Van LineDirect Omdömen 

I had an awful experience with Van Line Direct and am currently in the process of lodging an official complaint.

On 28/09/2026, I decided to purchase a policy with Van Line Direct through MoneySuperMarket. I answered all the application questions 100% honestly. I was given a quote of £333.60, and after deciding to go ahead with the purchase of the van, I paid the amount in full. I was then sent an email stating that I had to call to validate my policy, and this is where the experience rapidly went downhill.

I was told by the agent that my two years of no-claims bonus on my car did not transfer to my van. I explained that I had answered all questions on MoneySuperMarket exactly as they were written, and the specific question asked how many no-claims years I had on my *car*. I am well aware that car and van insurance are separate, and I never claimed to have two years of no-claims history on a van. The agent then proceeded to re-ask all the questions I had already answered on MoneySuperMarket. I have never experienced this with any other insurance policy I have purchased through a comparison site before.

By the time the call was finished, I was told I would have to pay a further £377.30—more than double the original quote—bringing the total to £710.90. They also lowered my annual mileage from 9,000 to 6,000, even though I had explicitly stated 9,000 on MoneySuperMarket. I argued that this was far too high, but the agent blamed MoneySuperMarket and insisted I would not get it cheaper anywhere else.

While this call was ongoing, an hour had passed since I bought the van. I was still sitting in the driveway of the seller, who kept asking if everything was okay. I felt completely pressured and was not offered an escape route by the agent. Because I had already paid £333.60, I felt forced to go ahead and pay the additional £377.30.

This did not sit right with me. The next day, I ran the exact same quote on MoneySuperMarket but changed the car no-claims bonus to zero. The quote only increased by £40 from the original £333.60. I was disgusted. I called to cancel immediately but was told this was not possible and that I had to wait until after the bank holiday. When I called back after the bank holiday, I told them their tactics were unacceptable, but I received no apology whatsoever.

I was charged a £45 cancellation fee within the 14-day cooling-off period, plus roughly £4 for the four days of insurance cover. I was assured the remaining refund would be processed within 7 to 10 working days. Unsurprisingly, 11 working days later, the money had not returned to my account. I called Van Line Direct and was told the payment had been released. When I asked for proof of this release, I was put on hold for 10 minutes, only to be told providing proof was not possible.

I then called my bank, and they confirmed no incoming refund was showing. Consequently, I proceeded with a chargeback through my bank, and the money was returned to my account within 20 minutes. A few days later, I began receiving emails and text messages from Van Line Direct claiming I owed them £661.75. They explicitly threatened me with the following words:

* "Additional recovery fees added to your balance."
* "A negative impact on your credit score."
* "Difficulties in securing insurance in the future."
* "Legal action if the debt remains unpaid."

Upon checking my bank account again, I realized that Van Line Direct had actually paid the £661.75 refund *after* the bank had already processed the chargeback, rather than disputing the chargeback with the bank directly.

I am currently on holiday and have had to take time out of my personal time to call them and resolve this issue. Out of principle, I intend to set up a payment plan to spread the full amount over 12 months. I am seeking a full refund of the £45 cancellation fee and a formal apology for the bait-and-switch tactics used against me. If this issue is not resolved satisfactorily, I am fully prepared to escalate this matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, as I have since discovered that these cheap insurance bait tactics through MoneySuperMarket have been used on many other customers.

The customer service agent was so helpful and really made the process great

Very good service from Scott
Helped me sort out van insurance
Polite and professional
100% recommend fair priced and customer service is quick and easy no long waits

Had problems getting good insurance prices called them up and worked with them and came to a price I was happy with vry helpful

Its simple, stay away from this company. They go to any lengths to hike up the price. Their approach is very clear, hoke the price, then try to discount.

Used them before and the price kept going up. The charges just to remove someone from a policy is disgusting. Not tens of pounds, hundreds if pounds.

Used through the comparisons sites, they are already on commission. Then ask for annual policies, most companies disappear from the list. These guys stay, then you click on the link and you are forced into monthly to charge you extortionate amounts of interest monthly.

Then you go through add ons, your choice take or leave. You end up paying a thirst of the policy value in deposit. The still left with 2/3rds over monthly.

Get all the way through, pay deposit and bam, policy isnt actually live as they need you to call you to validate.

Then on that call, the price goes ip and up and up. All because the insurers policy determines this. You end up paying over £100 more per month. Simpler things like any others cars in the household, not in this policy and like it states on the comparison websites, more cars might get you discounts. These clowns dont. Apparently the more cars you have, the more risk their is to insurance in general, not the company, just a risk that 4 Separate vehicles and four Seperate drivers is a high risk in general.

You then ask to invoke the right to cancel the policy midway though and get a refund. Sorry, I need to talk to my manager.

Then the kicker, oh we can drop the policy by £50 of the extra we are charging you as a company discount. How much margin is there? Thats £600 just because I cottoned on to the scam.

I know from previous dealings they can’t change the rules if the policy, so to drop.

I will be requesting a full investigation from the FCA and Trading Standards. I feel sorry for the people that don’t realise they have more choices.

Polite tactics to rip you off.

The response is not an accurate representation of what happened. But they will try. There will be a detailed formal complaint raised with the FCA and Trading standards. Discount offered can only be driven by the margin not the policy provider.

Excellent customer service from Sam walker. Went above and beyond regarding my policy. Thanks for the service highly recommended

Call handler was fantastic, very helpful and done his best to get me the best deal possible

Their interface was well designed and allowed me to get a tailored quote quickly at a good price.

Excellent customer service

Excellent customer service very friendly staff overall a fantastic service
Also great price and value for money

Very upfront and quick to respond

If you pay monthly and change the van, you will be ripped off. I feel cheated. You can't do it online anymore, you have to hang on the phone for at least 30 minutes to get through to a not very polite agent. Every change is made with a high fee. I have never been with them again for four years and I have never made a claim. Today I am done for good. The worst thing is that when I ask for a quote on an independent site for the same van, they offer me a pretty good price, but with an existing policy they ask for 120% more. Be careful!!!

Spoke with Sam today, helped me out massively with my insurance policy, couldn’t of been more helpful.

AFTER INPUTTING ALL MY DETAILS ON A COMPARISON SITE AND PAYING FOR MY INSURANCE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE ENTIRE PROCESS AGAIN OVER THE PHONE TO VALIDATE THE INSURANCE.
DON'T LIKE HAVING MY TIME WASTED.

Brilliant customer service with operators that are happy to help , 5 stars from me !

Highly recommend, Great service, very helpful with what I needed.

Great service, thank you

Greta service from the gent who took care of my insurance