Footman James Reviews 

Second year with FJ and again best quote by far. I'm a happy customer! Last year I had 2 bikes on my policy and this year 3 bikes. They wanted a measly £5.09 extra to insure a 3rd bike for 12months. Cheapest insurance I've ever had by a long shot. Customer service are great, phone was answered within a reasonable time and was polite and clear with the legal jargon, clear about what was covered and offered extras that suited my needs. All in All a good experience and I'm looking forward to next years insurance with you.

I obtained a quote i was happy with, i was then harassed at least twice a day by telephone to accept and pay for the quote. One day later i added an additional driver to the policy, again i was happy with the quote. That evening i decided to accept and pay for the quote, i carefully checked my details and unintentionally changed 1 modification from AIR FILTER to INDUCTION.
It then said they were unable to give a quote. Not knowing why they couldn't quote i submitted my details several times and i was eventually allowed to proceed and pay.
Following morning they called me asking me to obtain an engineers report as i had submitted too many quotes and basically accused me of lying. I asked for a refund as i would go elsewhere to be told there would be a £25 cancellation charge. I vigorously disagreed with this and eventually got a full refund.
Moral of this is put your details in correctly 1st time and don't change/update anything or you will be accused of attempting to lie. I will have my "classic" for many years to come and will never go near Footman James for insurance.
I am a member of several car forums and will be publishing my experience.

Absolutely disgusted, this company does not recognise its loyal customers. I have been with Footman James with a number of classic vehicles over the years. They cancelled my insurance and told me they had informed me by post to which I never received anything ! The funny thing is the same vehicle has been insured for the past 3 years already without any issue ! No apology, nothing. So I asked for a new quote and they said they would call me back 'sometime'. Pushed to the side just like a number. This is very disappointing behaviour from Footman James. I shall shop elsewhere, avoid this disloyal company like the plague, you have been warned !!

New customer
All good so far they have a no hassle approach to agreed value insurance, unlike some other so called classic car insurance specialists. Long may it continue.👍

Not the best experience I'm afraid.
I'm planning to import a Shelby Cobra replica from the US and I was trying to get a quote from FJ.

FJ claims to be a kit car insurance specialist, but they couldn't even recognise the brand and the manufacturer of the car, which is fair enough as it's an import. Also, the lady asked me about details - presumably based on the form she had in front of her eyes - which really didn't make sense for a kit car.
Because I couldn't answer these questions for obvious - at lest to me - reasons she asked me to wait and put me on hold. The call was dropped after me waiting for a few minutes. She didn't bother to call back.
Also, it's worth noting that the lady wasn't too polite.

So, this is the experience I had with FJ.

Received email to say renewal was in post. Never arrived.
Emailed them to notify them. Answered the email but not the question in the email !
Managed to renew on line but never received my email to access my documents.
Did receive a couple of emails to say they were sorry they could'nt take payment along with emails thanking me for renewing ???
Had to chase them up on the telephone to get an email to access my documents.
Case of left hand and right hand don't know what each other are doing.
Hope I never have to make a claim if this is the shambolic afair.

Contacted FJ to quote for 7 vehicles including McLaren and high 2 high value Harley Davidsons. I was taken through the process by Joanna. She handled every question I had immediately with a thorough knowledge of my vehicles and the 'Collector' policy she suggested for me. All round excellent so far.

I've been with FJ for years for classic multi-car insurance and have to say that in my experience they've always been fine. There was a time a few years ago where i thought they were getting expensive but that seems to have passed now and i'm happy paying £225 to insure seven classics (agreed value) for the year. When dealing with them over the phone it's always been fine. Replies to e-mails were somewhat slower but we are in exceptional times so that's acceptable given the circumstances.

I've insured 3 classic bikes with FJ for the last 3 years and I've found them to be great... so I'm surprised by the negative/1 star reviews I've just read on here.
I can only go from personal experience which has been very good (so far!). In fact, I rang up to renew today and had a good chat with their operator (nice chap called Tom) who suggested a way to lower my quote by 20%.I'm well happy with both the saving and the service.
Having said that, I've never needed to make a claim and some of the 'no-fault claims' stories that I'm reading on TrustPilot are really alarming and sound frankly unfair and wrong.
So, it's up to you FJ to raise your game and do the right thing for all your loyal customers, all the time and not just when it's time to take our money. Do that and glowing reviews will follow.

