Giving a bad name to Insurance

<p>Two weeks ago, I began to experience a problem with my car and had purchased a warranty policy in March of this year through Unity insurance. Everything seemed fine and debits where going off as normal. At point of sale the consultant explained the cover and I told him the manufacturer’s warranty was still in place (the manufacturer’s warranty had already expired with no notice in January, the dealer had never disclosed to us the actual registration date of the car) despite this, the sales guy never mentioned to me the policy will only operate if the manufacturer’s warranty was still active. The extended warranty was therefore set to only incept in September this year (this is due to me being under the impression the manufacturer’s warranty only ends then). I then called Innovation, firstly it’s the worse experience trying to get hold of any consultant there. The call rings for over 20mins and when you do speak to someone and they decide to transfer you, they don’t mention it and put you on hold for another 20mins with no comeback. You eventually have to put the phone down. I somehow got through to a person who confirms all your details and I explained to her that I have a problem with the car and the warranty has already expired, she agreed to escalate it and try to back date the inception date. I then get no feedback and I have to continuously follow up and then eventually get told the cover is not valid and should not have been sold to me and I then responded to say why wasn’t any of this mentioned to me and that I want my premiums back. As soon as I had responded, I get a call from another consultant who goes on to tell me he is going to help with the claim and the policy is now active and I distinctly told him how is that possible when I just got an email saying its invalid. He went on to say he doesn’t see those notes and everything is fine and to book my car with the dealer. I went on to do that and the car went for a diagnostics (bearing in mind, the car was not safe to drive but we still had to, to get the claim sorted). Dealer confirmed the part that was damaged and said she will call Innovation to get the claim processed and then she can order the part. She gets no joy from Innovation either as someone tells her the policy is still invalid. I then called (There is never a manager to speak to) spoke to another consultant who explained she will provide me with feedback at the end of Thursday, 13/07. This is now already a week later. I get no feedback at all from the manager or the lady I spoke to. Friday I start to email for feedback and it goes back and forth with no actual solution. I then get a call saying they going to sell me a pre-owned warranty and transfer my premiums, but the premiums will be higher and there’s a waiting period and they were going to get someone to call me. Another guy called (must have been the 5th person I dealt with thus far) he tells me the options and says the premiums can’t be transferred and I will need to start fresh with the new policy and request a refund. At that point I was already frustrated and irate with all the running around. I told them I will lay a complaint and I want the policy cancelled and will use the refund of the premiums to sort the car out and he then told me it takes 21 days to cancel and a further couple days to refund leaving me with no car for almost a month and a half! He promised to get someone to call me at 3:30 from client services to cancel and till now being Tuesday the 18/07 8:36am, no call has been received. Innovation has no sense of urgency what so ever. They can leave you struggling for help and not care a bit. The inconvenience I have experienced due to this has really left an impact on me financially. They have no care for customer experience or TCF (Treating customers fairly). The fault was on their side and yet I had to suffer the consequences and they not interested to correct their mistakes. I’m hoping this message goes far and alert people on the service provided by Innovation/Unity group. All you will end up doing is suffering a loss, paying for something that was not sold to you correctly, not being able to get any help or solutions and worst of all your money will be gone.</p>