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Part of the BGL Group, Dial Direct is an insurance broker with more than 3 million customers across the UK.
As it is a broker, it means your policy will be underwritten by one of the company’s panel of insurers, rather than Dial Direct itself.
Every Dial Direct policy comes with breakdown cover as standard. That means it might be worth exploring if breakdown assistance is one of your must-haves when comparing car insurance quotes.
But what is it like as an insurer? Read our Dial Direct car insurance review to find out. We take a look at the policies it offers, the process for making a claim, and what customers say about its service online.
Dial Direct three main policies: third party cover, third party, fire and theft, and comprehensive car insurance.
You can take out these policies as standard or Premier policies. With Dial Direct Premier, your policy will include motor legal protection as standard.
If you take out a standard Dial Direct third party policy, your cover will include:
If you have Dial Direct Premier third party insurance, you’ll also have motor legal protection. This will cover up to £100,000 in legal expenses to pursue uninsured losses following an accident. You can also claim up to £20,000 to cover legal expenses for motor prosecution defence, as well as access to a 24/7 motor legal advice helpline.
Dial Direct third party, fire and theft insurance includes everything found at the third party level, as well as:
If you have Dial Direct Premier third party, fire and theft insurance, you’ll have the same level of motor legal protection included with third party cover.
With standard Dial Direct comprehensive insurance, your policy will include everything from the lower levels of cover, as well as:
If you have Dial Direct Premier comprehensive car insurance, you’ll have the same motor legal protection included with the other levels of cover.
Third party | Third party, fire and theft | Comprehensive | |
---|---|---|---|
Age range | All | All | All |
Level of cover | Third party | Third party, fire and theft | Comprehensive |
Injuries to other people | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Damage to other people’s property | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Theft | No | Yes | Yes |
Fire damage | No | Yes | Yes |
Repairs to your own car following accident | No | No | Yes |
Motor legal protection | Yes (Dial Direct Premier) Optional (standard Dial Direct insurance) | Yes (Dial Direct Premier) Optional (standard Dial Direct insurance) | Yes (Dial Direct Premier) Optional (standard Dial Direct insurance) |
Your medical expenses | No | No | Up to £200 per injured person Up to £10,000 personal accident cover (maximum payment £5,000 for death, loss of sight, or loss of limb) |
Driving other cars | No | No | Yes (if eligible, third party only) |
Breakdown cover | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Courtesy car cover | No | No | Yes |
Hire car cover | Optional | Optional | Optional |
Windscreen replacement | No | No | Yes |
Personal belongings | No | No | Yes |
Replacement locks and keys | Optional | Optional | Up to £500 (optional keycare cover available) |
Protected no-claims bonus | Optional | Optional | Optional |
Cancellation fee | £30 (within 14-day cooling off period) £45 (after 14 days) | £30 (within 14-day cooling off period) £45 (after 14 days) | £30 (within 14-day cooling off period) £45 (after 14 days) |
You can add the following optional extras to your Dial Direct car insurance:
If you need to make a car insurance claim through Dial Direct, you should:
You will need to contact Dial Direct to cancel your car insurance policy.
As long as you haven’t made a claim, you’ll be refunded for the time remaining on your premium, minus the following charges:
Cancellation period | Fee |
---|---|
Within 14 days of your policy start date | £30 |
After 14 days, or if Dial Direct needs to cancel your policy | £45 |
If you need to contact Dial Direct about your car insurance, and it isn’t related to a claim, you can:
Dial Direct has an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot score of 4.4 out of five stars, based on more than 20,600 reviews.
It is important to note that this score reflects Dial Direct as a whole, and not just its car insurance products. Dial Direct also offers van insurance and home insurance.
Of its five-star reviews that mention car insurance, customers praise Dial Direct for the ease of its application process and its competitive quotes.
However, customers complained about high renewal quotes (which isn’t just an issue with Dial Direct, but the wider car insurance industry), poor customer service and difficulties with receiving or accessing policy documents.
“Transferring the insurance on my car was quick and easy to do online. Being in my 70s and not tech savvy, I was anxious to begin with, but was pleasantly surprised. It took no time at all to set up the new and cheaper insurance and I’m happy with the result.”
