Smartdriverclub Insurance - Portsmouth

Mary Queen of Purple

Avoid at all costs, they wouldn't insure my new car so I ended up having to cancel the policy. They never actually cancelled the policy with the finance company finally got that sorted out after even more hours on hold. Now they are saying I still owe them money even though I already settled with the finance company. Honestly save yourself the hassle and go with a different company I would have given negative stars if that was an option.

Aimee Marsland

Appalling service from the start.
Kept saying the tracker didn't work so cancelled my insurance then tried to charge me. Still have all emails incase they take me to court as they threaten had a crash with proof not my fault and never paid out.
Rude employers and apparently beer a manager.
NEVER WILL I USE OR RECOMEND.
really stressful company

Jess

If I could I wouldn’t even give this awful company 1 start! Avoid them at all cost, they are unprofessional, rude and will do everything to rip you off for money. This is my experience with them:

I have recently purchase a black box insurance ( which I previously had with admiral and there was no problem). I was unable to connect the smart plugthat they sent to me as my v12 doesn’t work properly so I have decided to cancel my policy. Upon my cancellation I was informed that I will receive a letter with a breakdown of my refund within 7-10 working days. I have not heard anything!! I then had to call to find out what is the status of my refund and was told by one of the colleague that’s she will investigate this and give me a call back. Of course no one called me so I have called again and was told the same thing.

It’s now been over 2 weeks and there’s no money to be seen!!

Jessica McCleary

The worst experience I've ever had, both customer service and with an insurance company.

My car broke down three weeks ago, so my smart driver plug had to be unplugged by the RAC to run diagnostics, it was then plugged back in and unplugged again by the garage, who couldn't fix the problem so I went elsewhere, unplugged again..

Anyway this company emailed me threatening to cancel my insurance due to the plug being unplugged twice, I responded informing them that this was due to the fact I broke down and the car was in the garage being fixed, having diagnostics etc... no issue then. I then receive a letter stating that they was again, cancelling my insurance because of the unplugging, at this point I tried calling to explain the issue (I was on hold for well over an hour, on three occasions, I doubt I'll get the cover of my phone bill back either), even though common sense would suggest my car was still being fixed.. but no not to these. They stated in the letter that if the plug was put back in before the 7days notification was up, my cover would continue.. it was plugged back in properly on day 5, by myself when i collected my car, so I thought nothing of it.

8pm last night comes, another new email completely revoking my insurance, i called them today and coincidently finally got through to somebody.. who was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. They apparently can't stop the cancellation even though it wasn't my fault, I informed them the car was being fixed, and yet they still happily took their DD from me.. leaving me too skint to reinsure my car, to be able to get to work!!!

Oh and now they have stopped my access to the APP so that I can access my documents, to prove my NCD elsewhere.

Avoid!!!

Joe Bernardes

Keep clear of this company. They are sharks. They quoted me one price then charged £100 more . Then told me that the vehicle I had was not what they quoted for. Complete lies. They then agreed to refund me part of the money which they never sent.

To for fill the insurance requirements a tracking device has to be fitted. You then get down graded for driving in the evening. As a result your driving score goes down. You then get emails saying that if your score keeps going down they will cancel the insurance.

The Worst insurance company and complete Sharks.. Avoid like the plague.

S “Sham”

Literally will begin this from start to finish.

I took out my insurance with Smart driver club as I thought fantastic price.

Now to sign up to Smart Driver Club you must go through a finance group (close brothers), which I thought “bit weird” but still went ahead going against my better judgment.

Once I signed up I received letter stating that the company requested my V5, drivers license and proof of no claims.

I sent of what was required.

On the 15th day I came into my office to find a ‘voice mail’ on my phone... it was a voicemail from Smart Driver Club stating they have cancelled my insurance... no reason no letter no notice no nothing.

I called up to find out why this was and was told the insurance group who Smart driver club represent (Pukka) had looked into my background and seen I had been cancelled and to then cancel my policy immediately. If I had of been contacted and notified I would have been able to explain it was me that had cancelled the previous insurance...

On smart driver club cancellation policy it states that 7 days notice is given to anyone if their policy becomes voided.
I was never given this and when I challenged Smart Driver club about this I was met with “we have to do what Pukka says”.... even if it means voiding their policy! Well done.

Now guys please keep this in mind when you sign up to Smart driver club you also sign up to multiple insurance groups that they represent!

For example their cancellation states online that it is £40 outside of the 14 day cooling period... that’s only £40 with Smart driver club a further £100 must also be paid to Pukka, the company they represent, but they don’t state this in their main Policy, keep that bit hidden in the small print apparently ;).

Guys don’t sign up to a company with more middle men than you’ve had Sunday dinners, always make sure the company you insure with is a stand alone company and not these Cowboys!

Actually look at the amount of different insurance groups that are representing someone else in the small print!!!!!

New India Insurance, Pukka insurance, smart driver insurance, Close Brothers finance, plus more.... don’t get caught in this guys.

In response to your reply smart driver... I actually have proof you never contacted me prior your cancellation.
You requested my documents I sent my documents. And you cancelled on the basis of a previous cancellation that was done by myself.
In regards to disclosing information of conversations between myself and your staff on a public review site I will be contacting the correct bodies for legal action and screenshot this for proof.
But the emails (or lack of) plus your cancellation by voicemail.
Well done guys!

Liam Harding

Avoid - By far the worst company I have ever used in any sector. Do not acknowledge emails never respond and almost impossible to get through to. 13 calls and over 9 hours on hold across a 3 week period has left me still unable to resolve an issue when they issued a cancellation instruction to my policy.The cancellation was due to the finance company who required a proof of ID even though the policy had been live for 4 months and no payments had been missed. It took me 2 weeks to learn that following an automated notification through the app and even after submitting the requested information as instructed.........nothing. Policy now cancelled, no response to subsequent complaint and company asking for £160 in fees. In summary they instructed the cancellation, we tried to engage and had the info they wanted and sent it in.....nothing but a series of automated notifications until cancellation. Raised a complaint on the back of this and again ........ Nothing. Also had similar issues with kit and app as per other reviews at the outset of the policy. This company is not fit to trade and should be reported to trading standards / financial ombudsman etc.

Laura Redhead

Started off well, but then my braking was being assessed incorrectly by the black box. Took me forever to get this sorted out and was told that it was my braking even though I knew it was not. In the end they did admit they were in the wrong and sorted that out. But after two years of excellent driving behaviour they suddenly hiked up my insurance by about £50 for no reason. When I asked for them to review they simply said no.