Been insured with footman James for years on a classic policy received my renewal this year and had a third party hit me from behind a few months back claimed fully off the third party and it was a none fault accident they added this and my premium went up by another £180 not only is that a rip off but they underwriting seem to class me as a risk because someone hit me and it’s no fault of my own now that is madness. Will certainly be spreading the word on all this the forums and social media.

I have read a similar review as mine and it seems a non fault accident is a reason to increase a policy premium by a eye watering amount another customer lost after 6 years of sticking with them.

My husband phoned twice on Saturday for a quote. The first person he spoke to breached GDPR by identifying him as another person who lives in our postcode who already has a policy with them, despite my husband saying he was calling as a new customer to get a quote. Both times he rang, he was assured that he would receive a call back about his quote query. They never called back

Utter rip off. A failed attempt to rip me off after 8 years by trying to charge me over 51% (£182.71) more for classic car insurance than that provided by another well known and renowned classic car insurance provider. I have been with Footman James for over 8 years for classic car insurance. Unfortunately, they decided to use that longevity in order to try and rip me off with the upmost contempt. I can only assume that those 8 years loyalty suggested to Footman James that I am either stupid or gullible or too lazy to shop around. Probably all three. I received a classic car renewal quote of these people showing a marked increase in my premium that I believed could not be justified. A premium quoted at £436.91. Upon questioning their price they stated that if I came back to them with a cheaper quote off another supplier they would look at their pricing. I came back to them with a quote at £100.91 cheaper for increased insurance provisions. I also informed them, as I had the other provider, that I had had a modern car wrote off by a lorry in December 2019 as a no fault and settled claim. A no fault settled claim as my car had been parked in a car park, empty with no one in it when a lorry decided to drive over it. That declaration was like a green light for them to really treat me like a fool. Upon this notice they decided to stick on a further £98.80, increasing the quote from £436.91 to £535.71. They even threw at me the added insult of claiming this further £98.80 increase included a 10% discount. On my challenge the was all justified by way of claiming the increase was computer driven and there was nothing they could do to reduce it. To that end I have dropped Footman James with the same contempt they have shown towards me. I have now insured with another renowned classic car insurer with better provisions at just £353. This includes full breakdown, home start, recovery, tax and arrangement fee, etc. To spell this out in no uncertain terms, Footman James wanted £182.71 more for providing less cover than that which I now have with another well known provider. In percentage terms that is approximately 51.25% more for less cover. This was nothing less than an outrageous attempt to rip off even though I had been with them for over 8 years. I hope as many people as possible read this review in its entirety.

We took out van insurance for our classic 1973 VW camper, service was excellent from Megan. Very understanding, added RAC cover and the insurance was with Ageas - who are an excellent insurer. Great price, great service - highly recommended!

Increased my premium by 25%. Why, no claims, no changes at all, no reason given. Bunch of cowboys. Went elsewhere.

39 years unblemished motoring history and these clowns flatly refused to give me a quotation for my classic car. I'll be contacting Morris Minor Owner's Club who recommended this outfit and I'm aware that other members have had problems with Footman James.

Spoke to Laura Duffy @FootmanJames today.
Very helpful with Additional drivers for American Classic Car.
I have been in contact with a number of companies for quotes.
This quote was the easiest, and most competitive out of all.
I will be viewing the car tomorrow and will take on the quote if purchased.

Quote not only competitive buy includes RAC breakdown
I will be considering Footman James for insuring my regular car when due for renewal.

Absolutely useful!
Don’t waste your time with filling up the form...
I’ve tried three times and never offered a quote

They wont insure my 27 year old Volvo. Apparently the car is too new and yet they claim that they would insure cars from the age of 20 years onwards. Disappointing, as the I found old documents that prove that the car once was insured with them.

I purchased a car and was able to organise a very reasonable limited miles agreed value policy on the spot. They were over 50% cheaper than a normal car insurer and thecustomer service received so far has been great (I haven't had to make a claim though yet!).

I spoke to a friendly lady called Paige on the phone, after a de minimis wait time and she sorted everything there and then and e-mailed the policy documents straight away. Very happy so far.