Is Autosaint a good car insurance broker—and can they save you money? Let’s take a look at what Autosaint Insurance has to offer and read what real customers have to say. For quick quotes from up to 100 brands comparing Autosaint Insurance against popular RAC, Admiral, Hastings, etc., click the blue "Get Quotes" button below.

In This Review

• Autosaint Insurance: Overall Review
• Customer Reviews and Ratings
• Cost Comparison and Discounts
• Cancellation Fees, Phone Numbers and Policy Documents
• FAQs

Autosaint Car Insurance Overall Review

Autosaint is now part of Right Choice Insurance Brokers Limited. Autosaint works with some of the UK's top car insurance underwriters and is aimed at young drivers; their policies require telematics boxes (aka black boxes) to be installed to track driving style (e.g., braking, accelerating, speeding, etc.).

Is Autosaint Insurance any good? The customer reviews flag up a number of issues, including low braking scores recorded by black boxes leading to policies being cancelled—often unfairly in the opinion of the policy holders. Having your policy cancelled can be especially problematic for a young driver, since this can affect your ability to get another policy, especially at a reasonable price.

Potential policy holders should also be aware of the admin and cancellation fees. Autosaint Insurance cancellation fees are a bit higher than average cancellation fees in the UK, and since they're a broker you'll also pay additional fees to the underwriter of your policy as well; plus new policy and renewal arrangement fees start are £75 for personal lines and there are also data charges of £60 at renewals (higher for commercial)—and these may not be refunded if you cancel. But some other brokers (e.g., Advance Insurance) charge even higher arrangement fees.

Autosaint Insurance customer service is open 6 days a week (they're closed Sunday). They have recently extended their opening hours on bank holidays, making it easier to reach them, which is good.

All that said, Autosaint might offer you a better price than you'll find elsewhere. If you want to find out, you can get a quote from Autosaint Insurance by calling or going to their website or, if you want to compare their prices to the market, then go to our car insurance comparison partner QuoteZone—their panel includes Autosaint Insurance and other popular brands such as RAC, Admiral and Hastings.

Features

The features of an Autosaint plan can vary depending on which insurer underwrites your policy. Here are some features to look out for when reading your policy wording:

In addition, the follow may be offered as optional additional extras:

Autosaint Black Box Rules and Driver Scores

Driving deemed unsafe can lead to your policy being cancelled. For example, the policy will automatically cancel if you go 25 mph over the limit on two occasions, Or if you go 15 mph over the limit five times or more in a block of 100 miles, you'll be sent a warning letter and if this happens again after three warning letters, your policy will be cancelled. In addition, if the driving score drops below 10 they may contact you regarding ways to improve your driving.

Note: You have 14 days to get the black box fitted or your policy will be cancelled.

Autosaint Customer Service Reviews and Ratings

Autosaint Insurance online customer reviews are not very good. We read through the reviews to see if we could learn anything. A common complaint is that prices go up after the initial quote, that the cancellation fees are so high and that it can be easy to trip the braking score minimum and have your policy cancelled.

BUT—and this is a big but—their Trustpilot and Reviews.co.uk ratings are based on very few customers. That signals to us that the resulting ratings are not statistically significant so shouldn't be taken too seriously on their own. And, it implies that the reviews reflect complaints only—not a sampling of experiences from a range of customers who would have a range of experiences. Most insurers solicit reviews from their customers directly after purchase, when customers are typically happy (they bought a policy, after all). This drags an average rating up a lot. But it looks like Autosaint doesn't do this. So they only have people complaining in their reviews.

That said, we can still learn a lot about the issues people have by looking into what's behind the ratings. That is, what are the complaints? We scoured through online reviews to learn a bit more about the experiences of Hughes Insurance customers. Here's what we found.

Autosaint Trustpilot:

Autosaint Insurance scores poorly with customers on Trustpilot, scoring just 3.0 out of 5 stars, which is relatively low for car insurance. In fact, 86% of customer reviews for Autosaint are "Bad".

We reviewed the customer complaints and found a few common issues. For starters, existing customers have a hard time getting through to speak with someone (there was a suggestion that you call the new quote line to get through to customer service, but that window might have closed as it sounds like now they're sending customers back to the existing customer queue, which is apparently hard to get through).

