A few days ago I received my renewal notice for my annual Red Pennant insurance policy so, as I haven't found a suitable alternative yet, on Friday I telephoned the number on the letter, credit card in hand ready to stump up £250.

I got through without problem, entered '3' for renewals and then was subjected to the most boring period on-hold that human imagination could possibly contrive. First you are told that the lines are busy and then they play you a noise that sounds like a demented cinema organist hitting random notes with the distortion and vibrato cranked to 11 while shaking a large bag of hazelnuts close to the microphone. Then, to add further suffering, every 20 seconds a monotonous female voice says, "Thank you for waiting. Our team is currently busy. Your call will be answered as soon as a team member is available." It is truly horrendous torment.

After 15 minutes of this I had reached the limit of tolerance prior to insanity being induced and hung up. An hour or so later I tried again with exactly the same result and after another 15 minutes of aural torture I once again slammed the phone down in disgust.

So, this morning I had another go and this time to my surprise after about five minutes was put through to a charming young woman but, when I tried to pay, her system flagged up an 'error' and would you believe it I was put on hold again for another five minutes suffering the same racket.

When the young woman got back to me she said that as my policy had expired yesterday (Sunday) she would have to generate a new policy from scratch even though none of our details needed amending. I of course pointed out that when I had tried to renew the policy on Friday no one had answered the phone despite 30 minutes of waiting on my part. Profuse apologies were given. Then to add insult to injury, I had to go through the full bloody medical screening rigmarole even though absolutely nothing had changed (this would not have been necessary had they responded on Friday.) One thing I didn't understand was why all this nonsense should apply when their renewal letter clearly stated that the 5% discount was available for 14 days from the renewal date.

By now I was getting near to self-harming such was my state of frustration and I felt incredibly grateful when eventually I was relieved of 'alf a monkey after yet another 21 minutes on the phone.

It's too late now but so I don't have to suffer this nonsense next year, can anyone please recommend suitable alternative continental cover for vehicle, van and health?

Upon reading this you almost sent us rushing to our phone for we pay Red Pennant roughly the same amount as you, for a one trip policy. It was only when we looked it up again that we confirmed that our cover is for up to 94 days whereas yours is an annual policy for multi-trips of up to 31 days. You probably know that you can get a single trip cover for up to 31 days for less?
Anyway, I don't know if you remember but we did a lot of research into finding alternative European cover a year or two ago but unfortunately couldn't find anyone else who could offer quite as comprehensive a cover as Red Pennant. One of the main sticking points was the repatriation of both car and caravan when separated.
We find that these frustrating phone calls are the norm now whoever you deal with. All Car Insurance Companies, the AA, The Bank, even the bl**dy Doctor's Surgery and many of them also have the audacity of charging you "Premium Call Rate" unless you first go to the website http://www.saynoto0870.com/ to see if there's an alternative number available.
Randa

Quote: Randa france wrote in post #3

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Anyway, I don't know if you remember but we did a lot of research into finding alternative European cover a year or two ago but unfortunately couldn't find anyone else who could offer quite as comprehensive a cover as Red Pennant. One of the main sticking points was the repatriation of both car and caravan when separated.

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All the documentation arrived this morning - very efficient - but included was a letter stating that they don't have my caravan chassis number and please would I let them have it.

So with some trepidation I rang the number again but this time got straight through to a very helpful young woman who after taking my membership number said, "But we already have the number on the system. I'll transfer it to your schedule."

Now if it was that easy for one person to sort out why..............? I give up.

Quote: hob wrote in post #7

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Fridays are no doubt very busy at this time of year as people will be ringing up looking for last min cancellations for the weekends .............after they were all booked last December by people who "might" want them.

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