Prestigeunderwriting Avis 45

Absolutely appalling service. I have an new for old policy paying a large premium for this which means absolutely nothing! I am a 49 woman and this is my very first claim in my life which has been an absolute nightmare. In the grand scheme of things it is a very small claim so goodness knows how they deal with a big claim? 6 weeks now I have had no fridge now (with a family of 4 this is not easy) No mention of replacing my fridge even though I ay a premium for this service, they can't get the parts for my fridge and when they do they get returned to the warehouse so used on another job I'm guessing. I've had three days unpaid off work for appointments for the engineer to come and they haven't showed up with only communication at the end of the day. They gave me £250 compensation (£200 we had already paid excess) so £50 for the trouble so far - insulting! And it is still ongoing and I still have no fridge! Reopening the complaint today. The saga is much longer but if I was to go into full details of all the issues it would be a Very long comment. Just avoid at all costs!

I have been a loyal customer of Prestige for 6 years through a broker as I was living in a thatched cottage and needed specialist insurance.

For all this time I never made a claim and paid them many thousands over this time.

In June my policy came up for renewal. Because I had sold my house I opted to pay monthly as I was due to move in September. I was told that I had to pay 6 month up front the 6 more monthly payments. I paid out an initial £684.90 and then £127.03 in July and £122.03 in August. I then cancelled the policy on 8th September as I had moved.

After chasing a refund of the excess I have paid. The broker advised that all I had been offered was a pathetic £16.00!!
Obviously, my broker thought this was awful and asked Prestige to recalculate. I should be due at least £500.00 refund.

Prestige are quick to take your money but BEWARE they don't want to give you any money back that they owe you if you have to cancel the policy due to moving.

As far as I am concerned they are thieves, as they are holding money that is due back to me.

DON'T use this company as you will have to badger and badger to get anything back that you are owed. I am very upset with this situation and am still having to chase my broker every week, who then tells me that Prestige aren't getting back to them.

I was seeking insurance for a large property and went through an insurance broker. The policy quote they obtained was from Prestige Underwriting. We spent a long time completing all the necessary details online and on the phone with the helpful person at the broker but it then had to be referred to the underwriters - ie Prestige Underwriting - to confirm. The underwriter came back saying the property is in a high risk area for subsidence and so they would offer a policy but with no subsidence cover. Now this is potentially a serious matter as you have been declined insurance for this risk. I am a scientist/ engineer and I knew this was not true, so I paid online myself for a detailed property subsidence report from Groundsure which uses all available datasources, particularly British Geological Survey and other data. This confirmed that our property is in a low or negligible risk area for all aspects of ground conditions that can cause subsidence. So the agent acting for the underwriter was either incompetent or possibly deceitful, neither of which are good. So I then read the other reviews on Trustpilot and decided to take my business (a policy costing annually over £2000) elsewhere!

Do everything they can to not payout promptly and have no sympathy for the customer regardles of whether they will pay. Makes a bad situation worse.

The best thing I ever did was to cancel this policy. Prestige are to be avoided at all costs and no don't send me your automated response of wishing to resolve this, cos you won't and actually I don't want any money from you now. This is scamming by any other name. Just awful on an unprecedented scale

This is apparently the underwriter my insurance company now use and are the reason my home insurance renewal quote this year is £1,986.06 compared with last years cost of £346. Staggering doesn't cover it! Needless to say I have gone elsewhere!

Update - It seems Aviva and their data is the issue!

We had two consecutive storms in January 2024 that caused water to leak from an outer building into my kitchen via a window frame. Prestige appointed Chris Morris from C R Morris Roofing, who conducted a quick ground-level assessment and attributed the damage to wear and tear rather than storm damage. He even googled photos of building supplies to support his assessment.

Months passed without any updates, so I chased Prestige for the outcome, only to be told my claim was refused. When I requested a report as per my solicitor's ask, I received one from Karina King, a CRO at Prestige, which stated that the weather data she pulled didn’t meet the policy criteria of 55 mph winds.

Unconvinced, I accessed archived weather data from the local airport station, which clearly showed that the wind speed met the policy’s requirements. I’ve now engaged solicitors to handle this matter, and I’m hopeful for a resolution.

It’s incredibly disappointing that insurance companies seem more focused on manipulating the system—paying surveyors and underwriters to deny claims—than on supporting their clients in times of need.

Appaling service. Refused to pay out for roof repairs despite us suffering a months rain fall in one day a few weeks after a named storm with horrific winds that caused the delay of a local music festival so was obviously not a coincidence. Bizarrely asked if anyone was vulnerable in the house too before telling us that they wasn't paying out (obviously the fact there was made no difference). Made even more confusing that after a couple of years payments with no claims they want to double our premiums?!? Currently in communication with local mp and contacting ombudsman too but stunned at how bad this company are.