Another issue is the black box. There are many reports of the telematics box accusing a driver of things they haven't don't think they've done (e.g., harsh braking), and of policies subsequently being cancelled on the spot. Finally, high cancellation charges seem to be a persistent problem. Here are some customer quotes from negative reviews left on Trustpilot:

"You try emailing they never reply. You try phoning they never answer. Every day they email wanting my son son to return his black box. I keep emailing back saying they haven't given me anything to return it. SO FRUSTRATING."

"Cheap price lured me in... And then when it came to moving address they said they don't insure new postcode. And then charged me all cancellation fees. I had the insurance for month and it cost me half the amount of the whole year with all their fees."

"... I have gone over my annual millage and must pay a ridiculous £850 for 1000 more miles added on..."

"Numerous texts and emails threatening to cancel the insurance. Inadequate dashboard for uploading documents."

"... in the end we cancelled the policy after 4 weeks, extortionate charges for cancelling well over £200."

"The people I spoke to on the phone were unsympathetic and quite dismissive, and the financial implications of this are incredibly stressful."

"Quoted just £150 for compulsory excess, went to purchase and that changed to £750!"

"... I have just been charged for £170 for my insurance WHICH IS CANCELLED. and also been sent an email being told I have to pay £150 for half of it is 'commission'..."

"My daughter is insured by these crooks and I am a named driver. She’s currently on holiday abroad and they have emailed her stating they will cancel her insurance if she doesn’t charge her black box. The box that doesn’t need charging as it’s solar powered. I’ve tried to charge it manually but there’s no light on to say it’s charging. She’s emailed them multiple times to which they don’t reply and I’ve called them seven times now but never been able to get through."

"Car has been parked up for the past month score was 92%; it’s has continued to drop now at 78% even though it hasn’t been touched in a month."

It's not all bad, though. Around 1 in 20 reviews were Excellent. Here's a sample of a positive review left for Autosaint on Trustpilot:

"... each year the renewal price was always... Much cheaper which was great..."

"I was very cautious to insure with Autosaint as the reviews were so bad but as I was 17 at the time and they were the cheapest, I had no choice. However, I am very very glad that I did... I forgot to mention that each year the renewal price was always a large difference too. Much cheaper which was great because I pay for the whole year rather than monthly and I couldn’t find cheaper quotes anywhere else so thumbs up!"

We should point out, however, that a few hundred reviews is really not very many for a car insurance provider—usually we see thousands or tens of thousands. So, a few hundred is probably not statistically significant and we put a bit less faith in the overall rating. That said, individual customer experiences are really valuable to hear about and we do think they're important to understand the actual customer experience from real people.

Autosaint Reviews.co.uk

The reviews for Autosaint are also pretty weak at Reviews.co.uk, with 500 customers leaving an average 2.2 out of 5 star rating. Here is a sample of representative reviews which may help you understand what it's like to be an Autosaint customer.

First, we have some positive reviews for Autosaint left at Reviews.co.uk:

"I've been with this insurance company for 2 years now, last year I ended up getting £150 back off my policy as I was a good driver, and since renewing in November, I've also had a refund due to change in my address..."

"Short waiting time... extremely helpful"

"Auto saint customer service is nothing other than the best I have received... Talked me through the braking score and how to improve. Genuinely wanted to help me"

"Spoke to a very helpful person today who sorted out all my issues!"

And some negative reviews:

"Cannot urge you enough to not use this company. The attractive price lured me in. I purchased car insurance with a black box from these guys. 1st year was fine, second year I kept getting 'Low braking score' on my black box. I was braking absolutely fine, so when I was given warnings, it actually caused my driving to be less safe as I was worried to brake whatsoever. There are also a load more reviews suggesting the black box gives accurate readings, which would not surprise me. These guys cancelled my insurance with 4 months left on the policy, after trying to reinstate it because I don't want my insurance to sky rocket due to a cancellation, they told me there was absolutely nothing they can do. I cant explain how frustrated I am, I have had a black box for almost 4 years with no issue, never had a crash, speeding ticket or anything. Now I am left with the pain of having to pay through the roof for my insurance because this careless company hands out cancellations like there is no tomorrow."

