes to consumer protection only to find out later that the law states something contrary to the company policy.

What happens mostly is that foreigners are told "this is Spain not UK" in the hope that the matter will be dropped when in fact all consumers have certain rights they probbaly did not even know about.

But I can tell you from experience that once I have my hot blooded Spanish wife on the phone how quickly the customer service changes and we usually end up getting what we wanted in the first place.

My additional advice to everyone including the OP is: NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.

I would imagine that for every 10 Linea Directa customers that sign up through their extensive glossy advertsing campaigns on TV, maybe 1 or 2 leave and Linea Directa probably considers this as collateral damage and just tell their staff not to bother too much about complaints from people on the phone becasue the coffers are filling up faster than its going out.

This is why I urge everyone I meet, that if you have an issue with service from a Spanish company and cannot resolve the siutaution to YOUR satisfaction, then you make an official complaint in writing about it, not to the company itself but to the official Consumer Offices in the locality, DONT just resign to the fact that "this is spain".

Problem is, people these days 1. dont know what their rights are and 2. dont have the time to make and follow up complaints.

Craig.

We will have to agree to disgaree on that particular point becasue I have found more than often in Spain that many companies consider their "internal company policy" to override laws especially when it comes to consumer protection only to find out later that the law states something contrary to the company policy.

So we actually agree: 

…………..   if there is not a Law which  says,  you can do something then you cannot.   

That is what you are saying too,  but  that they try to override the law of the land,  but cannot do so.

As far as Linea Directa is concerned,  I have explained why I have had disagreements with them,  nevertheless,  a couple of years ago I changed my motorcycle policy to them as they were around 100 euros cheaper than the any other company I could find.  I have used their breakdown service twice,  no problem, very quick and even service in English.  When I had a car with them  a car hit mine. They resolved the claim very swiftly and competently.

 Hi John,

I dont actually understand the point you are trying to make mate where you say....."If there is not a Law which says,  you can do something then you cannot.". I always thought that you can do whatever you like as long as there is no law preventing you.

My point again is that quite often a company representative will say "this is the law" but what they mean is its "company policy" thinking its the law and getting their client to think the same and accept it.

Quite often, Spanish people (and a few immigrants and expats) simply say "oh this is Spain, its different here" when in fact, sometimes its not because there are all kinds of complicated consumer related EU rules and regulations which Spain subscribes to and seeing that Insurance is a product which appears to be heavily regulated I would say to those who are unsatisfied with Linea Directa to perhaps make a complaint and dig a bit deeper to see exactly what they are entitled to.

I am appalled to hear that Linea Directa has told Andy that he can complain to whoever he wants and it wont make a difference. Thats actually quite offensive.

On the flip side, MAYBE Linea Directa is right and there is actually NOTHING that can be done, however 1. every resident of the EU has the right to complain whether they are right or not and 2. Its poor customer service for Linea Directa when they simply disrespect a client like that by fobbing them off without giving any proof.

The very least Linea Directa can do is provide a clear explanation because I am quite sure these are not isolated cases.

 Spot on Craig.

My suspicion all along is that I am being fobbed off.

Clearly the front line staff are briefed to act as a buffer

but to be denied access to someone in authority

and as you say to be told, ....do what you like but it makes no difference....

is astonishing.

Having cut and pasted some Eye on Spain dialogue and sent to LD,

I,ve since had a call from LD promising to look into it and one guy even promised me 

a proportionate refund BUT they wont confirm in writing.

Likewise the second car, they wanted a cancellation in writing-I sent it with an effective date.

Theyve cocked up and cancelled the policy  early and say I cant reinstate the cover

Instead they sent me  a full years renewal cover note and want me to pay nearly 500 euro to reinsure

a still-insured car??? They told me verbally I should just  ignore the accompanying request for payment BUT THEY WONT CONFIRM ANY OF THIS IN WRITING.

This last guy was the one who refused to give me his name and dropped the phone.

How can any of this be acceptable?

Of course one may be able to 'blackmail' a company, by threatening to expose a certain practise, into getting some compensation. I did just that with BBVA some years ago.  When I tried the same with Sol Bank and Knights Insurance,  it did not work.

The problem is John, that it looks like you are agreeing with  exactly what Linea Directa is saying.

"LIKE IT OR LUMP IT.....this is Spain, laws are different and its a waste of time complaining".

:o)

Noone in their right mind is expecting to apply UK laws to Spain and I agree that people should live within the local law at all times no matter where they are.

But just because a LINEA DIRECTA sales person on the end of the phone says its law, does not actually mean that it is (unless proven unequivocally).

Its almost like in the tapas bars we visit. My wife makes the habit of always checking the bill only to find that very often we have either been charged an extra beer or something that did not arrive. When my wife brings it to the attention of the waiting staff (ie complain) the waiter/ress always goes "oh sorry about that I will refund it". Is it innocent? Who knows. Illegal? No Idea. But if we did not complain or mention it, then we are the ones out of pocket.

So I would advise anyone who has any doubts about it, get that complaint to Linea Directa in writing asap. You might not like the response after the complaint but at least you have done your bit to satisy your dissatisfaction.

Its not just LD but the Spanish law.

 Hi John,

LOL.

And you will be repeating it a hundred more times until you can point us all to a Spanish law (on some spanish goverment web site) that says something along the lines of "insurance companies are under no obligation according to the law of spain to provide full or part refund of any unused insurance regardless of the situation".

I am not a lawyer, you are not  a lawyer and neither are the sales people at Linea Directa so its a case of guilty until proven innocent or rather the customer is always right (until proven wrong).

So unless its written within the letter of the law then as far as I am concerend its fair game to try and pursue a refund with the rudeness from Linea Directa staff being a prime motivator for such an action.

John -Cannot for the life of me follow your logic.

The fact that the insurance is on the car not the driver is completely irrelevant. Why would that make cancellation refunds not possible?

Fact is I dont need the insurance(on the car) anymore. Thus the company are not at risk any more, or incurring any risk.

They havent incurred massive set up costs which they need to recover-i,ve had 5 years worth of cover over 2 cars with them.

I,ve found them evasive and they wont put anything in writing.

Sorry-your logic is a non-sequitur. 

Hi John,

Whilst I am happy that you continue to participate in this discussion, I am sorry and dissapointed that you feel you need to take such a sarcastic view of the situation.

I openly admit that I dont know all the answers and rely heavily on others to provide ACCURATE information and not their warped view of how they "think" things are and try and impose onto me their way of thinking. I am not a sheep and I am not one to sit idly by to be told "this is how it is in Spain..suck it up" especially without being fully informed.

As mentioned, if you can provide some SOLID PROOF rather than conjecture you have offered us all then I will indeed consider you to be the wise person you claim to be.

 Fine

 I have been reading with interest and concern

I have one question and hope that due to the subject someone may be able to help

Does anybody know an insurance co that i can contact that will cover me for a commercial venture, car rental?

Many thanks

John