Acorn Insurance is a specialist policy provider, which has been offering its services since 1981. The broker focuses on car, taxi, van, motor trade and home insurance policies.
Reviews.io rating: 4.87/5 stars
Reviews.io gave Acorn a 4.87 rating out of five based on 1,549 reviews of experience of its car insurance in relation to premium price.
Feefo rating: 4.7/5 stars
Trustpilot gave Acorn car insurance 4.2 stars out of five based on 822 reviews.
The company runs a UK-based customer service enquiry team, which is available from Monday to Saturday. It also operates a 24-hours, seven days a week claims line. It is proud of its commitment to customer service.
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Acorn Insurance provides a number of specialist insurance policies for private car drivers. These comprise:
Standard car insurance; providing the option of comprehensive and third party, fire and theft
Chassis number insurance; uses a vehicle’s identification number rather than a UK licence plate for identification to provide valid insurance
Learner car insurance; serves learner drivers who need to be covered in their own name
Import car insurance; covers drivers of cars that are imported and therefore none-standard vehicles.
While Acorn does not offer multi-car insurance or short-term or temporary car insurance, it does offer black box insurance, which is also known as telematics insurance.
This option sees a GPS-enabled black box installed to the car to track the insured’s driving and, as a result, enjoy a lower premium.
All car insurance policies offer certain benefits as standard, such as cover in the event that the policyholder collides with and causes damage to another insured vehicle or damages another driver or passenger in an accident. This is known as third party only insurance.
Acorn Insurance offers two higher levels of car insurance with some added extras, such as legal cover and no claims bonus protection, available should the policyholder requirement them:
third party, fire and theft – covers damage and injury to other people or their property, as well as losses incurred by the policyholder through fire and theft
comprehensive – covers the vast majority of losses that can be claimed for, including damage or loss of the policyholder’s car and property, and that of third parties
Specifically, Acorn’s Haven Insurance policy covers the items listed below.
Replacement or repairs to windows and the windscreen are included in the policy, subject to any excess noted on the schedule. Policyholders are able to use a repairer of their own choosing.
Any permanently fitted audio equipment, such as a radio, that is damaged or stolen from the insured’s car will be replaced or repaired up to a maximum cost of £250, subject to any excess.
Any personal belongings that are stolen from the car or damaged while in the car as a result of fire, theft or attempted theft are covered up to a cost of £100 per incident. Damage or loss after an accident is also covered if the insured has a comprehensive policy.
The first £100 of any medical expenses incurred by passengers in the insured car will be covered, the same amount would be paid toward the driver’s medical expenses if they have comprehensive insurance.
A courtesy car will be provided for seven days if the car is a write off or stolen, or being repaired.
Motor protection insurance is included to allow the insured to claim losses not covered by the insurance policy from a third party. The level of cover is capped at £50,000.
Currently, the insurance policy will cover the insured when driving their vehicle in European Union member states.
In addition to the benefits detailed above, Acorn provides policyholders with the option to purchase the following types of cover, on top of the standard offerings. These include the items listed below.
Cover is provided in the event the policyholder’s car is rendered undrivable, on up to six occasions, due to one of the following:
mechanical breakdown
accidental damage
vandalism
fire
theft or attempted theft
flat battery
accidental damage to tyres
The insurance provides doorstep and roadside assistance, vehicle recover and up to two phone calls to other parties informing them of the delay.
The same list of causes of a breakdown apply with European breakdown cover, Additionally, £700 of cover is provided if the car breaks down within seven days of departing for Europe.
Other benefits include up to £600 to cover delivery charges for deploying replacement parts and £750 for alternative transport, hire car or accommodation if the insured is stranded after their car breaks down.
Cover can be provided for lost or stolen keys. Benefits include:
replacement keys, locks and locksmith charges of up to £1,500 per year
up to £40 cover for three days’ vehicle hire if the insured’s car is undrivable
onward transport costs of up to £80 per claims
24 hour 365 days a year UK-based emergency helpline
If you require basic third party, fire and theft or comprehensive cover
If you want the benefit of knowing the first £250 of any claim relating to your on-board audio equipment is covered
Despite a sleepy year news-wise, no doubt abetted by coronavirus, Acorn Insurance hit the industry headlines in September 2020 when it was named one of the top 50 personal insurance brokers by Insurance Age.
The Financial Ombudsman Service received 15 car insurance complaints about Acorn. To put that in context, 67 firms had 10 or more complaints each and those totalled 4,550 complaints. Nearly 200 firms had fewer than 10 each, sharing just 479 complaints between them.
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