“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.”
“Stay well away from this company!!!
Wish I had read the reviews first as I wouldn’t have went near them. I took insurance out on the 22nd October paid £48 deposit and the monthly payment was meant to be £36. I received a letter saying that the premium would be going up to £47 a month with no explanation as to why. Tried to contact them at the weekend and they were closed that in itself should have raised alarm bells! Got through today after being on hold for about 15mins, to get put through to the cancellation department and hold again for another 20minutes. I asked why they premium was going up and was told I had entered the date wrong on a non fault claim, fair enough everyone can make mistakes it’s human error, but I was told because of this it couldn’t be changed and the monthly payment would still be £47 a month and they couldn’t change it! I then said about cancelling the policy as I’m within my 14days the advisor tells me there will be a cancellation fee and I’ll receive an email confirming this. I could not believe it when I received the email I am not only getting charged the £25 cancellation fee I’ve also to pay £40 part fee cancellation!! So Basically I’ve paid £113 to insure my car for 13 days. I would hate to see what would charges you would need to pay if making a claim. Stay well away from the company.”
“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!!!”
“AVOID AVOID AVOID
AVOID AVOID AVOID
Brightside have the most obscure and convoluted claims process I have ever encountered. At all stages calls are automatically diverted to Slater and Gordon, a Claims Management Company who need to make money from their involvement with your claim. Brightside say that they have an agreement with Slater and Gordon to administer claims on their behalf which is separate from Slater and Gordon's Claims Management business. If this is true then it is virtually impossible to access. The insurance policies that Brightside sell are with insurance underwriters, such as Tansar for motor policies, but it is virtually impossible to deal with the underwriter, you are forced into Claims Management by Slater and Gordon. It is especially difficult to progress any claim for "add on" policies such as guaranteed hire car because these are administered by Slater and Gordon and unless you are extremely persistent you can not get beyond the claims management business. Claims management is all very well if you have a no fault claim and you want to opt in to claims management (such as claiming for personal injury etc). But it should not be used as a default setting for customers wanting to make a claim, you should be able to make a claim to your underwriter as an individual and not be represented by a company trying to make money from their involvement. In addition, the telephone line is awful - 30 to 60 minutes to answer a call, uninformed call centre staff giving inaccurate and misleading information, sometimes told different things each time you call. Please be aware that Brightside is an insurance broker, not an insurance company, and when you have questions about a claim they are not interested, they just say that they don't deal with claims. And you are likely to spend hours on the phone getting passed from company to company.
IT IS MY WORST EXPERIENCE EVER with motor insurance, and I have had insurance for almost 30 years now, and dealt with a wide range of companies
IMPORTANT ADVICE - Look at the reviews from customers who have had to make a claim, not at the reviews from customers who are pleased with the low prices. The prices may be low but if you ever have to make a claim you will wish you had paid a little bit more for a reputable broker with adequate customer service.”
“AVOID AVOID AVOID
AVOID AVOID AVOID
Brightside have the most obscure and convoluted claims process I have ever encountered. At all stages calls are automatically diverted to Slater and Gordon, a Claims Management Company who need to make money from their involvement with your claim. Brightside say that they have an agreement with Slater and Gordon to administer claims on their behalf which is separate from Slater and Gordon's Claims Management business. If this is true then it is virtually impossible to access. The insurance policies that Brightside sell are with insurance underwriters, such as Tansar for motor policies, but it is virtually impossible to deal with the underwriter, you are forced into Claims Management by Slater and Gordon. It is especially difficult to progress any claim for "add on" policies such as guaranteed hire car because these are administered by Slater and Gordon and unless you are extremely persistent you can not get beyond the claims management business. Claims management is all very well if you have a no fault claim and you want to opt in to claims management (such as claiming for personal injury etc). But it should not be used as a default setting for customers wanting to make a claim, you should be able to make a claim to your underwriter as an individual and not be represented by a company trying to make money from their involvement. In addition, the telephone line is awful - 30 to 60 minutes to answer a call, uninformed call centre staff giving inaccurate and misleading information, sometimes told different things each time you call. Please be aware that Brightside is an insurance broker, not an insurance company, and when you have questions about a claim they are not interested, they just say that they don't deal with claims. And you are likely to spend hours on the phone getting passed from company to company.
IT IS MY WORST EXPERIENCE EVER with motor insurance, and I have had insurance for almost 30 years now, and dealt with a wide range of companies
IMPORTANT ADVICE - Look at the reviews from customers who have had to make a claim, not at the reviews from customers who are pleased with the low prices. The prices may be low but if you ever have to make a claim you will wish you had paid a little bit more for a reputable broker with adequate customer service.”
“Shocking customer services. Rude on the phone continued to talk over me. Then i said i was taking over her. I moved address 2 months ago same street same post code and they charge me admin fee wasn't happy but paid it.
Today called up to say iv now passed my full bike test and charged me again. Said my renewal is October and if this was not waived i wont be staying with them. Her manager said its in the TOB so i have to.
I used to be a manager at Hastings Direct and we would regularly waved the admin fees if it meant keep the customer happy.
Brightside have a lost a customer for next year and will never use them again or recommend them, backward thinking staff who have no idea about customer service or business retention.”
“Awful service. Claims and complaints are dealt with in such a way that I have spent literally hours on the phone on hold and sending numerous emails, none of which get answered.
If you have better things to do with your life stay well away!
Hopefully someone at this firm gives a damn and calls us to sort this out... Case ID - 201901362”
“Terrible customer service. Terms buried in smallprint. They make money from alterations and changes that might be required to your policy when you realise the small-print. Their insurance is cheap, but this is only because they don't expect you to stay once they have fleeced you for everything else they charge for (and they never answer the phone so they cant be challenged)”
