Swiftcover - any experience?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Mon 7 Dec 2009 20:57
Swiftcover - any experience? - Andy P
It's that time again - the letter from Direct Line dropped through the letter box and, surprise surprise, it's gone up. So, a quick check around and up pops Swiftcover - nearly £200 cheaper.

Question is, are they any good or are they "cheap and cheerful" but rubbish?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 21:05
Swiftcover - any experience? - b308
I use them, but have never had to claim as yet, which is when you tend to find out if they are any good!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 21:11
Swiftcover - any experience? - Falkirk Bairn
Swiftcover can have very high excesses

From memory of a quote they wanted compulsory £300+voluntary £250 = £550
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 21:17
Swiftcover - any experience? - b308
£100 on mine, TPFT, 1997 Polo
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 21:37
Swiftcover - any experience? - bathtub tom
SWMBO switched to them last year.

This year they've contacted her a couple of months before expiry to point out her credit card has expired!

I presume they depend on inertia to get renewal premiums, or just grab the money from the credit card.

I did find they charge extra for a hard copy of the certificate. That could be a disadvantage for those that renew their tax at a PO if the PO won't accept a self-printed certificate.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 21:48
Swiftcover - any experience? - adam f
I have been with them for 2 years. I print my certificate in colour and have never had a problem at the PO. Had to make a claim for my windscreen in August and they were brilliant.
There online "help" team are brilliant and usually reply to emails within 4 hours.

I would recommend them.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 22 Mar 2016 07:19
Swiftcover - any experience? - mariakatosvich

i think swiftcover is the best. My boyfriend was with swiftcover for two years and i must say, their customer service was awesome, and call centres overseas with overseas people on the phone lines so sometimes it was easy to communicate. moreover their complaints team were excellent. Based in the UK and very swift with problems. i Had my reason to complain twice and they acknowledged, accepted and sent a very reasonable compensation offers.

Edited by Avant on 22/03/2016 at 10:17

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 24 Mar 2016 17:22
Swiftcover - any experience? - concrete

I used them several years ago, but changed, as most years because of new competitive quotes. I must say though I had a claim for a cracked windscreen which they covered without a problem, so full marks for honouring the claim. Pity Autoglass weren't as good and had to refit the screen : Twice!!! Hey Ho.

Cheers Concrete

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 21:46
Swiftcover - any experience? - Mike H
Saved a lot of money on my son's insurance, but again, never claimed on it. The car is only worth £500, so if we save £400 on insurance over 2 years we're happy!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 22:25
Swiftcover - any experience? - merganser
I've used them for several years now and have had no problems, though haven't had to claim. Contrary to my experience with other insurers, the renewal quotation has always been the cheapest or comparable to the next best quotes. My premium actually fell this year!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 22:22
Swiftcover - any experience? - safedriver
It's that time again - the letter from Direct Line dropped through the letter box
and surprise surprise it's gone up. So a quick check around and up pops Swiftcover
- nearly £200 cheaper.



Same thing happened to me with the same two companies, although the difference wasn't so much.

First of all, check the excesses and any extras like legal expenses are the same, then call Direct Line. If they can, they will match, or get close to a competitor's price. It worked for me, anyway.

Good Luck
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 22:35
Swiftcover - any experience? - ifithelps
...then call Direct Line. If they can, they will match...

Had a similar experience.

I called Direct Line to cancel after signing up elsewhere and they were very keen to match the other quote.

Bit late, now, I thought, and I had already set everything up with the new company.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Dec 2009 23:30
Swiftcover - any experience? - diddy1234
I have used Swiftcover (not made a claim though).

Very helpful. Cheap

Had to make a claim for a windscreen and they were very good.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Dec 2009 03:13
Swiftcover - any experience? - retgwte
been with them a few years now

good : being able to print your insurance certificate directly from the web, saves hassle of waiting for it to arrive in the post etc

good : price can be good for some car/driver combinations

bad : claim service is terrible, absolutley dire

so takes your pic and makes your choices

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Dec 2009 10:24
Swiftcover - any experience? - Clanger
Been with Swiftcover for 2 cars for nearly 4 years. I don't remember if I visited the Backroom confessional a couple of years ago to mention that I lost the gardening trailer off the hitch and damaged a parked Audi A4 estate to the tune of £2200 (value of claim which I assume includes a hire car). They coughed up pretty quickly and I saw the car later looking pristine.