“Very impressive quote for car insurance that beat my current provider substantially. Easy to switch and sign up. Very happy with the process, cover and breakdown recovery.”
“Easy to set up car insurance online. But because we already have a policy on another car with you we cannot use your portal as we use one email address, [which] doesn’t encourage customers to have more than one policy. I had to ring up to ask for my documents which involved a 28 minute wait before being connected to an advisor. Was promised the documents by email that day but I had to call again three days later, which again involved a long wait, to request them again.”
On top of its ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot rating, Dial Direct has the following reviews on Defaqto:
Provider name | Trustpilot score | Defaqto score |
---|---|---|
Dial Direct | 4.4 stars | 4 stars (3 stars for third party, fire and theft policies) |
esure | 3.1 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for Third party, fire and theft, 3 stars for Flex) |
Ageas | 4.1 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Essentials) |
Axa | 4.3 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for standard third party, fire and theft and comprehensive car insurance) |
Direct Line | 3.7 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Third party, fire and theft and Essentials) |
People’s Choice | 1.4 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for third party, fire and theft) |
Hastings Direct | 4.1 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for Third party, fire and theft, 3 stars for Telematics, 2 stars for Essential) |
Admiral Insurance | 4.4 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for Telematics, 3 stars for Essential) |
Aviva | 3.9 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Third party, fire and theft) |
LV | 4.5 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Third party, fire and theft) |
NFU Mutual | 4.4 stars | 5 stars |
One of the biggest benefits of Dial Direct car insurance is that every policy, including third party only, comes with RAC breakdown cover as standard. You can also select a Premier policy at all levels of cover if you automatically want motor legal protection to be included.
However, there are a few points worth mentioning. Dial Direct only has four-stars from Defaqto for its standard and Premier comprehensive insurance policies, which puts it behind many of its competitors.
Its cancellation fees during the 14-day cooling off period are also quite high, while you can only drive abroad under your policy for 60, rather than 90, days. The uninsured driver promise, meanwhile, appears not to protect your no-claims bonus, and its in-car equipment cover is seemingly limited to audio systems only.
Dial Direct is an insurance broker owned by BGL Group PLC (which also owns Budget Insurance, Zenith Insurance and Jaunt).
This means its car insurance policies are underwritten by a panel of leading insurance companies in the UK.
As for Dial Direct’s various add-ons and extras, they are underwritten or provided by the following:
Dial Direct’s parent company, BGL Group, is based in Peterborough.
Connor Campbell is an experienced personal and business finance writer who has been producing online content for almost a decade.
Connor is the personal finance expert for Independent Advisor, guiding readers through everything they need to know about car insurance and home insurance. From how much it costs to the best insurance providers in the UK, he’s here to help you find the right policy for your needs.
In his capacity as writer and spokesperson at NerdWallet, Connor explored a number of topics close to his heart, such as the impact of our increasingly cashless society, and the hardships and heroics of British entrepreneurs. His commentary was featured in sites such as The Mirror, the Daily Express and Business Insider.
At financial trading firm Spreadex, meanwhile, his market commentary was featured in outlets such as The Guardian, BBC, Reuters and the Evening Standard.
Connor is a voracious reader with an MA in English, and is dedicated to making life’s financial decisions a little bit easier by doing away with jargon and needless complexity.
Amy is a seasoned writer and editor with a special interest in home design, sustainable technology and green building methods.
She has interviewed hundreds of self-builders, extenders and renovators about their journeys towards individual, well-considered homes, as well as architects and industry experts during her five years working as Assistant Editor at Homebuilding & Renovating, part of Future plc.
Amy’s work covers topics ranging from home, interior and garden design to DIY step-by-steps, planning permission and build costs, and has been published in Period Living, Real Homes, and 25 Beautiful Homes, Homes and Gardens.
Now an Editor at the Independent Advisor, Amy manages homes-related content for the site, including solar panels, combi boilers, and windows.
Her passion for saving tired and inefficient homes also extends to her own life; Amy completed a renovation of a mid-century house in 2022 and is about to embark on an energy-efficient overhaul of a 1800s cottage in Somerset.
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