usless if you have an accident

Appalling - in a word. I was insured with dial direct (underwritten by HSBC) for 9 years. When my car was stolen in a burglary June I thought they would act promptly in view of my loyalty and that I had until then never made a claim. It took til November to get a no from them, their reason being because they didn't steal the keys. An absolute insult, they treat the victims of crime as the perpetrators of crime.

Possibly the worst experience I have ever had with any customer relations / claims department ever - After around 6 months we are still trying to get the claim paid - The call centre is rubbish the staff unhelpful beyond imagination and feedback on the claim process non existent - Im at the point now of accepting the loss just to avoid dealing with them again . Total catastrophe of a company - Its suprising because HSBC banking division is extremeley effective and has very high standards - I advise everyone to steer clear of this based on my experiences .

HSBC Car insurance
Negative
Poor quality of service - does not respond telephone, very difficult to contact over the weekend (24/7 number),they promise but never called back, no transparency, does not address issues, does not give response in time about what they will do.
Positive
It was cheaper that other car insurance companies

full story
I had a car insurance with HSBC. After I had an accident (not at my fault), in another country in Europe (that was covered by my policy) I found extremely difficult to contact them over the phone. The 24 hours number given on the policy, actually is not a 24 hours number. I called several times from a foreign country, from Friday night (time of my accident) and managed to report the accident just on Monday morning. (I spend around £100 just phoning them -no exaggeration!!!). It took a long time for them to answer the phone (0845 number). HSBC staff promised that they will call back but they never did!!! (and it happened a few times - it is not an exception it is a rule). HSBC refused to give me a courtesy car because my car was not in their approve garage. I accept that this is in the policy, however I was blocked in a foreign country for about a week with all my languages waiting an answer from HSBC - they should have told me from the first day that a courtesy car will not be provided. I ended up with no support at all from my insurance company which is unacceptable bearing in mind that I had a fully comprehensive insurance. They have no procedures or policy that you can access in cases like that - which suggest to me that there is a lack of transparency. I complained in writing, they responded within the time scale, sending a very polite letter but they have not addressed any of the issues described above. In my personal experience they caused me much more stress than the actual accident. I would never use them again. I learnt that it is worth paying more for a car insurance and receive a better service.

Started as I am a HSBC premier customer and they promised to beat price of my renewal by at least 10%. THink HSBC are an extreamly good personal banking company. All fine to start with until 15days after started cover (14 day money back cancellation) when they started asking for all sorts of details from my last company or they would remove my discount price making their policy more than double the price of anyone else. They wanted copy of renewl notice including price, cover type, no claims, bonuses, legal cover etc etc. Its so they match their cover to that of the old. However, I had shredded some of the old details as no longer with Admiral so paperwork not relavant - no end of trouble, they seem to mis read and misunderstand anything I send them. On the phone they seem happy with what I tell them & send. Then 1 week later receive a rudely written letter, which hardly makes sense, requiring either repeat or more information. Its, conveinely for them, too late to cancel and get a refund. Definatly will not be with them next year... back to Admiral. Admiral have been very good & sympathetic providing copies of what HSBC are requiring even though I am no longer a customer of them. They have never heard of such requests from any other company! Avoid HSBC car insurance (and house for that matter) like the plague.

Absolutely disgusting. After being hit by a driver going through a red light who then failed to stop, I was left with a written off car and the claim on my policy. HSBC were disgraceful. Firstly you can never get hold of anybody on the phone, secondly they never call you back when they say they will. Because the accident occurred over xmas and they had no courtesy cars left I was lied to and told I was not entitled to one, it turns out after a formal complaint that I was. They tried to deduct 10% off my final settlement becuase I had not had my car serviced with Ford every 12 months, again, they only back tracked after a complaint was made. There was no customer service and no explanation of what would happen. My experience with them was worse than the trauma of the accident. I would NEVER insure with them again or recommend them to anybody, even if they were £100 or more cheaper.

HSBC's approach to their customers and the service they provide is utterly dreadful. I have never been treated with such disregard by any company or corporation. Ever. It is their responsibility to provide an unrivalled service to keep customers from 'defecting' to its competitors. It's little wonder HSBC, not only as insurers, but as underwriters, are in little favour among so many reviews. Most of them bad. Really bad. My current claim (an 'own fault' incident) began a month ago, and I have established little, if no response from HSBC, in helping to resolve the issues I've raised with them, nor realising the possibility of wether my car will be repaired any time in the near future. The Insurance Ombudsman have been informed, and are pursuing this case with vigor. I would never dissuade people, in part or in whole, to make the right choice when considering the issue of car insurance. It's entirely up to the individual and their needs. But I would certainly consider looking elsewhere. Cheap isn't necessarily the best.

worst experience by far! hsbc car insurance customer service is extremely poor, always put me on hold for ages and no answer. i paid a fortune on my phone calls when making my claim and after thousand calls they still said no claim was being raised! they don't even bother to ring you back when they promised to. i would never be with them again ever and i would warn other people be careful and think twice before taking out any insurance with hsbc car insurance.

HSBC Car Insurance customer service has been diabolical.
unhelpful
rude
sarcastic
giving out incorrect information
TOTAL WASTE OF SPACE

Absolutely appalling customer service from HSBC Car Insurance. Made a very stressful situation after a car accident infinitely more stressful. Never kept us informed, calls cut off when been on hold for 15 mins at a time and generally unsympatetic and unsupportive. Have now filed formal complaint and will be pursuing with Ombudsman..and would certainly never use them again!!!

Every time i try to ring HSBC Car Insurance to make an adjustment they palm me off to differant departments and they aren't ever open, i have tried now 3 times but every time they come up with diff opening hours. I will never ever insure with them again, contacting hours

We had to claim with them. Minor damage resulted in our car being off the road for 6 months in an HSBC approved garage, our complaints passed from one person to the next, our phone calls cut off or not answered, culminating in us now discovering, upon trying to sell our car, that HSBC registered it as stolen at the time of the claim and never removed it from the stolen car register. Que another round of call centres, being hung up on, kept on hold for an hour etc etc - will we ever be able to sell out car???!!!! DO NOT USE HSBC.