“Poor communication resulting in unexpected, unjustifiable fees. If you insure with this company they won't explain hidden fees/"admin" charges for alterations in policies and pass the buck between them and their underwriters who do not compromise and try to squeeze every last penny the can out of you. Better service from admiral and better quotes from many other companies. "There is no bright side to insuring with brightside insurance". Cancelled policy and got a better deal elsewhere.”
“Cancelled insurance after 12 days because I missed e mail asking for copies of documents. Took money out of a credit card account without permission. I will be seeking advise from the fraud team at my bank. They should not be holding card details without permission. I didn't want to cancel they did. I work 12 hours at hospital. A courtesy call may have helped. Cost me £125 for 12 days insurance”
“DO NOT USE! Insuranced my van through Brightside last year, they sent me an email requesting more information; proof of address etc. I did not see the email as I was on holiday at the time, they then cancelled my policy just 5 days after the email was sent! I then got back from holiday and had no van insurance, unable to use my van for work, and everytime I called them up their computers "were down", so could not even sort my insurance out! Cost me a lot of time and money, god only knows what they would have done if I did have to make a claim. Also very rude over the phone. Avoid.”
“AWFUL 13 years of driving and never had insurance like it.
Always brought online uploaded no claims this company sent me an email asking for me to complete info on gov website and upload of to them as I am a key worker through covid 19 front line I didnt check emails so they canx my car insurance charging me £30 canx fee I emailed twice explaining however must received the bill as a reply. requested a manager to call me asap and they stated 72 wait so I am hoping they get back to me but awful experience do not buy with these. all years I've had insurance never experience service like it”
“Had insurance with them but had to cancel due to being laid off work due to covid=19, they would not pause insurance, I had been with them 5 months and paid monthly but they cancelled my insurance and charged me £121, then took it from my bank with no notice.”
“Avoid! Don't waste your time and money. Very bad experience with them and would not recommend to anyone. My car been written off 4 months ago but they still keep charging me for nothing and they not allowing you to cancel the policy. They saying if you want to you have to pay full amount! Customer service is rubbish. They just dropped the phone and not worried to call back. Never ever again! Keep away from this company”
“Changed from a car i sold to new car..charged me extra for doing this which i didnt mind,then started adding more money in to my monthly direct debit..said it was my fault for changing from one car to another and doing it online on THEIR website.I cancelled the policy,now they expect me to pay over £300 for doing this..BIGGEST rip off insurance broker ive ever been with in 25 years..You would be mad to ignore the negative comments about this company.👎👎👎”
“Bad experience with this company.
Just phoned today to change my address and end up paying £62 admin fee not the premium my insurance premium didn't go up.
I asked them I can do it by myself as I have the brightside account but guy said you still have to pay £61. What is the point having account if you can not amend anything by yourself?
It took him 2 minutes to do it which I could have done it by myself.
Just a rip off.
I had an insurance tesco and i able to do any changes by myself without any charge.
I wont be buying insurance from brightside anymore just a rip off.
Told the guy I will be leaving bad review but he is not bothered. He was rude and was only interested in money.
Not sure how they will deal when I have a claim?
AVOID AT ANY COST.”
“Very poor. Just not treated very well (as a new customer), totally inflexible, you have to wait a long time before anyone answers your call.
I would urge any one to look beyond how cheap they are because my experience is that it is a false economy.”
“They charged me twice for cancelling.
When I cancelled my policy I found out that Brightside wanted to charge me £60 and the insurer also wanted to charge me £60.
This is a scam.
I filed a complaint with Brightside at which time I was told I would have a response within seven days. No response but they have taken the money, £120.
Do not use this broker, they are a con.”
“They charged me twice for cancelling.
When I cancelled my policy I found out that Brightside wanted to charge me £60 and the insurer also wanted to charge me £60.
This is a scam.
I filed a complaint with Brightside at which time I was told I would have a response within seven days. No response but they have taken the money, £120.
Do not use this broker, they are a con.”
“I would give them 0 stars if I could!
I NEVER write reviews but I felt the need to share this. Let’s list the problems shall we...
When I changed my vehicle using their online service, they decided to also change the overnight location of the car without me telling them to do so, almost invalidating my insurance policy and preventing me from claiming when I needed to.
Never sent me copies of my policy handbook - so when I had to claim and the Underwriters tried to impose a ridiculous term I had never been told about they shifted the blame saying it was in my handbook... which I had never been given!
Ignored the complaint I raised regarding the above issue, I’m still yet to get a response so have logged it with FOS.
Charged me MORE than what was owed on the policy after my car was written off.
Took a payment unlawfully from my husbands card when we had explicitly told them they did not have our permission to do so.
Continue to ignore all and any communication made with them to resolve the issues.
Do yourself a favour and don’t insure with them. A friend of mine has had almost identical issues. They simply don’t give a f...
The mildly cheaper premiums are not worth the hassle.”
“Woe betide if someone writes your car off, as has recently happened to me. They have charged me an exit insurance fee of £107.48. I didn't ask for my car to be hit. When I pointed this out they became robots "Read the Terms and Conditions". I won't be going back there when I find a new car. Rip off merchants.”
“Terrible service and partnered with Close Brothers to finance the monthly payments. Both companies are virtually unobtainable and any issues are a nightmare to sort out. Whilst working away I discovered that my policy had been cancelled for a simple missed payment and the reason the subsequent payment didn't go through the second time was because Close Brothers had added a £30 or £35 charge for the missed payment, something which I was not made aware of and had not agreed. I would not use this company again or any company that used Close Brothers for premium finance. It's a racket.”
“Check out the plethora of bad reviews this company has got, on facebook page etc.
My own experience has been bad, trying to get a refund of money they continued to take off me despite me cancelling a policy with them! It's stinks of a scam company but don't just take my word for it!”
“This is the worst insurance company I ever come across my whole life. They wait for you to purchase your insurance and if you dare make the mistake of paying annually then increase your premium by 110% in 3 weeks and then cancel it all if you choose not to pay more. My advice is go somewhere else. Not Brightside, there is nothing bright about the fraud they perpetuate.”
“Do not use this insurance, I paid in full less than three week ago and they haven’t even tried contacting me and have cancelled my insurance!!! No fault of my own as I have been away!!!”