Their description of the incident was "Admitted fault at scene" which is inaccurate. There was no-one about and I left my details under the A4's wiper.

If you miss your renewal date as I foolishly did, Swiftcover don't take prisoners either. Complete reapplication and cost more than the renewal invitation.

On balance, I would continue to use them.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Dec 2009 10:34
Swiftcover - any experience? - 832ark
Just had to cancel my cover with them due to them not being able to cover my new car. (MR2 Turbo) Very helpful, asked for details of the new car - confirmed that they could not cover so waived cancellation charge. Will look at them again in the future with other cars.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Dec 2009 12:43
Swiftcover - any experience? - Chris M
A former colleague had his car written off whilst parked in the road outside work. Third party remained at the scene and the police were called. No doubt who was at fault and an absolutely strightforward case, but it took nearly six weeks for Swiftcover to pay out.

Regarding the comments on here concerning windscreen claims being handled well. What is there not to handle well? I've had a couple of windscreen claims over the years. It's a case of phone Autoglass, they come and fix. Move on, matter forgotten. No need to contact insurane company at all.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Dec 2009 10:59
Swiftcover - any experience? - Roly93
Both me and my wife are now on swiftcover as they trounced everyone else on all of the comparison sites. They were significantly cheaper than Directline who I had used for years.

Its true that the excess is high, but my view is that on cars like we have, it doesn't take much of a bump to make the excess like like loose change anyway.

However as others have pointed out we have never claimed yet, but cannot see that they would truly be any different to all the other companies which advertise on the telly. They should all be underwritten by the same people anyway.

I think Swiftcover are just persuing a strategy of gaining maximum market-share rather than the highest margins.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Dec 2009 11:03
Swiftcover - any experience? - Roly93
It's that time again - the letter from Direct Line dropped through the letter box
and surprise surprise it's gone up.

<<
Thats the infuriating thing about insurance companies, they try this on with everyone hoping we will just renew and not shop around, and hey presto instant extra profit from 1000's of people.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Dec 2009 11:51
Swiftcover - any experience? - theterranaut
I too discovered that they were cheapest on a comparison site, but the devil was in the detail. They wouldn't offer a PNCD to me (I had made a claim 2 years ago when an unknown someone slammed a supermarket trolley into the sill of my car). And the excess was- excessive.

tt
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Dec 2009 12:07
Swiftcover - any experience? - doctorchris
Swiftcover were the cheapest for me last year, especially as I got about £20 cashback through Quidco.
Excess is £250.
They have sent the renewal notice out nice and early this year, about a month before renewal, giving plenty of time to look for other quotes.
Their renewal is still the best. If I changed to LV at a similar figure I could get £20 cashback but I can't really be bothered and you wait 3 months for the cashback anyhow.
However, despite no changes in my circumstances, the premium is up by about 25%. I've heard that car insurance premiums are rocketing, is this the experience of others?
No idea about claiming as I haven't had to do that.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Jun 2010 11:24
Swiftcover - any experience? - Pedantic

They are cheap but this comes at a cost and, yes, I think they're rubbish. I thought - "I haven't had a claim for 11 years, so what's the harm in changing insurers?" Big mistake. I had to claim almost as soon as my new policy started because of an accident on the way back from the garage with my new car. Phoning them costs 35p per minute to a premium rate number - £12 to date - and although the website mentions this, no-one you at Swiftcover tells you that you will pay through the nose if you return their call when they leave you a voicemail which is downright dishonest. They also don't really seem to have a clue about what's in the interests of their customers and are very slow at getting back to you by email - although this is their preferred method of communication (hence the expensive phone calls). I will never use them again.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 7 Jun 2010 14:03
Swiftcover - any experience? - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}

SWMBO is insured with them. A large (£2000) 'no fault' claim has recently gone through and the car is now on the road again.

I assisted when things got tricky, but she found them to be very helpful in processing the claim and sorting out a hire car while hers was in the workshop. The maximum liability for the 3 weeks of hire car (to be recovered from the impacting party, currently being prosecuted), under a separate Angel insurance, was carefully explained to be £150. She will not lose the NCB.

Been in touch recently (by phone) over a couple of other changes to the policy and got satisfactory responses.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Jun 2010 21:14
Swiftcover - any experience? - gadgie

Recently asked them to cover an additional vehicle for a short period but when I told them the vehicle was 1991H, they refused, but could not tell me why. Then the renewal papers came in, and in the small print it tells me that they no longer give cover for business use by estate agents,so since I am a solicitor/estate agent, I could not risk renewing. The premium had of course also gone up, despite no claims.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Jun 2010 23:40
Swiftcover - any experience? - sydney the oz

Wouldn't return to them for any premium, however low. Claims service very poor, garage involved refused to deal with them afterwards because of how they felt they were treated. Didn't do what was 'said on the tin'. Classic case of 'buyer beware' with low prices.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Jun 2010 22:32
Swiftcover - any experience? - Halmer

You wont be covered if you take a courtesy car whilst your car is in the garage.

Need to read the small print to see how they keep the cost so low. Having said that both our cars are with them.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Jun 2010 23:06
Swiftcover - any experience? - Hamsafar

Atrocious! Someone hit me in a car-park a few years ago when I was with them. I had legal cover, they never even bothered to chase the other person's insurance or recover uninsured losses. There claims service was very amateurish. Worst of all was their approved garage, which after three weeks all they had done was sandpaper the damage and spray a scratched wheel in grey primer and lacquer over the top! (no silver paint). This was after paying a surprise visit to them after all sorts of cock and bull stories about the car baking in ovens and being nearly ready. Rubbish! In the end I got it repaired elsewhere and sent them the bill.

Edited by Hamsafar on 11/06/2010 at 23:07

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 12 Jun 2010 07:31
Swiftcover - any experience? - LucyBC
Someone hit me in a car-park a few years ago when I was with them. I had legal cover, they never even bothered to chase the other person's insurance or recover uninsured losses. There claims service was very amateurish.

This would have been a non- fault claim in which case the claim should be made directly against the third party insurers. It sounds as though the other vehicle was identified in which case I would have obtained their insurance details from the MID and filed the claim directly against them for your damage and uninsured losses. You would also get a courtesy car.

There is no need to use Swiftcover's claims handlers in cases like this, nor indeed their approved garage.

It becomes slightly more complex if the other driver is uninsured because then it becomes a Motor Insurers Bureau claim so even though you are not at fault you get lumbered with a £300 excess. However you are still normally better paying it rather than making an insurance claim if you have a standard policy with a policy excess and a half decent no claims bonus.

In fact most non-fault claims are better not made through your insurer - particularly if there is a dispute over liability. Yours and your insurer's interests are not necessarily the same and your interests are certainly not the same as the insurer of the at-fault third party.

I could go on about the (lack of) value and poor quality of most motor legal insurance policies here - and indeed whether they are insurance at all - but it's Saturday and I can smell bacon sandwiches - so I won't.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 12 Jun 2010 12:00
Swiftcover - any experience? - Hamsafar

Thank you LucyBC. Very good advice. The other party did not appear to be insured, and I would have expected Swift to have sent the driver or registered keeper a bill, or taken them to court but they just said that they were not insured. I refused to pay the £250 excess, but was still £110 out of pocket as I had the repair done for £110 elsewhere, and was going to have the wheels refurbished anyway. While you may ask why such minor damage was being claimed for, it was because the other driver did not appear trustworthy (and indeed this was proven to be the case).

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 12 Jun 2010 07:09
Swiftcover - any experience? - LucyBC

You wont be covered if you take a courtesy car whilst your car is in the garage.

Need to read the small print to see how they keep the cost so low. Having said that both our cars are with them.

True on a fault claim but if it is non-fault then the claim is against the third party and we would usually deal direct with them not with Swiftcover. Meaning you would get liability assessment and liability dispute support, a like-for-like car repair management and legal recovery of any losses without having to deal with their claims handlers. Consequently any shortcomings in the Swiftcover policy would not be apparent.

As you say they are very cheap.