Update to your reply…the situation has been resolved by our very helpful brokers and the third party insurance company…no thanks to you lot…our brokers have been instructed not to place any of our 16 policies with prestige in future….absolutely disgraceful behaviour from your staff.
WARNING TO ANY LANDLORDS LOOKING TO TAKE OUT BTL INSURANCE.
This company insured one of out BTL properties,we recently as the result of a road traffic accident had a car demolish our garden wall and 6ft hedge coming to rest in the bay window.
We were given the details of the car that ended up in the garden…however it appears it was another drivers fault…who admitted guilt to the police and his own insurer’s at the time…the first insurance company called me after 12 days to advise I ask my home insurers to contact them so they could pass on the 3rd part insurance details.I contacted Prestige who flatly and rudely refused to get involved unless I put a claim through on my own house insurance.under pressure I agreed,when I spoke to my broker they were fuming they gave me excellent advice which I followed and through the police have now been able to speak to the 3rd party insurance company who have accepted the claim in full.I contacted prestige to cancel the claim,four hours later I get a message from Sedgwicks asking for details….they have now cancelled the claim.absolutely horrendous service from prestige,rude unhelpful,and down right incompetent.DONT USE

Appalling service as Underwriters to Saga Home Insurance. An electrical fire at our property 18 months ago has still not been sorted financially.Their appointed Loss Adjuster did not investigate and it was left to us to obtain the independant Fire Report under Freedom of Information.Final Recovery Letter backdated 3 months!
Would not touch with a bargepole.

Beyond awful, have been treated abominably by Prestige and the terrible loss adjuster they use. Customer service is non-existent and they use multiple nonsensical excuses not to pay out. They have dragged out our claim for months to the renewal point so we can’t even leave; it’s still not resolved. Currently pursuing a case with the ombudsman. Would give minus stars if I could- save yourself the stress and heartache and avoid!

I have used a certain company for home and contents insurance for decades, without complaint, (also having one claim in 24 years).However, when my renewal came in, it had increased by nearly one thousand percent. The underwriters were Prestige. I have no idea how they can justify this rise in cost. If they can charge this amount for no reason, I would be extremely wary of using them for any insurance purposes, especially as I was able to go to another far more realistically priced insurance company with no problem.

If I could give a no star review I would, make life very difficult to claim, you have to do all the paperwork and they try to split hairs and try to wriggle out of paying what you insured for, a complete waste of time and money, Avoid at all cost, it’s better to go with a different Insurer and at least they will pay up should the need arise, not like this cowboy outfit

Worst home insurance I’ve ever had to deal with, you call them regarding no lights in property working they say yes this is something we can sort for you get a contractor round the contractor does a report on what needs doing, and they then turn round and say oh no sorry you have to go private even though I’m covered to get repairs from electricians and plumbers up to £1000, went private and the job cost £200 and was sorted within an hour , can’t wait to cancel when my contract ends!! Has happened multiple times with different things aswell

A truky awful underwriter and company If I could give a minus rating that would be more apt for this company .
Did not meet their liability and advised a disabled person to enter a legal dispute with a neighbour
The loss adjuster the used is just as bad .Use a reputable large company and don't waste you money or time Prestige .
The internal complaints procedure is only useful if you want to take it to the Insurance ombudsman .
The worst underwriters I've ever used in 30 years .Avoid at all costs .

Avoid at any cost!!!
I've had one claim on my life and unfortunately with Prestige Underwriting! My doors were damaged and I was told that I could choose any supplier to fit the new door and the VAT will be refunded to me after the job is invoiced. I have a call recorded confirming this, but unfortunately, they changed their mind after the job was finished and didn't pay nearly £400 in VAT which was promised. The complaint department wasn't interested in my call recording and just dismissed the fact that I was misinformed.

My car wouldnt start, and I needed the breakdown assistance team. The line was very busy but answered in 5 minutes. A very pleasant girl asked me all the necessary questions, she told me someone would be out to me in an hour. Just less than an hour help came, sorted the car out very quickly. Cannot complain about prestige service for breakdown. thank you

We have insured with Prestige for many years, through a brokers, Insurance Services. Today we received a letter saying that our insurance cover, renewable in nine days time, would not be provided, owing (we later discovered through ringing the brokers) to flood threats. For their information, there was a flood here in 1949 which didn't affect our property. Since then, elaborate flood protection of all sorts has been built. So: a very unconvincing reason for cancelling the cover AND hardly any notice to get another insurer (over Christmas, too, when there is - wel - rather a lot to do). We are really angry with Prestige and will be sending a very stiff letter to them for this shocking treatment. It turns out that they were asked by the brokers whether they could insure us for a further year over two weeks BEFORE they deigned to reply that they couldn't. A rubbish way to treat their customers.

I've put in a claim for water damage to be told that it's gone to the underwriters because I did not disclose 3 claims. As they were just claim enquiries not claims I didn't put them down.they say I should have disclosed any enquiries as they count as claims. I never heard that this is the case and on their form it states claims not enquiries. They are basically calling me a lair when the wording on their online form is completely misleading.

Awful company. I bought a new car and also moved address. When I updated my policy details I was.charged around £90 for the change of car which you would expect. What you would not expect is an increase of over £320 for a change of address for the remaining 7 months of my policy. What makes it worse is the 2 addresses are in the exact same village about 200m apart. There is no justification at all for this other than the fact they know you are trapped in the policy. I will not be having any dealings with this company again and will be escalating the matter to the Ombudsman if I don't get a satisfactory resolution.