So why would you refuse a woman’s car insurance application? A terrible driving record, perhaps? A vehicle that’s not fit for purpose? They all seem like reasonable excuses – but what about the name of the landlady’s pub?
Yes one woman has found it surprisingly difficult to get a car insurance quote because the name of her pub is… wait for it…
The Cock Inn.
Excuse me… I appear to have spat water on my desk…
Back to the story, and landlady Deborah Davis had her application turned away by insurance giant
Hastings Direct because she sent the firm an email with her address – and it didn’t make it through their bad language filters.
Speaking to the Suffolk Free Press, the landlady commented that she was “absolutely stunned”.
“I couldn’t believe that I was rejected just because of the name of my pub,” she said. “I asked for a quote and they wanted to see proof that I have a maximum nine-year no-claim bonus.
“I copied the document and emailed it to them - only to be told that they couldn’t open the file because it was blocked by a language filter. It didn’t make any sense but when I queried it they explained that it was because the name of the pub is the Cock Inn.”
The insurer was apparently unable to open the file and so it was deleted. She ultimately had to send it again so someone from the firm’s IT department could intercept it.
“Pubs have been called the Cock for centuries and our sign, unsurprisingly, shows a proud cock bird,” she continued.
“Our regulars found it hilarious that we had been written off by a computer. It was like the
Little Britain sketch where David Walliams insists that the computer says ‘no.’
“There is a pub in a nearby village called the Cock Inn, Clare - goodness knows how they would get on if they tried to send anything to a computer.”
Of course The Cock Inn takes its name as an old cock fighting venue. The insurer confirmed that while it couldn’t comment on individual cases it does filter emails and attachments for potential profanity.
It all seems like a bit of a cock up, really.
Related stories:
Woman hit with insurance quote nearly six times the value of her car