Perhaps they are an insurance company for particularly good drivers who don't have fault accidents? :-)

Edited by LucyBC on 12/06/2010 at 07:10

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 19 Jun 2010 00:35
Swiftcover - any experience? - Ditso

Been with Swift for the last 3 years based pureley on price. Not had a claim, but they have been helpful when it came to adding my daughter to the policy etc.

I do like that you can just go online and print off the Docs.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 12 Feb 2015 13:13
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - jasper345

I'm the one in the family who deals with car repairs etc, this includes insurance claims so i'm not new to the insurance repair process and have dealt with many different insurers.....usually they are reasonably efficient, no-one expects perfection.

Had reason to make a claim for my own car insured with Swiftcover....OMG ! Try calling the claims line before you buy the insurance! Better make a sandwich and switch it to speaker phone so you can get on with your life while you wait and wait and wait.

When you finally get through they bounce you between themselves, Vizion network [?] and the actual repairer.....no one ever calls you back and only the repairer answers the phone in less than 20mins!

Also they insist you take the car [in my case across the city 1hr] to get an estimate and then leave with the damaged car while they take a week to decide what to do, doesn't matter if you paid for a courtesy car.

Nothing swift about Swiftcover...if you're ever going to use them make sure you got the cover really, really, really cheap!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 12 Feb 2015 13:58
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - oldroverboy.

Do not adjust your details when you are getting a quote as if you do it too much it will refuse to quote you!!!!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 12 Feb 2015 17:58
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - Chris M

Lots of companies will now do that. OK to fiddle about with things like excesses and optional extras, but they take a dim view of drivers changing postcodes, claims experience and the like. Makes them uneasy!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 13 Feb 2015 12:13
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - Sulphur Man

I heard they now offer 20% discount if you use a dashcam. Thats not bad, considering a dashcam costs aroun £70 these days. Can anyone verify that?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 13 Feb 2015 12:58
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - Gibbo_Wirral

Adrian Flux do, but only on the following cameras:

• ChilliBongo
• ForView FHX 2000 & FHX 1000
• Auto Eye UK
• MI Witness HD Camera
• Black Vue – 380 & 400 G.HD
• VCAM
• IPIXI
• Next Base InCarCam – Lite / Deluxe / Professional Models
• SmartCam2
• Smart Witness Cameras
• Exeros HD Car Cameras -l HD 1080P model within built speed camera detection
• Roadhawk Forward Facing DC1
• Novus System – View I Ruby and Silver Systems
• TTW Black Vue Cameras
• Phantom Cameras
• Silent Witness – SW010

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 22 Mar 2016 21:17
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - Halmerend
Excellent until you have to make a claim. Fail to reply to emails, dreadful at answering the phone.

I left them after my one and only claim.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 22 Mar 2016 21:37
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - Falkirk Bairn

Most insurers are the same - they take your money & you only find out how good / bad they are if you claim - they may have a high satisfaction level in surveys BUT it is how your claim is dealt with that is important.

Son was insured with Large Direct Insurer - BUMP up the back - the insurer insisted on their preferred bodyshop. The colour match was done by Stevie Wonder.

He refused the car and the Insurer said it was his problem with the garage and they sloped off. After all the all costs would be recovered from 3rd party BUT they just refused to bring their preferred supplier into line

Renewal was a month away & my son sloped off to another insurer....

Winston Wolf must have had a month off!!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Apr 2016 22:16
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - sydney the oz

My wife had a Swiftcover policy and had to make a claim. She was treated with disdain and general rudeness. The Bodyshop invoived also were treated the same way. She did not renew and would never go back.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Apr 2016 02:30
Nothing swift about Swiftcover - diddy1234

I had swift cover once. never again.

I had a renewal letter two weeks before it ended from them so phoned up and asked if they could do a better deal. they couldn't so I said that I will let the insurance finish and go else where.

Unknown to me at the time they cancelled my policy there and then.

A day after I arranged a new insurance cover to start on the day it supposedly ran out, I get a cheque in the post from swift cover of £11 for the last two weeks insurance

So for nearly two weeks I drove a car without any insurance what so ever.

Luckily I did not get pulled by the police but where would I stand if I did get pulled ?

It would have been my word against theirs and I know who would have lost

Reply | Report as offensive | Link