It would seem obvious from the remarks made by John Ainsley and Jon Whitaker, of Norwich Union, (How York helped fuel Indian boom, January 5) that they have not had any personal experience of calling India.

I have. In early November 2005, on behalf of my 80-year-old neighbour, I made two inquiries about a house insurance claim and on both occasions it was like talking to a pre-recorded answer. It felt as though I was either talking to a machine or to actors who were reading from a standard script giving the same answers to any query.

Not satisfied with this, I wrote to Norwich Union on November 30 about my query and complained about the service given by these faceless people thousands of miles away. So far I have received no reply or acknowledgement that my letter has been received; perhaps it is on its way to India by second class post. You used to be able to discuss your queries personally with a member of staff in York and come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Perhaps this is why they have moved to India. They do not understand the problem and we do not understand the accents.

Perhaps the Insurance Ombudsman can understand them better.

A P Cox,

Heath Close,

Holgate,

York.

Updated: 10:09 Saturday, January 07, 2006