Direct Group Limited Avis 

For over fifteen years we have bought annual travel insurance with this company or at least their previous owners not that we were informed it had changed ownership In December 2019 we went to Disney Paris .... one day into our four day trip we were informed by email our return train had been cancelled due to the biggest General strike in French history ..... it was a nightmare rearranging a train .... only one train available so we had to re purchase tickets ... arrange another hotel for one night ... extra taxi and meals for five people .......around £1600 extra But we weren’t worried as we had travel insurance ........How wrong we were ..... on claiming back home we recieved £120 ..... 4 times £30 for 4 12 hour delays ..... we advised them it wasn’t a delay we were stranded ..... our daughter who travelled with us claimed on her insurance with a much better company and was reimbursed all her expenses and therefore we did get some money back from her.So we made a complaint and finally today June 3rd ..... over six months later we have received a replay from Davies group the parent company of Direct Group stating they are not upholding our complaint and £120 was the amount payable.......what an absolute disgrace of an insurance company .....we assume from their response that we should have hutch hiked home on £60 each !,,,,,

We purchased wedding insurance through Debenhams and soon realised this company were the underwriters. We bought platinum level insurance. Unfortunately, my father (who obviously was going to give me away) died and his funeral was two days before our wedding. As hard as this was, I notified this insurance company of the bereavement, (which is completely covered in our terms and conditions). This company were very sympathetic, yet we soon realised it was and still is an absolute joke. Direct insurance failed on numerous occasions to let us know the status of our claim. I sent hospital records, evidence of payment from our wedding venue (and all the other extras) and could not give them anymore information/evidence. Nearly a year on, we still don’t know the outcome of our claim. Our wedding should have been our dream day. This company has taken so long to even notify us of any progress, that we have had to cancel a second date, incurring further financial loss. It goes without saying, this is now with the FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN. Our solicitor has also been notified and we are ready to take court action pending the result of the Financial Ombudsman. The money we had spent on our wedding was money we had worked so hard for. DO NOT TOUCH THIS COMPANY!!!! They should be ashamed of themselves! We are disgusted with their service and their attitude to our circumstance/claim. I just wish I had seen these reviews before purchasing and not after. Our claim was submitted in July 2019, so just to make this clear, covid-19/lockdown/limited staff has nothing to do with this. Direct Insurance should be investigated, it seems I am not the only one to have had the misfortune of having to deal with this company. Debenhams should also avoid this company too!

I tell anyone to avoid any insurance where these are you underwriters mine was endsleigh. They look for anything not to do a payout , their claim handler on my case called me a lair because I didn't leave open tins of paint and brush's etc out for my young children and cats to get out. I had alot of stuff going on at the time causing stress, I was hardly going to cause more stress for sale of £200 quid. If something is text book then your lying that's what they say, they insist I had something in a position which I hadn't I could have sent before and after pics to prove this. The person they sent out omitted things he was told, has explained why drag mark on carpet ( sofa being moved on wet paint not drying in time). He was offered to be shown the paint etc instead he said no signs of decorating sorry half a wall done and it took a month for them to send someone round from date of making the claim. I read the reviews and thought not everyone would have had bad experiences but I honestly believe all the reviews that has been written. I phoned endsleigh up over a week ago stating I wouldn't be staying with them has its ends next month, told them the reason why then get email saying they not offering me a renewal I couldn't help but laugh.

I obtained wedding insurance, having waited hours once the lockdown happened, I received the claim form. I completed it, never received acknowledgement, after constant chasing the agents kept saying they received my claim. They told me to call them after the day of my would be wedding date only to be told that government lockdown means I am unable to claim any money back. They could of told me this instead of making me wait for months after I submitted my claim. I still yet to receive a letter to confirm my are declining my claim. Cancellation policy states outbreak covers it but then they say they are covered because Boris locked us down!

I have the florist sitting on over £5K and won't give me a penny!!

No emails were answered and had to wait about 50 mins to talk to an agent who was quite rude. I felt like I was trying to ask for a favour when I asking for an update on my claim ( flights cancellation) I submitted the claim 2 months ago and did not even receive an acknowledgement. Unfortunately my broker is dealing with company and I am thinking about changing the broker- forces insurance.

The worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with....and I use the terms 'deal with' loosely as I cannot get hold of anyone via email, phone or registered post. It was very easy to get a claims form from them a fortnight ago. Since then have spent numerous hours on hold, sent tens of emails and had one interaction whereby I was told my email had 'gone into the wrong mailbox' but would be dealt with imminently. That never happened. It's disgusting service and I would urge anyone taking out insurance to check they don't use this claims company. It should be illegal.

Yep all other reviews are right
This company has so many different names- I took phone insurance with them 3 years ago and boy I was not ready for this mee
Recently I actually needed phone repairs and it's a process..... it's much easier to pay repair at a store- you won't save time nor money using this company
Customer service is an absolute JOKE- they collected my phone last week of Feb....it's the 30th of March and they still have itt
They managed to send it to the wrong repair company, then send it back to me, then to the new repair place and somehow it got missing....
Good luck getting any reply from their emails, and when you call the advisor is somehow even less knowledgeable than the last one you spoke to.
You have to pay for shipping and 50 pound every repair, even when the previous repair is the one that caused damage.... A MESS

I wish I could invoice them for the therapy I need for dealing with this absolute scam of a company - not even joking they're giving me a mental breakdown

Taking the company to FOB, rude, no customer service and accusing me of lieing! Make sure you check the underwriter that is it not Direct Group, cannot belieive there are companies out there like this.Appalling.

NEVER AGAIN I now tell my insurance broker to ask if an insurance company use Direct Group if the answer is yes he is instructed to go to a different company
Having a large portfolio of property 2 years ago I decided to switch all my insurance to one company and during the course of this year I had a minor claim for escape of water. Without boring you with details Direct Group have been as much use as a chocolate fire guard.
A complaint will be made on the following 1. lack of knowledge on the part of their advisor 2. Lack of communication 3. Unhelpful attitude. and general attitude of don't care 4.Not being advised if claim had been approved.

This is the most appalling company I have ever come across. My elderly mother had to go into temporary accommodation for 9 weeks whilst essential building work was carried out, and in conjunction with another useless company (Crawfords) a food allowance(through the insurance) was agreed to pay the hotel. However after hours and weeks of telephone calls and emails the nearly £1000 bill has not been paid and my mother had to pay the hotel out of her funeral money. They blatantly lie and obfuscate and all I can say is that they are a bunch of criminal scum. God knows how they are in business. We will be going to the Financial Ombhdsman etc to try and sort it all out. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE THIS COMPANY.

The customer should have a choice where there phone is repaired and not just use the insurance recommended. You want customers to post their phones of to your repairers and have to wait almost a week before they tell you what is required for the repair. For that reason I have canceled my 2 policy's with Gadget Cover and got my phone repaired in 3 hours not a week or so. poor service from
mbx.valid8 directgroup

I only give one star because its required in order to leave feedback.
Claim handlers don't have a clue what they are doing, one email states claim set to pay out, then another stating ' sorry a mistake has been highlighted and payout will not be authorised '
Complaint made and points raised were not even addressed,
Seems the stupid and simple you are willing get you a job in insurance

Beware ! BEWARE ! DO NOT USE ANY INSURANCE BROKER OR INSURANCE COMPANY THAT HAVE DIRECT GROUP AS UNDERWRITERS ! THEY ARE A DISGRACE TO THE HUMAN RACE !HAVING LOST MY FLOOR AND KITCHEN CABINETS IN A WATER LEAK AT THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER they have come back with an amount that they will pay out which would at at stretch cover laying amtico by a qualified person! Never mind the cost of taking a kitchen out , storing it, pulling up sub floor in kitchen through utility hall and downstairs toilet and making good joists that have been damaged and floor boards replacing two cabinets ,new work surfaces tiling that gets damaged when you take out work surfaces refitting kitchen bearing in mind the flooring itself cost over four thousand eighteen years ago and the price of amtico has gone up !They reckon the company they use namely Jacksons can do it all for three thousand when Jacksons alone told me it was a massive job and that you were looking at ,at least eight thousand pounds worth of damage ! Something doesn't add up and alarm bells start ringing so I have registered an official complaint to the Ombudsman and I will wait forty days for the outcome I am also contacting trading standards and citizens advice !

