Coop Insurance: Login, Promotional Codes, Contact & More

You’ve probably heard of the Coop food store, and maybe even the Coop bank, but did you know that the company sells insurance too? Coop Insurance offers car, home, travel and pet insurance all directly to customers, and as a cooperative business, becoming a member can give you great rewards and discounts on its insurance products. Prickled your interest? Read on to find out more about Coop Insurance policies, promotional codes, contact numbers and more.

Coop Insurance

Coop Insurance is a general insurer based in Manchester. Founded as the Co-operative Insurance Company Limited in 1867 to provide fire insurance for cooperative societies, it very quickly expanded its insurance products, soon offering life insurance and eventually home and car insurance to customers across the UK.

Today, Coop Insurance is part of one of the world’s biggest cooperatives, the Co-operative Group (more on them later), and offers a plethora of insurance products from car, home and breakdown cover to travel and pet insurance.

Although it stopped selling life insurance in 2013, it re-entered the market in February 2019 with a new partnership with Royal London.

The Co-operative Group

The Co-operative Group is a big name in the UK and can trace its roots all the way back to 1844 when the Rochdale pioneers created the idea of a cooperative business. As one of the world’s first cooperatives, it flourished and quickly became a well-known brand.

The company now has millions of members, employs nearly 70,000 people, and still aims to meet its members’ needs and give back to local communities.

Besides being one of the UK’s major insurers, the Co-operative group has a few other pretty successful business ventures:

• Food retail - it’s the UK’s fifth largest food retailer (who doesn’t have a Coop close by?).


• Funeral services - it’s the UK’s largest funeral director.


• Legal services - the group is working on developing its legal services, which covers family, divorce and employment law, will writing, probate, conveyancing and personal injury.

What is a cooperative?A cooperative is a business that is owned and run by its members. Profits can either be returned to its members or reinvested in areas where it is needed. They can come in all sizes: from just a handful of people in a local community to millions across a country, like the Co-operative Group.

Finances

In 2018, the Co-operative Group reported a profit before tax of £93 million, which was a 27% increase from the previous year. Staying true to its cooperative name, the company gave £60 million of its profits back to its members and £19 million was invested in community projects.

Shares and membership

Anyone is welcome to become a member of the Co-operative Group; you don’t even need to purchase one of its products or services. By signing up online and making a simple £1 one-off payment, you can buy a share in the company and become a member.

Co-operative membership comes with many benefits, including rewards when you buy any Coop products or services. When it comes to insurance, exclusive member prices for policies and special offers on renewals act as a good incentive to become a member.

You do not have to be a Co-operative member in order to purchase any of the insurance policies (or other products) it offers. You are welcome to buy them simply as a customer. However, the benefits that come with membership are worth considering if you’re thinking of taking out an insurance policy.

Timeline of Coop Insurance

• 1867 - The Co-operative Insurance Company Limited is founded as a fire insurance provider.


• 1886 - The insurer starts to sell life insurance.


• 1889 - The brand undergoes a slight name change and becomes the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited (CIS).


• 20th century - Coop Insurance works to expand its insurance products while providing for its members.


• 2006 - The life insurance and general insurance departments of the company split in two, creating CIS General Insurance Limited.


• 2013 - Coop Insurance sells its life insurance business to the Royal London Group.


• 2018 - The insurer adds travel insurance to its list of insurance products.


• 2019 - The Co-operative Group agrees to sell its underwriting services to Marketstudy, meaning it will now sell Marketstudy created home and car insurance under the Coop brand.

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Coop Insurance policies

Now we’ve explored the company and its background, let’s dive into the nitty gritty: what insurance policies does Coop Insurance offer? Here we are going to focus on the general insurance policies it sells (home, car, travel and pet), not Coop life or business insurance.

Home insurance

Coop Insurance provides three strands of home insurance: buildings insurance, contents insurance and a combined home insurance policy. The level of cover in all three of these is pretty standard, but Coop lets you add optional cover, such as home emergency cover and accidental damage insurance, on to your chosen policy to suit your needs.

To find out more about all three policies offered, including more details on what benefits they include, claim limits and how they compare price wise to other providers, give our Coop home insurance guide (coming soon) a read.