"All was well until I reached my maximum mileage and rang them for more miles... They came back with a quote for £1200 for an extra 4000 miles"

" The black box company cancelled on us twice, saying there wasn’t an engineer in the area. The third appointment they gave us was just over the 14 day deadline (by 3 days). Autosaint wouldn’t allow it and told us the insurance will be cancelled..."

"... my insurance has been cancelled due to “low breaking score” which seems to be the reason this company is cancelling a numerous of young drivers insurance for the same reason! I am 19 years old and can’t be accepted for another insurance due to having my insurance cancelled with this company..."

Autosaint Car Insurance Quote Comparison

As a broker, Autosaint Insurance will survey their panel of insurers to find you the best quote that they can. Since their panel doesn't include every insurer, you may be able to find a cheaper quote elsewhere, however.

Prices for car insurance can vary significantly from day to day and company to company, and depend on factors like your age, driving experience, postcode, car, etc. If you want to compare Autosaint Insurance to other brands, try our car insurance partner QuoteZone—who can supply quotes from Autosaint Insurance and over 100 other insurance brands.

Autosaint Car Insurance Deals

An easy way to get a cheaper car insurance quote is to buy your policy around three weeks in advance—that's typically the best time to buy a car insurance policy. After this time, rates usually climb.

Paying upfront is another way to save money, since insurers usually charge you (like a loan) if you want to spread out the costs and pay monthly. Rates will vary but you could save tens to hundreds a year, depending on your premium. Autosaint Insurance uses Creation Consumer Finance Ltd for Personal Lines Insurance and Close Brothers Premium Finance for Commercial Lines Insurance to finance clients who want to pay monthly.

Another tip to get a lower premium is reassessing where you park your car at night. If you have access to a garage there's a lower chance of theft. For other tips, see our research on how to get a car insurance discount.

It's always a good idea to compare the market also, especially when it comes time for renewal, to make sure you'll getting a good deal. Autosaint Insurance is part of the comparison panel provided by our car insurance partner QuoteZone, a comparison website that works with over 100 brands in the UK car insurance market. Using QuoteZone, you should be able to get a quote from Autosaint Insurance as well as competitors to compare prices and see which companies offer the best deals in your post code and for your car.

Autosaint Cancellation Fees

As a broker that deals with a panel of insurers, Autosaint Insurance policyholders will pay an arrangement fee for a new policy and subsequent renewals—up to £60 and £49.50, respectively, for personal line. Commercial lines cost even more. In addition, mid-term changes or cancellations can lead to admin/cancellation fees paid to both the Autosaint Insurance and the underwriter—Autosaints fees are shown in the data below, which we got from their terms and conditions:

Theo Box lending costs are non refundable once the data feed has been initiated or the box has been fitted or 14 days after cover commencing, whichever comes first.

What is the Autosaint Cancellation Policy?

If you want to cancel your Autosaint policy, first telephone customer services on 0344 557 8401 or email [email protected]. How much does it cost to cancel? You'll need to pay the fees in the table above plus there is a settlement of the premium which can mean you get a refund or you owe them more money. Cancellation fees are listed in the table above in the fees section. In addition, there is the issue of payment for time covered.

Cancelling during the first 14 days means you'll get a pro-rata refund of premium. Cancelling after the cooling off period means they'll calculate the charge for the time you were covered on a scale (not pro-rata) which means a much smaller refund to you (or a higher payment to cancel if you pay monthly), according to the following table:

In addition, there's no refund after 14 days on optional add-on products such as breakdown, legal and key cover. Note: If there has been ANY claim, the full premium will be payable with no refund due.

Autosaint Car Insurance Contact Numbers

Autosaint customer service for existing customers can be reached at 01527 390 292 is open Monday to Friday: 09.00 – 19:00, Saturdays: 09.00 – 17:00 and Bank Holidays: 09.00 – 17:00. Motorists looking for new quotes can call 1527 390 290 on Monday to Friday: 09.00 – 20:00, Saturdays: 09.00 – 17:00. Autosaint is closed on Sunday (except for the 24/7 claims line, of course).

FAQs

Policy Documents

As Autosaint Insurance is a broker, the insurance they arrange for you can be from a number of different insurers. Your policy documents will be sent to you shortly after you sign up for cover.

Other Car Insurance Reviews

If you'd like to compare Autosaint Insurance to other car insurance companies, see some of our list of car insurance reviews. Some popular car insurance company reviews are listed below: