Direct Line Home Insurance Reviews

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Direct Line Home Insurance
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Latest Reviews

“Direct Line shocking customer service ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by SPinder74 on 27/01/2024

I have had Home insurance for 15+ years with Direct Line and had never put a claim in before , In October last year we had high winds and a large part of cladding came loose and blew off the back of our house causing water damage to kids bedroom and rain water coming through a spotlight in the kitchen Long story short we had to wait 4 weeks after my initial call only to be told the wind in my general area was 'only' 52mph not 55mph which it needs to be in order to be classed as 'storm damage' The winds were high enough to do the damage , plus the reading was not taken from my house!! In the 4 weeks of waiting , chasing up etc the damage got worse , i had to pay almost £4,000 to fix everything with Christmas just around the corner , Check your policy as even though we were only 3 mph under , the matter of fact attitude from Direct Line was really disappointing to say the least. Needless to say my home insurance , wife's car and 2 daughters cars are not being renewed with this company , very poor customer service and lack of common sense considering the money we spend each year with them

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“Horrendous Organisation ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by SMcKernan on 04/01/2023

Absolutely dreadful experience when seeking Home Insurance as their Underwriters do not cover parts of N.Ireland but have happily took my annual fees for vehicle insurance. Will Not be renewing any other policies and taking my business elsewhere.

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“Useless company, sounds brilliant until you try to...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Lyons166 on 15/10/2022

I am still waiting 4 weeks for them to sort out an accident I had with my glass hob. They have appointed two different claim accessors who want the same details. Going at a snails pace!!!!!!! Thank god I had the funds to temporarily replace this otherwise we would have died from starvation. I guess that's their aim to annoy people so they get fed up and give up. Well think again Direct line I am going to wait untill you do what you say!!!!! Replace the item like for like.NEVER EVER USE THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU HAVE MONEY TO GIVE AWAY..

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“Paid my claim”

★★★★★

written by Pusser49 on 10/08/2022

I managed to lose an expensive watch whilst away from home. Filled in the necessary claim online with as much detail as possible. The claim was accepted without any hassle and I received a voucher for the replacement value. Now wearing my replacement watch and very happy.

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“You can hide as much as you can but I shall not let...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by mrssavitaehdev on 16/06/2022

You can hide as much as you can but I shall not let you both get away with my hard earning money and not doung anything about my gutter which is damaged by heavy wind/storm. If you cant than simple refund my money. I shall not let you to enjoy my money simple cheated the disable home. which I will not allow you . so both of you decided refunding or providing the service. I found out this Insurance is the biggest liar/cheater.money grabber from poor peoples. I have decided not to let you sit in peace till money refund or do something about gutter which I reported in May the 15. Penny no matter where you hide and enjoying old people money. I shall not let you any more I shall fight till end and will not be quite like some poor customers are suffering and sitting quielty. i shall not and will insist you to refund my money or provide service. dare hiding with peoples money.

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“Disappointing ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Nikkiferg01 on 07/10/2021

I have had home insurance with Direct Line for a few years now and after getting a quote from Compare the Market, Direct Line came out best for me. When I tried to take out the policy it referred me back to DL as I already have a policy with them. After taking all my information again DL quoted me £70 more. When I complained I was transferred to sales who advised that they couldn't find my quote and I would have to give all my information again and it was likely the quote would still be the same and there was nothing more they could do. I cannot believe I was penalised for being a current customer. Needless to say, I took a policy put with a different provider. When it comes to renewal of my home insurance I will not continue with Direct Line. Very very disappointing!!!

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Customer_Team's Response to Nikkiferg01's Review

Written on: 08/10/2021

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. Unfortunately we believe it is a case of mistaken identity for us. If you have a Dial Direct policy that you would like to discuss, please contact our Customer Service Team and request to speak with the Social Media Team.

Thanks,
Dial Direct Social Media Team

Reply to this comment
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“Dont believe what they tell you on TV!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by kevintaylor83 on 01/05/2020

Dont believe what they tell you on TV! They will try every way not to pay out. My boiler has broken down, which I ended up with a £1600 bill that Direct Line didnt want to pay, as the water was merky in the boiler! They blamed that on a split Pressure Vessel! So Ive gone back to Towergate Insurance! So pleased I didnt move the rest of my portfolio over to DL!!! Stay well away!

