Footman James Classic Car Insurance

I was expecting to buy a car and took out insurance on 27-03-2015 after being assured that I could cancel within fourteen days if I wished. I paid online by credit card. After viewing the car on 29-03-2015 I decided against buying it. I e-mailed and phoned Footman James on 30-03-2015, informing them that I had not used the insurance and wished to cancel. Subsequently, as soon as I received the paperwork, I posted it back to them, again explaining that I wished to cancel the policy and asking for my refund (minus £25 "cancellation charge" and £10 "arrangement fee").

It is now 1st May, and in spite of two further telephone calls I am still waiting for my refund. Usually a credit card payment would be refunded via the credit card system. Footman James say that they will issue a cheque - anything to slow down the refund !

Generally always found Footman James to be pretty good and offer reasonable value, though they did seem to put their prices up a fair bit last year. I've now come to change cars and they won't let me put my new car onto my existing policy since it isn't a Jaguar, OK no problem I thought, will change policy types. Except they won't let me use what's left of what I paid on my old policy on the new one, and won't refund me as I renewed 7 months ago and can only cancel under 6! Absolutely ridiculous since the car that was on the policy was a replica, and so is the new one, and the policy costs almost exactly the same!

Be very careful, I know all companies are getting bad now, but I've never had an issue not getting my money back when I cancel a policy. Needless to say they won't be getting my business again.

I had been with Aon for years getting consistently good quotes for years. When Footman James took over I was worried that things would change. For a couple of years things were ok but then it changed. My renewal premium this year jumped from £177 to £699. A 300% increase. I phoned for an explanation and was informed that last year had been a mistake and that the premium should have been £1777, a 1000% increase over the previous year when it had been £190 and that I was lucky that this year I had received a 60 discount. Needless to say i shopped around and got almost identical cover for £148 from Haggerty.

My advice for any classic car owner is look elsewhere for your insurance as Footman James obviously don't want your business.

What I am desperately seeking is an insurance company that will offer me consistencly in their dealings. I am not a natural switcher always looking for the best deal but I do expect my insurer to provide value for money & offer a reasonable deal year in year out. Footman James are not that company!

In the first year I was given a good quote with a reputable insurer & I was enticed. Unfortunately when it came to renewal my quote was more than 50% greater than year 1 and whilst they reduced this on enquiry it was still at the top end of the Market. So I switched to a company offering a better product at lower cost but also with a 3 year guarantee on premiums.

I have been getting insurance through Footman James for my vairious classic cars over a number of years now and have mostly ended up with Equity Red Star (FJ are brokers).

Whilst the recoevery is very good indeed as noted by another reviewer, I have recently had to make a claim and they have been terrible.

Poor communication between them and the insurance company. Failing to call me or return calls plus sending out irrelevant and spurious letters. Changing the conditions of the agreed value half way through the claim, blah, blah, blah.

Now I am having to phone the insurance almost everyday and have been pursuing my claim for 4 months now.

Very poor service once they have your money - NOT RECOMMENDED!

My first insurance in the UK was in 2007 with FJ. I've got high quotes from others and a friend recommended FJ to insure my car. They weren't on any comparison sites, but still beating them by their price. So far so good I thought.

In a week we got broken down on a motorway, gave them a call, two hours later we were going home on a towing truck. They coverd the towing, no questions, no further paperwork was needed, well done.

Few months later I moved home and I notify them. No administration fee was applied and I was told, my insurance is cheaper, so I paid less from then.

Since then I always check, maybe their quote is better than others.