Car insurance

The comprehensive car insurance provided by Coop Insurance covers your car when it is driven anywhere in the UK, plus 8 days of cover for use in the EU. Standard cover includes a courtesy car, 24 hour accident recovery services, and a replacement lock and key guarantee. Legal expenses, breakdown cover and extended EU use (up to 90 days) can all be added on if you wish.

As well as this typical car insurance policy, Coop Insurance also offers two more niche options.

1. Coop eco insurance - Aimed at the environmentally friendly among us, this is the UK’s first car insurance policy to offer carbon offsetting. As well as typical car insurance cover, it promises to carbon offset 10% of your car’s emissions.


2. Young driver car insurance - Young driver car insurance is designed to lower premiums for those who have recently passed their driving test. The policy requires you to have a smartbox fitted in your car, which tracks your speed, how you drive around corners, how hard you brake and accelerate, and the time of day/night you usually drive. If these measures return good scores, you can get up to a pleasingly 22.5% off your remaining insurance premium.

Breakdown cover

Coop Insurance has two options when it comes to breakdown cover. First, for customers who want to take out breakdown insurance alongside a Coop car insurance policy, it offers its highest level of cover. This includes breakdown cover for the UK and the EU, as well as a promise to reach you within one hour if needed.

Secondly, if you have a car insurance policy with another provider, you can purchase the Coop’s annual or short trip breakdown cover. The annual policy is valid in the UK and the EU for the duration of a year. The short-trip policy provides cover for the UK and the EU for a maximum of 31 days.

There’s a lot to cover when it comes to Coop car insurance. Check out Selectra’s Coop car insurance guide (coming soon) to discover more.

Travel insurance

Travel insurance is the newest insurance product to be added to Coop’s insurance department. It now sells three different types of travel insurance, all of which have multiple coverage options:

1. Annual multi-trip travel insurance - available in four different levels of cover (bronze, silver, gold and platinum), Coop annual multi-trip insurance will cover you for numerous trips during the year. All of the levels include cover for winter sports, such as skiing, but only the premium level incorporates cruise cover. While the limits for most benefits vary depending on the level of cover, all levels include unlimited protection for medical expenses.


2. Single trip - providing protection for just one holiday, this travel insurance comes in three coverage levels: bronze, silver and gold. Like the annual multi-trip policy, all of these levels contain unlimited cover for medical expenses.


3. Backpacker travel insurance - this also comes in three coverage levels (bronze, silver, gold) and covers you for up to 18 months abroad. During these 18 months, you are allowed to return to the UK once for a maximum of 14 days. While it is called backpackers insurance, it’s also suitable for anyone planning to study, work or volunteer abroad.

Explore the different policies and find out which level of cover suits you in our complete guide to Coop travel insurance (coming soon).

Pet insurance

Coop Insurance offers specific dog and cat insurance, as well as two more general policies. Its Select Plus insurance is designed as lifetime cover for your pet, covering the cost of vet bills up to £5,000 a year and offering up to £750 worth of complementary treatment if you continue to renew the policy every year. If a lifetime policy isn’t for you, the Classic policy is valid for 12 months and covers the cost of vet bills up to £2000.

Who underwrites Coop Insurance?

Coop Insurance policies are underwritten and administered by a number of different companies.

• Coop home and car insurance - in January 2019, the Co-operative group sold its underwriting services to Markerstudy. As part of this deal, Coop Insurance now sells home and car insurance created by Marketstudy.


• Coop breakdown cover - provided by AXA Assistance.


• Coop travel insurance - this is underwritten by MAPFRE Asistencia and administered by Insure & Go Insurance Services Limited.


• Coop pet insurance - Allianz Insurance plc underwrites all Coop pet insurance policies.

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Coop Insurance login

A lot of insurance providers have online account systems that allow customers to manage their insurance policy on their computer or laptop. Sadly, this is not an option for all Coop Insurance customers.

The company only offers online accounts for certain insurance policies, and even then the rights this gives you varies:

• Ecoinsurance - customers with this policy can log in to Coop’s ‘self-service centre’ to make changes to their policy, make payments and download policy documents.