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“THIS COMPANY RUDE UNHELPFUL TERRIBE STAFF AVOID ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Mugg1970 on 30/04/2019

Plsese Plsese avoid this company just money down the drain Not interested when you make a claim do all they can to put not to help you

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“Bereavement ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 19/02/2018

Sadly Direct Line Home Insurance don’t have a bereavement team to deal with queries on existing policy’s.. There is no option when you call through to their call centre. You need to explain everything, even after receipt of a death certificate. There are not interested in waiting on Probate/Confirmation like other company’s for final outstanding payments. No bereavement period allowed. Their customer, was an eldetly gentleman who was a loyal customer with them for over 10yrs, to say he would be disappointed at this treatment is an understatement. Such a shame. I have insurance policy’s due for renewal, I won’t be going to them, that’s for sure.

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“Landlords don't waste your time!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by 1968Black on 28/01/2018

Tried to get an online quote but for some reason wouldn't let me so rang them directly. After almost 30 minutes on the phone was told that the property was a flood risk (tiny stream 50 metres from property)......Poor service. Don't waste your time.

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“Left me with the repair bill when I was rear ended ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by RobertBM on 09/01/2018

I have been with Direct Line for my car insurance for many years (as has my partner) even though they have never been the cheapest. This was because I thought it would be wise to be insured by a well known brand who I thought I could trust. As lovely as the staff It is something I will NEVER do it again. Last year my car was hit from behind when stationary by another vehicle ( I had dash cam) and this was reported the same day to Direct Line. The operated took a detailed description of the incident and assured me that because I was stationary and hit from behind I was not at fault. Having been told this I went through the claim process and handed over the £300 excess to get my vehicle repaired. Six months on I phoned them to enquire as to what progress they had made. I was told the other driver was insured but the company who he was insured with was well known for not responding well to claims. A few months later I received a twelve page (roughly) accident report which needed to be filled in and then signed to say I was willing to appear in court should it be required, to which I immediately filled in and returned. Not sure why they didn’t send this earlier, but I assumed this was their procedure. Anyhow, a few months later I received a letter saying . . . “We have carried out extensive investigations into the responsible party and although every attempt has been made to recover the losses, our efforts have proved unsuccessful.” “ We do not believe there are realistic prospects of success if we pursue this matter further. We therefore have no alternative but to close our file” So even though I was not at fault for this accident, I was left to pay the bill for the excess (which the repairer informed me exceed the cost of the repair) and the years of increased premiums due to them not bothering to pursue the driver at fault and simply putting the claim on my record! I tell you now, I suggest anyone thinking of using them should seriously look elsewhere, like what my partner and I will do once our policies expire. Over the years I have recommended them to countless friends which I can assure you will not renew once they learn of my experience. I will never do business with them again because what’s the use of being insured if the company who you are insured with gives up pursuing any claim you make against another driver, and this is with my policy having legal protection.

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“WARNING ! OVER 64s NOT COVERED FOR TRAVEL INSURANCE !”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Koenig362 on 12/11/2017

DIRECT LINE Household Insurance Policy plainly states that we are covered for ‘world wide travel including winter sports’. BUT when we made a claim we were suddenly asked for DOB [They KNOW we are both 68 - DOB IS SHOWN ON THE POLICY!] - when we told them DOB they said “oh, well, you’re not covered anyway because you are over 64!” HORROR ! WE HAVE BEEN TRAVELLING ABROAD FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS - CONVINCED THAT WE WERE COVERED BECAUSE IT IS STATED ON THE POLICY .... BUT WE WERE NOT! IMAGINE IF SOMEHING SERIOUS HAD HAPPENED! HOW MANY OTHER OVER 64s COULD BE CAUGHT OUT ON THIS! WHY IS IT STILL SHOWN ON EACH RENEWAL POLICY IF IT IS NOT APPLICABLE? DISGUSTED!

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“Worst company ever dealt with a ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Mrg47 on 23/01/2017

I have had home insurance for over 23 years never claimed in this time, I joined select insurance for the last 6 years, last month 3 year old daughter broke screen on my pioneer TV of which I paid £4700, direct line offered me £499 Samsung TV, then I will have to pay £250 excess, my cost of insurance over £1100 per annum. THIS IS DIRECT LINE SELECT love to take your money, when things go wrong they're arrogant, rude and should be ashamed of themselves.. MR G

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“Avoid at all costs!!!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Jaydon86 on 03/10/2016

I have been a tradesman for 36 years. I had a burst pipe in my kitchen September 2015. I chose to carry out the repairs myself. The reason;The flood restoration company that was sent to me were generally incompetent. The company that eventually came to cost the reinstatement work were extremely slow at dealing with the matter,which led me to think,how will they cope with the work itself,this could go on for a long time. I did not want either company working at my house. The claims handler made it difficult for me to resolve some aspects of the claim. I have had to fight the claims handler on various parts of the claim,and proved her to be in the wrong every time. The whole system is drawn out with to many people involved. Remember that most tradesman that insurance companies use cannot get there own work,so opt for an easy ride working for a franchised company on a daily rate. I have witnessed this myself as I have worked in private homes,some of my work has been part of a claim. My advice is to get a cash settlement and hire local reputable trades yourself. DIRECT LINE has a huge amount of bad reviews on the internet. The claim is still in dispute 11 months on !

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“Directline = Waste of time. ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by MattK28 on 13/09/2016

Complete waste of time, shocking service from start to finish. - Contractors carried out a bodge job on drainage pipes, leaving my drive with several unsightly patch repairs. - Directline complaints state that they had to do a bodge job as that's how it was originally and didn't see the obvious patch repairs which will devalue the house as an issue. - Directline want me to now spend thousands of my own money to do the job right yet insist what the contractor did was correct and refuse to refund and strike the claim. Absolute joke, avoid at all costs, or it literally will be all costs to you.

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“Flood Damage”

★★☆☆☆

written by noel1234 on 12/09/2016

Recently I had to misfortune to have an underfloor central heating pipe fracture. I required the service of a Company to trace the leak. I called a friend who, at personal mate rate cost of £130 replaced a section of pipe. I assumed that, after viewing DL's current TV advertisement, that the plumbers time was covered. Apparently not the case, DL refused to pay the £130. I would make two points concerning this episode. One, the concrete floor required a three feet by 1.5 ft hole to access the pipe. This damage I, having some construction experience, repaired at no cost to DL and two, it is highly unlikely that any emergency plumber would respond to this for £130. I feel that I have behaved in a totally honourable manner and am extremely let down by this company's attitude. I am due to renew my policy this month at a cost of £366 and DL also covers my car insurance. Obviously neither will be the case in future years.

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“Be careful of not falling into their renewal trap”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Miley195 on 04/07/2016

Direct Line are cheaters. Be careful not to get into their trap like me: I have had content insurance with them starting July 2012, at the same time I applied for my mortgage, and other insurances. They deliberately renewed my insurance – not 1 year after then – but 7 month after on February 2013; and continued renewal on 1 year basis afterwards. I didn’t know the reason for that until now (July 2016) that I asked to cancel the insurance (I never made any claims), and they told me since the last renewal was made less than 6 month ago (February 2016), they were going to charge me about $40 penalty. Apparently, they have deliberately shifted the renewal somehow to be able to charge me when they would expect me to have a thinking about renewal / better deals. I have been working with lots of insurances and have never had such experience with any of them.

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“Storm damage (can you prove it)”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Roberto18 on 11/04/2016

We decided to shop around and save money on our building and contents insurance last year and saw the add for Direct line and thinking they were a reputable company went with them. During the recent bad storms while lying in bed we heard some debris coming loose and rolling down the roof.We then contacted Direct Line to make a claim for storm damage and had a visit from a nice guy who took a video of the roof.I then had a call from a claims person at direct line asking me questions about the claim.Although the girl was only doing her job the questions she asked were ridiculous it's probably a standard set of questions for these type of claims.She asked if I could prove the damage was down to storm damage and not wear and tear and I said the damage occurred during the storm and could they prove it didn't.Unfortunately when we heard the storms were coming I did not rush to get up a ladder and inspect the roof before the storms struck. This is a poor way to treat customers they insure your property and take the money without looking at it and then when you make a claim they immediately look for a way not to pay out.What a way to treat pensioners and for any potential customers I would say as the add says (Winston Woolf) don't be a prize plum and on your bike Winston. Very Dissappointed

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“Answer the phone!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Madysonu175 on 01/04/2016

Renewin insurance should not involve a 30 minute wait on the phone punctuated by irritating music and an even more annoying recorded male voice intoning various untrue platitudes. Sort out the phone lines and modernise the renewal options so eg it can be done online without the wasted time and money.

