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M&S:
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| M&S Car, Home, Pet & Travel Insurance: |
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Name: M&S Insurance
Quote Rating:
4.5 out of 5
No. of Reviews: 20
Overview: Marks and Spencer is another of those organisations that's best known for one type of business, mainly clothing in this case, but has also branched out into other offerings, such as insurance. Except, like many, it doesn't actually provide the cover itself but uses proper insurers to do this. Furthermore, in this case, it's not wholly Marks and Spencer owned anymore but continues to use the brand name.
Insurance is provided under the M&S Money brand, which started out as St. Michael Financial Services in 1985. It changed its name several times, eventually becoming M&S Money in 2003. Savings and loan products were offered in the early years, with home and contents cover being launched in 2000, travel and pet polices in 2002. M&S Money was sold to HSBC in 2004, although Marks and Spencer representatives remain on the executive committee and the two companies have a 50:50 profit sharing partnership.
Home insurance is provided by AXA Insurance and received a Which? Recommended Provider award in 2010. Car insurance comes through BISL using a panel of insurers and has standard and premier options while AXA provides the travel insurance and pet insurance is provided by Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance.
One thing that's not provided any more is wedding cover, which disappeared from the website in August 2010. However, for those products that remain, you will receive M&S points, which vary depending on the type of policy, if you're an M&S cardholder.
M&S Money won two prizes at the 2010 Moneywise Customer Service Awards, being named as the Most Trusted Insurance Provider and Best Travel Insurance Provider.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of its financial operation, M&S Money ran a survey in 2010 that focused on students in 1985 and compared them to those of today. It concluded that both had expensive tastes, although only around half had insurance to cover their possessions. Given that 27% suffered a burglary while at university and 71% were burgled more than once, this is probably not the best course of action. However, there's always the possibility they are covered through their parents' home insurance policy.
Marks and Spencer became a 'green' insurer at the start of 2010 when it enhanced its cover for home insurance. This means that if you make a claim for a kitchen appliance, such as a washing machine or a refrigerator, it will be replaced with a new A-rated energy-efficient model rather than being on a like-for-like basis. Additionally, any rebuilding that's needed will be to level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, ensuring it meets certain standards and reduces CO2 output. Lastly, if you have solar panels or a wind turbine installed, these are automatically covered. Marks and Spencer acknowledges that these features will cost more but maintains they do not add to premium costs.
There seems to be some confusion over their website name as many try things like www.m&s.co.uk and www.m&s.com - unfortunately the "&" character is not valid for domain names so all you will see is a big error page in your browser. This may lead many to think that their site is down for maintenance, especially if you hit www.marks&spencer.co.uk or www.marks&spencer.com next only to find the same error page staring you in the face. The offical site is at www.marksandspencer.com with www.marksandspencer.co.uk redirecting there for your convenience. We suggest that you bookmark the site, or individual page you want, whilst on it to avoid problems when trying to return later as many of the variations are owned by completely different companies (e.g. www.markandspencers.com which just shows similar advertisers) and the last thing you want is to get caught out if one of those sites decides to offer a similar service or simply try to get your personal details from you.
M&S Public Comments Board:*
Remember, the majority of people that look for places to leave comments, do so because they've had a bad experience and want to vent. We suggest you pay attention for common threads in reviews rather than simply weighing up the percentage of bad ones! ;)
 Find Products Related to:
» M&S Insurance Services
» M&S Car Insurance
» M&S Home Insurance
» M&S Travel Insurance
» M&S Pet Insurance
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28/08/2010 got a great deal on modded car dont tamper with engine and is fine or dont tell em
08/05/2010 After the death of my pet, Marks & Spencer Money deducted the remainder of the premiums for the year from the cheque they sent to cover the euthanasia and cremation expenses. Talk about rubbing salt into a wound!
22/04/2010 Rather a waste of time getting a quote if you have modified your car's power; in my case, a remapped diesel. They are only willing to quote if you have the EXACT power figure! You can't even give a power figure much higher than it can possibly be and get a quote on that. So, visit a rolling road first, or try elsewhere.