The electric car subscription service Onto is billed as the future of car ownership but is taking advantage of its customers.
My wife was in a car accident in early February. Someone tried to overtake her on the left, using a slip road, and then turned into her.
Onto took the £1,000 excess upfront and said we would receive a refund if my wife was found not to have been at fault.
I was frustrated because, when I signed up, it said it planned to offer a bolt-on that would lower the excess to £350.
However, several weeks before the accident, I was told I wasn’t eligible because I was already a customer.
It took the money via direct debit in February and said it would look into the situation and let me know. Since then, I have followed up multiple times and heard nothing … until now. It says that as it doesn’t have the number plate of the other car involved, it is keeping the £1,000.
This is not true. We submitted the number plate to its insurance partner, Zurich, in February through its online portal. I also emailed Onto asking it to send the car’s dashcam footage to Zurich.
I am left with very little recourse to get my money back and am cancelling our membership. I have made clear my frustration but it is doing nothing to help.
AM, Oxford
I have had several letters about problems arising from car club membership but this is the first about Onto, which aims to make electric cars more accessible. You have clearly been messed around.
Onto says the claims process should take 12 weeks to solve and, once resolved, the customer would be refunded the difference between the excess and the repair.
It says: “Unfortunately, in this case, the process has taken substantially longer than 12 weeks, leaving the customer in a difficult position. We take responsibility for this continued delay and have, as a result, refunded the customer the full excess fee.”
Onto is making changes to improve communication with customers and speed up the claims process: “This should alleviate as much stress as possible from our customers following an incident.”
You are pleased to get your money back but wonder if others have also been treated badly.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions