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“Direct Line Insurance - 'free' Family and Legal...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 06/03/2016

Dear viewers, Recently Direct Line Insurance Family and Legal Protection was helping us negotiate a final settlement via mediation with another party. At the outset Direct Line Insurance via their own commissioned Solicitor (later it transpired solicitor was part of the Direct Line Insurance Group albeit a pretence of being 'independent' -DLG Legal Services) clearly advised all parties that Direct Line Insurance was not going to reclaim any of their costs incurred. The Direct Line Insurance instructed solicitor and barrister collectively midway advised that Direct Line Insurance was going to reclaim 12.5% of our settlement - both acted very shifty and to us it became clear they potentially had a vested interest as soon as the settlement figure was becoming generous. On the day Direct Line Insurance (via telephone and later via e-mails) confirmed that they would not be reclaiming 'disbursements' from our settlement and were not enclosed in schedule of losses served on all parties before mediation. However, Direct Line Insurance/DLG Legal Services went back on this and took monies from our settlement without our consent on pay day. Direct Line Insurance has upheld our complaint but refused to give us our money and arrogantly told us to pursue the matter with the Financial Ombudsmen which we are. We are also taking legal action against Direct Line Insurance for making our young family suffer - luckily we recorded the entire mediation on a device (learnt to record everything after a series of similar encounters with liars) and are exposing these insurance people to TV and other forms of media. Since we have spoken to many of friends of ours who are familiar about our circumstances and how we have been taken advantage of. Five families that we know have cancelled their insurance with Direct Line Insurance as a direct result of hearing of how we were treated. Do not use this rogue and ruthless company. They are sharks as is their legal department. Direct Line Insurance - you will be on BBC's Watchdog's wall of shame.

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Asked by martin.mutch on 19th August 2014 Report this content
Direct Line stipulated in my policy with them that I should have a "metal key operated lock" on my window. I did. But after a burglary they have said my claim is rejected as it was an allen key metal lock. Does this seem right?

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Answers (3)
Report this content Bethiee Written on: 20/08/2014
I think you should talk to complaints if you have not already. I have had replacement keys for my metal operated locks...which sound like they could be like yours. I have found with any insurance firms, I can get a different response depending on who I talk to. I myself have returned to Direct Line for their straightforward policies ....they respond very well to competition...they lowering my second year quote with them by £350 once!!!.
Report this content Steve2451 Written on: 21/08/2014
Take your case to the Ombudsman Service. The service totally free and is carried out on the phone and online. You will find their telephone number online. Good luck.
Report this content victimofcrime Written on: 29/08/2014
My experience of Direct Line is that they will use every trick in the book to get out of paying policy holders what they are entitled to under their insurance contract. Surely an allen key is a metal key! My advice is to write to them by recorded delivery mail (don't use email as they pretend they have not received them) and ask them to specify what they mean by a metal key operated lock and give them two weeks to respond. If you don't get a reply make a formal complaint to their complaints team. If you don't get a satisfactory answer after this, take the complaint to the ombudsman. Since my problems with Direct Line I have taken out insurance with another insurer and have found that other insurers offer better insurance at lower prices than Direct Line. So, not only do they try very hard to not pay out on valid claims, they are also more expensive than their competitors! This should be a warning to everyone to beware of Direct Line!!
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Asked by sam.jaz on 8th February 2014 Report this content
I am looking for home emergency insurance and most of the reviews are really bad about all the service provider. Not sure what should I do? Keep going as it is or get one? Please advise or recommend any others?

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Answers (2)
Report this content Thomsonky3 Written on: 11/02/2014
If I was looking for home emergency insurance, the last thing I would do is turn to Direct Line Home insurance. I had paid their premium for years before I actually made a claim. Their response could not have been worse - despite the fact that I had made it clear water was actually coming in through the roof, it took them weeks to reply. When they finally sent an 'expert', had did not even lift the tarpaulin, he just said there would be no payment. It took weeks of increasingly powerful letters to get Direct Line to admit their responsibility and to pay up. They are truly awful - there may be some customers who would not agree, but I suspect they have not tried to make a claim. I am no longer a customer, but as I have not made any claim with my new company, I cannot really say if they are any good. Whether you should risk no insurance really depends on how much of a worrier you are. I wouldn't, but being a scaredy cat can be quite costly.
Report this content Baronbliss Written on: 01/03/2014
I thought that by being a really we'll advertised company that I was fairly safe. After going on holidays I arrived to my home only to find it completely trashed and burgled. Csi' took photos of every inch of the house including the floor for foot prints, a red bottle of wine that was left spilling on the carpet etc. I called direct insurance and a couple of weeks someone showed up. During these couple of weeks, my washing machine flooded the bottom floor, so by the time the Insurance guy came to my home I explain about the flooding as well. To cut this story short they called me a cheat claiming that my flooding happened way before I made my insurance, even after I gave the police as evidence they continued to call me this. I would not recommend this insurance to my worst enemy. They are disrespectfull and even after finding out that I am disable, continued to make the same claims disregarding the fact that my family had been through such traumatic ordeal.
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