• Young driver insurance - while not a system where you can manage your policy, those with a Coop young driver insurance policy can log in to their ‘dashboard’ to check their driving score and view policy documents. However, to make any changes they need to ring Coop Insurance.


• Travel insurance - all Coop travel insurance customers have an online account where they can make a claim, and view and download their policy documents, but they cannot make any changes. For this they also need to call.

Customers with any other Coop Insurance policy do not have access to an online account. In order to manage your policy, you need to ring Coop Insurance directly.

All the relevant Coop Insurance contact numbers to manage your policy and make a claim are listed in the corresponding Selectra guide (Coop home insurance, Coop car insurance, Coop travel insurance). For example, for the correct contact number to make a claim or cancel your car insurance policy, head to our Coop car insurance guide.

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Coop Insurance contact: complaints

In the table below we have listed the Coop Insurance contact numbers you need if you want to issue a complaint.

If you are a pet insurance customer, you can email your complaint to [email protected].

For all policies you can also place a complaint in writing by sending a letter detailing your problem, name and address, policy number and daytime phone number to the following address.

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Coop Insurance promotional code

Everyone loves the chance to save a few bob! Before buying a Coop Insurance policy, see if you can find a Coop Insurance promotional code online. Websites such as vouchercloud.co.uk and groupon.co.uk are a good place to start. You might find some great deals, like a discount on your premium or a code that gives you Coop food vouchers when you purchase a policy.

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Reviews of Coop Insurance

What do current and past customers think of Coop Insurance? Unfortunately we couldn’t find many Coop Insurance reviews online, and those we did find were quite mixed.

On Trustpilot, Coop Insurance has a total of 33 reviews, which is not much to go on. Of these, the majority are negative, giving the insurer a measly one out of five stars. The negative complaints centre on poor claims handling, especially regarding car insurance.

Great price but had a non fault accident that co op didn’t handle well from the start. I was shocked at the mishandling ...They were useless and always wanted to take the easy option. Anonymous customer

The company comes out a lot better on reviews.co.uk, probably due to the fact that a lot more reviews have been left here, creating a greater balance between the good and the bad.

Out of 498 reviews, 46.99% rated Coop Insurance five stars and 19.98% rated it four stars, meaning that over half of reviewers were happy with their Coop Insurance experience. In fact, 66% of customers here would recommend the provider to others. These positive reviews focused on Coop’s reasonable pricing and how easy customers found it to purchase the policies.

I found it relatively easy to fill all the forms which were clear in what information they required. The response was quick and I was very pleased with the quote. Stephen

Despite the more positive comments on reviews.co.uk, we also noticed a fair amount of negative reviews that matched the sentiment expressed by reviewers on Trustpilot: poor handling of claims. This suggests that enough customers experience this issue to take it seriously.

Complaints data

In the absence of an abundance of reviews left online, we can turn to Coop’s complaints data to see how many customers actually make official complaints with the company. This data can also indicate how efficient Coop Insurance will be if you need to issue a complaint.

In the six months from January to June 2019, Coop Insurance received 8.16 complaints for every 1,000 policies in force. This is a large amount compared to other providers. In the six months from July to December 2018, for example, LV, AXA and Covea all received less than two for every 1,000 policies in force, and Allianz less than three.

At first glance, Coop Insurance appears to be fairly efficient at resolving these complaints, closing just over 64% in three days and a remaining 34% within eight weeks. However, on closer inspection we found that the company only upheld 50% of complaints received in this timeframe.

This can mean two things: either a lot of the complaints were not justified, or Coop Insurance brushes a lot of complaints aside when some other providers wouldn’t. Barclays, for example, upheld 89% of the complaints it received in 6 months, and Aviva 74%.

As the main reasons for complaints were general admin and customer service, it implies that Coop Insurance is perhaps not the best when it comes to providing a satisfactory customer service experience. This is something that shouldn’t be brushed aside when looking for an insurance provider.

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Selectra’s verdict

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Data and information correct as of October 2019.

All material on this page and the selectra.co.uk website is for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial advice. Selectra.co.uk is not responsible for any consequences that might arise from your use of the information provided.