Youi fined $320,000

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gzt

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#207329 19-Dec-2016 16:02

"Insurance company Youi has been fined $320,000 in the Auckland District Court. Youi pleaded guilty to 15 charges brought by the Commerce Commission earlier this year. Those charges related to Youi's misleading sales techniques, making "false or misleading" claims during telephone sales calls and issuing "unsolicited" insurance policies that people had not agreed to.

The company also pleaded guilty to either demanding or debiting consumer bank or credit card accounts without their permission or knowledge and sending invoices to consumers in relation to unsolicited insurance policies that did not specify they were under no obligation to pay for the policies."

Stuff: http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/87592174/youi-fined-320000-for-misleading-consumers

Geektastic

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#1692299 19-Dec-2016 17:00

Did they ask too many questions - or not enough?

Swanny

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#1692543 20-Dec-2016 02:22

If a small portion of what you hear is true then they got off lightly!

Bung

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#1692544 20-Dec-2016 06:01

From the Stuff article "In October the Insurance Council of New Zealand fined the company its maximum penalty of $100,000." That was for the same issues. The money will come from somewhere, I wouldn't like to be putting a claim into Youi.

dickytim

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#1692545 20-Dec-2016 06:07

aren't Youi the company that used the automated dialers to make nuisance calls all the time?

I refuse to even consider then for this reason, and that the only way insurance can be significantly cheaper is a) if it doesn't pay out or b) there are a lot of conditions where you are not covered.

I know with AMI I am covered and have a low excess.

sbiddle

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#1692548 20-Dec-2016 06:23

It seems in the last few days we've had both Godfrey's and Youi both fined very small amounts of money considering the dodgy stuff they've been up to. A fine isn't really a deterrent to stop people.

sen8or

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#1692774 20-Dec-2016 12:12

I made the mistake of starting a quote on their web site once, got 3/4 of the way through all the questions, got bored so closed it out. Got a ph call the next day from sales person urging me to finish the questions. They gave me the quote which then worked out about 1/3 more expensive than my current insurer but they still tried to push a policy on me. I can see how some might feel bullied / intimidated or downright tricked into using them.

DravidDavid

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#1692821 20-Dec-2016 13:24

sen8or:

I made the mistake of starting a quote on their web site once, got 3/4 of the way through all the questions, got bored so closed it out. Got a ph call the next day from sales person urging me to finish the questions. They gave me the quote which then worked out about 1/3 more expensive than my current insurer but they still tried to push a policy on me. I can see how some might feel bullied / intimidated or downright tricked into using them.

I had car insurance with them for my Corolla. Everything was going well. Swapped the Corolla for a sports car that I didn't want cover for as at the time it was not running. Youi said they could cover it as an asset rather than a car. I said "get me a quote and I'll think about it". A few days later, I decided to ring them and just cancel my car insurance. They said "What car insurrance? You have asset protection".

They'd gone and switched my policy after having a quote pushed on to me. I was transferred to the 'cancellation team' which are far from the nice Kiwi people you sign up with as an inbound caller. You get transferred to this aggressive Australian call center with people that will go to any lengths to keep you. The guy I was talking to made out as if I was going to be starving his family if I cancelled my policy. He became all passive aggressive, told me insurance would be more expensive if I cancelled and would be a "black mark" on my record. He would not take no for an answer.

So glad I cut ties with them when I did. I couldn't imagine having to make a claim with them and get anything done!

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mattwnz

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#1692822 20-Dec-2016 13:28

sbiddle:
A fine isn't really a deterrent to stop people.

It would if it was a lot of money for them. But it is all relative to the size of the company involved.

trig42

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#1692824 20-Dec-2016 13:32

My parents are with Youi.

They are low risk customers - had insurance all their lives, would be very surprised if what they claimed came anywhere near to what they have paid over that time. Youi was considerably cheaper for them than what they had.

Shortly after switching to them, they discovered a water pipe was leaking on their property (outside, under a concrete driveway). They decided to put a claim in. Youi could not have been more helpful - there was no arguing or diddling around - the claim was paid as soon as they knew the amount (Dad had to get someone in to fix the leak - that isn't covered by insurance - Youi paid to reinstate).

On the other hand, I know people in the Insurance replacement industry (supplying goods to Insurance companies) and they have all told me to stay well clear - do not even ring them for a quote.

I was going to get Youi to quote on my insurances, but have not simply because I do not like pressure sales tactics. Glad I didn't reading the story above.

richms

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#1692893 20-Dec-2016 15:30

I did a quote online and they called me to try to sell, just hung up on them. They called back and said we were cut off and I said no, i hung up and did it again. Not heard from them since.

Not sure what the quote was because it never gave me a damn number for an "online" quote.

Richard rich.ms

nzkiwiman

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#1692945 20-Dec-2016 17:54

I made the mistake of filling out an online form for a quote; less than 5 minutes later they were calling me and I was giving them more details.

Then before they had even given me a quote, they were asking for my credit card. I requested the dollar amount and that I was looking for a quote only. Eventually I got the dollar amount ($1200 for comprehensive car insurance) which I thought was rather high, but has I had not looked at other places I thanked them after arranging for a suitable callback time (after 7pm). A day later they called me back at 6pm (I was driving home, couldn't answer) and then again the next day.

I got insurance with AA (just over $500 for comprehensive car insurance, better terms)

I would never even think about Youi ever again