After reading all of these reviews I was pretty terrified I was not going to get a payout for my iphone.
I did have to call and follow up on emails a couple of times, but I dealt with some nice and helpful people and was able to go to an apple store (which is not the norm) and replace the phone and got reimbursed within a week.
No complaints here!

If you could leave no stars I sure would do, I reported my phone lost and I was asked for further information which I supplied after I was asked for further information which again I forwarded over to them as all this information was to hand. I was then informed that the Version of events surrounding my claim was not the same when I first called and that they would need to go back to the first call to clarify this. It was almost a week that went by and I still heard nothing when I was clearly promised that I would have a call back with 48 hours, I had to then chase them consistently until I spoke to there team leading Oscar who went and listened to the call and came back to inform me that the agent that took the call typed the Version of events wrongly and I was quite right to say what I told them from the onset is what had happened.

Worst company ever in regards to customer service, absolutely appalling they never reply to emails that are sent and after all asking how I got his direct number to call him, as I clearly told a member of his staff that I would continuously call his direct number until I get a response and the adviser told me to do so if I wish. I guess he never thought I could get hold of his direct number, hence the reason Oscar himself ask me how did I get it which I told him is totally irrelevant just deal with my claim and send me a replacement handset.

I most definitely will not be recommending this company to anyone and if you do have insurance else where and the claim handlers are direct group run a mile as the service is appalling.

SARAH JAWO

Dealing with Preston claims for a client. As a long standing contractor in trades organisations I have banded a number of companies who are collectively complaining to Ombudsman. These companies will refuse to undertake Insurance work while claims are being handled by Preston claims. Incompetent dishonest charlatans. Check with your Insurance company before engaging to see who handle their claims and avoid them if it is Preston claims in our opinion it will save you a lot of heartache.

Bad company
Do no take any type of insurance out from this company.
I proceeded with a claim for my wedding insurance, I was led to believe that my claim was looking hopeful and that it would be accepted. This claim was declined after 6 months of dragging this out after I had been told this information that there should be no reason it wouldn't be accepted. I have then been advised that this should of been advised to me when first making the claim that my condition was not covered in the terms and conditions. They requested all my medical information when this all could of been avoided at the start. This has therefore made my condition worse as I have been waiting for 6 months to then be told my claim has been declined after having been told by direct group this should be accepted. Also advised that it would of been accepted by the office if it was under £5000 but as the claim was worth £5300 it had to go to the underwriters who then declined. Not happy, do not purchase from this company.

Our experience with Direct Group in regard to our home insurance was absolutely horrendous. I have never known such an obstructive and unhelpful organisation.
E-mails went unanswered (they claimed to have accidentally sent them to the wrong address) and records of previous telephone calls were not taken so there could be no continuity of communication. It was Impossible to meet the retrospective demands that were made by them. My only conclusion is that their policy is to make things as hard as possible in the event of a claim in the hope that people will become so disheartened that they desist in their efforts. This company certainly needs investigation by the Financial Ombudsman Service. In our case the policy was taken out through Nat West and subsequently out-sourced to these people without our knowledge. Our policy will most certainly be cancelled and I would advise anyone thinking of trusting this company with their insurance needs to do some research first.

I had to chase them for a reply to my email after 10 days! That email contained my schedule, address details and name.

They replied to my email chasing them "I do apologise about that, please can you advise us of your policy number, post code and name of insurer and we will have a look into this for you." Even though the email I sent, was in the email chain with all that information on.

After that and the lack of responses from Trice Insurance in regards to Direct Group. I decided to cancel my policy and pay for the repair needed, which was £10 more than my excess.

I do not know about their turn around times and quality of repairers used due to me not going ahead. If they are bad at replying to emails, god knows how they are at everything else.

Lesson to be learnt- use a more reputable company.

Just simply and awful excuse for a company. Claimed on cracked phone screen after paying excess, for them to call me up to saying phone is beyond economical repair and that they'd give me a (lousy) cash settlement to buy a refurbed phone.
When I kindly declined and asked for my phone back along with my excess, they said my phone may have been disposed off and kept interrupting saying they did not understand why I'd refuse the settlement! I should have just gone to my local mobile phone shop and got it repaired there!
Avoid this company at all costs!