“Reluctantly Written Review: I Would Advise Against Using This Insurance Company
On 22nd August 2024, an accident occurred. It was reported to Darwin Insurance immediately, and they gathered details about what had happened, including the location and time. They arranged for a courtesy car through Auxillis Car Rentals while someone from Darwin was supposed to collect my own vehicle. However, due to miscommunication on Darwin’s part, the wrong person initially came to collect my car. Thirty minutes later, the correct person arrived to collect the vehicle, leaving me unsure of where my car was or who had it. Darwin then contacted me, their customer, to ask if I knew where the car was, despite having arranged everything themselves as my insurance company.
Meanwhile, we were in contact with Auxillis regarding the hire car. We explained that we were due to go on holiday the morning of the accident and urgently needed a hire car. Despite this, Auxillis delivered the car to the wrong address, which was baffling as they had asked for extra ID multiple times because the car wasn’t at the address listed on the insurance policy. They called me to say they had arrived, but I informed them that I was outside and they were not there. After confirming that they were at the incorrect address, I provided the correct one, and they arrived 30 minutes later. After assessing the hire car, they handed over the keys. The car was a Hyundai Tucson, and I had stressed the importance of fitting car seats, prams, a bike, four suitcases, and all passengers, similar to my own vehicle. Auxillis reassured me that this would be possible, but it clearly wasn’t. We had to leave luggage behind and struggled to repack due to the limited space in the car. We were travelling to a caravan site in Blackpool and then on to Portsmouth for a two-week holiday during the summer holidays.
We arrived in Blackpool missing luggage and feeling very unhappy. We contacted Auxillis, and after numerous calls and being told there was nothing they could do except provide something in the same vehicle group, they eventually offered to deliver a different car to Blackpool. The replacement car was similar in size to our own vehicle but with a lower specification. By this point, we had had enough and accepted the car. We had to leave Blackpool a full day earlier than planned to return to Ramsbottom to collect the luggage we had left behind, before heading back down south.
During this time, I called DLG Auto Services in Heywood to explain the situation and mention that an EPC light was showing after the accident, putting my car in limp mode. They assured me that this would be addressed unless the car was deemed unrepairable.
The ongoing issues disrupted our entire holiday. Despite being on holiday, we received constant calls from Darwin, Auxillis, and DLG Auto Services regarding my car.
On 6th September, I received a text message stating, “Good news, your car repairs are finished! We will call you soon to arrange getting your car back to you. If you have a hire car, you will be contacted separately to arrange for it to go back.” However, I did not hear from them for a week. I called to check when my car would be returned, and they informed me it could be delivered in a few days, which I accepted.
When my car arrived, we still had the rental vehicle. Upon inspecting the car, I noticed that the paintwork didn’t match, and the door handles were rough and different from those on the opposite side. When test driving the car, we could hear constant wind noise coming from the front passenger side. Additionally, the EPC light was still on. Essentially, the car was in worse condition than when it was sent in, except for the dents that had been repaired.
Before contacting DLG about these issues, I took the car to Volkswagen Bury for an assessment. They confirmed that the paint did not match the original and that the door handles were not genuine. They said the overall bodywork was not up to Volkswagen’s standards and advised me to contact the insurance and the garage immediately.
I called DLG Auto Services to discuss these issues, and they required me to bring the car in personally, which seemed unreasonable given that it was their mistake. We had to make arrangements for our 4-year-old while dealing with this. At the garage, the environment appeared unprofessional; an older man took the keys with a young lad, around 16 years old, who was dirty, to assess the car, which made us uncomfortable. After inspecting the car, they acknowledged the noise and said they would call when a part needed to be replaced. When they returned the car, it was dirty inside, with oil and dirt on the glove box from the young lad who had been sitting in the passenger seat.
Meanwhile, they sent someone out to assess the EPC fault on the dashboard. The person connected a diagnostic box to the car and, after about 20-25 minutes, concluded that the car needed oil. I then purchased oil and added it to see if it would make a difference.
We still had the courtesy car, so we dropped it off again at DLG while the car damage was repaired once more. Later, we found out from Auxillis, who came to collect the rental car, that I was no longer insured while driving it with my family. On a specific Saturday, a DLG representative was extremely rude, even shouting at me over the phone, saying it wasn’t her issue as she just answered the phone and worked in the office.
Eventually, DLG considered the repairs complete, and I got my car back, but the entire computer system was now down. Upon further investigation, it appears DLG manually overridden the computer system to hide the error, which likely hasn’t been fixed, leaving me with a car where features that should work do not. Darwin Insurance is still trying to find a resolution. This ordeal has been ongoing since 22nd August, exactly nine weeks ago today, and there is still no end in sight.”
