I used to be with Aviva many years ago - it was then called "Norwich Union Direct". My wife is still with Aviva and has been with Aviva for last many years but she doesn't shop around for the best deals, which explains it. Recently I bought a 2-year old Nissan MPV and obtained an insurance quote from Aviva, a week before the collection of the car was due from the garage. I was given a great quote by Aviva ("20% online discount" it said on their website homepage). The quote clearly said "this quote is valid for one month" (or thereabouts). I saved the quote, thinking, great, I can make a payment just a day before going to the garage to collect the car. The more experienced amongst you lot have already guessed what I'm going to say next.... Well, the night before I was due to collect the car, I logged on to Aviva website. Recalled the quote and clicked on "Make payment". After entering my passowrd into the secure online-financial transaction website, I saw a message on the wcreen "Sorry, your payment has not been taken. You must phone Aviva to get the insurance cover". Which is what I then did. The lady (not a gentle-lady) from Aviva said "sorry, you need to pay a higher amount (which was much higher)". I said, but the quote was guaranteed. I had the screen-dump as a JPEG file to prove my statement. The lady was in no mood to spare my plight, so I said good bye. Aviva had wasted my precious few days. For a moment, I thought, could it be a conspiracy to cheat the customers (make them pay higher amount by tricking them into wasting a few precious days until they reach the last day). I then started searching around for another quote, totally desperately. I didn't have much success (Three of the insurers on Confused.com could not insure me due to their website issues). I thought for a moment, could it be that all insurance companies deal with a customer ruthlessly if he/she is desperate for a cover to start immediately (I HAD TO GET THE COVER QUICKLY since I could have been fined for not collecting the car!!). Anyhow, I found one insurer who seemed reasonable, a little high on the price but I had to accept. I immediately made a payment. Guess what, five days later, I received an email from Aviva, saying: "WELCOME TO AVIVA. YOUR CAR IS NOW INSURED WITH AVIVA. WE HAVE TAKEN £600 (approx) FROM YOUR ACCOUNT..." I was already short of cash. I obviously complained to Aviva (strongly!). After some initial headache with their customer services, I eventually got treated fairly by an Aviva officer (the ultimate fairness would have been for them to pay the difference back since I had paid much higher amount to the other insurance company, around £110- extra in fact). He said he would refund the whole amount. He apologised and said that he would pay £50- extra for the inconvenience and the long delays caused in the process. He said that the original problem was due to an IT fault with their website and that it had now been put right. I always had SOME respect for Aviva but there are some vicious and extremely, extremely rude staff working for them - so I am not surprised at the 1-star rating for Aviva. By the way, if any of the readers also have the same experience (low initial quote followed by a higher demand at the twelfth hour) then everyone needs to know this...please don't keep quiet. Speak up. May God guide and bless us all.

Good claims service, no hassle and the repair by their approved repairer was very good and prompt. Premium slightly higher than the average.

I have just spoken with an Aviva customer services rep via their 'live chat' service. I mentioned the quotes I had received from competitors and the rep took time to see if they could reduce the renewal price. They offered me a £100 reduction on my annual premium and a £200 reduction on my total excess. This was equal to the best quote I had received elsewhere. After recently receiving terrible customer service from so many companies it is refreshing to have a positive experience.

Very happy with the product, a good rate at todays prices, insurance covered all that I required. Renewal Car Insurance has arrived in plenty of time giving me time to look it over before accepting.

Not the cheapest - could not see them on the aggregators so I went to them direct. But they were cheaper than the big brands on the aggregators. When I was with them before they were brilliant about paying my claim and making sure I was alright when I called them to tell them about the accident. I am sorry I left to go to Diamond.

How can aggregaqtors say they compare the market if Aviva is not there?

Had a small fire caused by ABS wiring and am told they will not cover. They sent an assessor who advised me I shouldn't let my car burn out totally to have it written off. That would have been a sight in my driveway, plus I had a two year old sleeping at the window near the drive.

Very happy and no cause for complaint after 4 or 5 years with both cars insured with them. Now switching to sure cover due to price advantage.

They are great and I've had no bad things to say.
BRILLIANT

You never know how good an insurance company will be until you have a claim. Mine came very quickly after appalling vandal damage to my brand new car (£1500 of repairs). The claim handling was great and the delivery of a rental car to my house was excellent.

However, on checking renewal premiums this year, Norwich Union Direct just aren't competitive. I'm paying £25 less for better cover with Nationwide (Churchill), and all their call centres are in the UK, which preserves British jobs.

I went with Norwich Union Direct as I was not pleased with my other company creeping up with premiums.

I was really pleased to find that they could undercut almost all of the others for the same or similar cover.

Norwich Union Direct Car Insurance are pretty cheap, and an ideal place to insure your car.

Some fantastic value car insurance options from Norwich Union Direct. Just remember to speak very slowly and clearly when phoning customer serice!

I have used Norwich Union Direct Car Insurance for several years now.
I have always found them to be professional, courteous and competitive.
My insurance costs have never risen, they have fallen each year as would be expected.
The monthly payment plans are excellent and they do not overcharge for the option of protecting your no claims bonus.
The only criticism is that in my experience, which only consists of one claim that I have made, is that the wheels seemingly turn slow on processing a claim however, that could just be a one off case and does by no means necessarily reflect there overall performance in this area. Overall, an excellent insurance company, and well worth calling when your insurance is up for renewal. Norwich Union Direct offer much more than just a one off joining discount. This is a company worth staying with year after year.