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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

Excess effort just trying to get Axa to pay up over an insurance claim

Axa was meant to pay out £450 excess for an insurance claim.
Axa was meant to pay out £450 excess for an insurance claim. Photograph: Louisa Svensson/Alamy

My partner’s car was hit by another vehicle. My insurance policy requires me to reclaim the £450 excess from the third-party insurer. I therefore lodged a claim with Axa. One month, five phone calls and many emails later, I have been told that Axa has closed my claim without paying up. Each time I ring I’ve had to hold for an hour or more, I have repeatedly been given erroneous or misleading information and Axa lost vital paperwork. Obviously, Axa has little incentive to give good customer service to non-customers, and it seems to be the policy to ensure that they do not pay out the money owed.
MAT, Bristol


The most dispiriting thing is that it’s so familiar to hear of understaffed helplines and agents who are overstretched or indifferent, or both. Slamming shut a mismanaged claim might have seemed the easiest way to evade responsibility, so your tenacity is to be congratulated. Axa paid up the day after I got in touch and agreed its service did “not meet the high standards expected”. It has offered £100 in compensation which you plan to donate to a financial advice charity to acknowledge the fact you had to involve Your Problems to get your dues.

Email your.problems@observer.co.uk. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions

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