Octagon Car Insurance - new co.??

worsdale

http://www.postonline.co.uk/post/news/1561244/octagon-opts-open-gi

anyone got an view on if these people are worth using?

rogueangel

I would never use this company again.... about a month ago my car was written off as it was parked up and I am completely blameless.
This company has been less than helpful in resolving things instead choosing to withhold over half the claim money and blackmailing me by saying they will return the remainder when I buy a new car and insure it with them, Also claiming that they have no record of offering me a further £300 for personal effects in the car so that is lost also.
I am a single parent and sole carer for my grandparents who rely on my having a car to attend various medical appointments.
As it stands at the moment I cannot afford to buy a new car with the money they have sent so now stand to lose over half my claim money

rev_henry

rogueangel wrote: »

I would never use this company again.... about a month ago my car was written off as it was parked up and I am completely blameless.
This company has been less than helpful in resolving things instead choosing to withhold over half the claim money and blackmailing me by saying they will return the remainder when I buy a new car and insure it with them, Also claiming that they have no record of offering me a further £300 for personal effects in the car so that is lost also.
I am a single parent and sole carer for my grandparents who rely on my having a car to attend various medical appointments.
As it stands at the moment I cannot afford to buy a new car with the money they have sent so now stand to lose over half my claim money

Make a complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman (I think that's what the appropriate body is called), although first I think you may have to exhaust the company's official complaints procedure, so do this first.

Papa_Simpson

Since setting up a new and as advertised, a more affordable policy with this company before Christmas 2010, I have received no information from them since paying the deposit on line, forwarding the NCB info from my previous car insurance provider and getting on with my day-to-day commuting, picking the kids up from nursery and visiting family over the festive period.

To be pulled over by the Police last night, to be instructed that I am driving without insurance, sitting in the back of a patrol car with my 2 year old daughter, getting a lecture from Her Majesty's finest; having to seek new insurance last night, seeing that each month I had more than sufficient funds in my bank account, picking up my impounded car today and going to a Police Station to present documents like a criminal is not the kind of event one would wish on anyone. However, in this companies wisdom, they decided to close my account with them without any instruction (letter, phone call or email - as they have them all).

I have been insuring my previous vehicles since 1989 and have never reneged, been denied insurance or failed to supply required information in the history of my policies. I also have prided myself on having kept a clean driving licence since my test day in March 1986.

I am more than aware that a quick look at my outgoings bills bank account would have flagged up this error. However, moving house, welcoming a new born into our family and generally the stresses and strains of a new start business, I just did not bother checking as I had trusted them to keep me informed of any issues.

To never have had any correspondence by way of customer service - just a quick phone call would have sufficed, has left me with a huge inconvenience, 6 points on my licence (that has been clean for 24 years), and a very bad taste in ones mouth.

Stay away from this company I implore you, they seem to me to be a 'take your money and run' kind of set up, languishing on the Channel Islands.

mighty-scoob

Hi there,

I just want to second peoples warning about Octagon.

I wish that I’d never opted to use them. You get what you pay for as the saying goes.

I took insurance with these cowboys in July last year. I sent them all the relevant documentation and the first payment after my initial Direct Debit had been collected (as expected).

However, I received no official documentation after making the deposit payment. Only a request for documents such as my no claims proof etc.

To start with my monthly premium come collection day was wrong, it was about £7-£8 a month higher than confirmed, they agreed to credit me this back (but only after a very long conversation with them). I then received a letter on the 21th of August stating that as my no claims proof had not been received, and so as of the 18th my policy has been cancelled. The letter was dated the 18th and they then sent it by 2nd class post. Bravo, well done…

I effectively drove for about half a week with no insurance, and I had no idea!!

When I called the “customer servicing” team, I was simply informed that it is their right to cancel a policy, and that it’s my own fault for not forwarding the documents required.

On challenging this and advising that the documents have been misplaced at their end (they got all the other documents I sent in the same pack), I was effectively blanked and told that I hadn’t sent the document and this is why the policy had been cancelled. There was no acknowledgment about my driving with no insurance due to this, or the letter advising me as such having been sent by only 2nd class post.

I was also advised of a nice £50 cancellation fee that they would take from my refund.

I then spent about 2 months trying to complain. I was told that I needed to talk to a manger to do this, however there wasn’t one available and so I would have to settle for a call back.

This never came. You wouldn’t believe the amount of times this happened.

When I tried to complain about the lack of call back to register my complaint, I was told that this was also my fault. They had attempted to call me on several occasions but id simply not answered.

This is nonsense; I had no missed calls and no messages on my mobile. No call back had been attempted. When I asked for dates and times the agent glossed over this and moved on with the conversation.

I ended up leaving my complaint for several months due to a new bourn, however I sent them an email last week marked for the attention of the complaints team. I’ve had no acknowledgment at all, nor have I have any refund what so ever.

If I don’t get an answer in the next week or so I will be passing this to the ombudsman to deal with on my behalf.

Never in 16 years of driving have I ever experienced such a fiasco with an insurance company.

I will be sticking to the big names from now on; I implore you to do the same.

Do not under any circumstances user Octagon car insurance!! You will regret it!!

Even if taking the insurance is a smooth process, I wouldn’t like to think about what would happen if you tried to actually make a claim from them.

billymckenzie

I recently tried to buy my car insurance from Octagon, and when I got to the point where I entered my card details and hit 'purchase', a message came back saying my card had been declined. I also recieved a confirmation email saying the same. I tried a couple more times to be sure I hadn't made a mistake with my card number.
It was only when I found out that all my direct debits were being bounced back unpaid, that I realized Octagon had, in fact, taken every one of these payments and emptied my account.
When I called them , they admitted that the reason the website declines your card is so you're forced to phone them, but of course wouldn't accept responsibility for taking all my money.
I advised them my bank needed a fax from them stating they weren't taking the payments. It eventually took four seperate phone calls to actually get them to do this. I'm writing to GoCompare, the Ombudsman and the association of british insurers about this company, but would like to stress here: DON'T USE OCTAGON.

Vansan

billymckenzie wrote: »

I recently tried to buy my car insurance from Octagon, and when I got to the point where I entered my card details and hit 'purchase', a message came back saying my card had been declined. I also recieved a confirmation email saying the same. I tried a couple more times to be sure I hadn't made a mistake with my card number.
It was only when I found out that all my direct debits were being bounced back unpaid, that I realized Octagon had, in fact, taken every one of these payments and emptied my account.
When I called them , they admitted that the reason the website declines your card is so you're forced to phone them, but of course wouldn't accept responsibility for taking all my money.
I advised them my bank needed a fax from them stating they weren't taking the payments. It eventually took four seperate phone calls to actually get them to do this. I'm writing to GoCompare, the Ombudsman and the association of british insurers about this company, but would like to stress here: DON'T USE OCTAGON.

I had exactly the same problem yesterday and wish I had stumbled upon this thread earlier...Website kept saying payment declined whilst my credit card company kept approving the transaction and reducing available credit on the card. Took 40 minutes of phones calls to sort it out. Now waiting for the unclaimed funds to be credited back to my card.

Looks like they do this deliberately or just have a incompetent web team.

RazoRmedia

Octagon seem to be a scam organisation.
The main purpose is to lose documentation or claim to not have received no claims bonus documents and cancel insurance without warning.
This way they keep the first initial deposit which can make up almost a quarter of the years insurance in some cases (plus a £50 cancellation fee even though the customer is not cancelling, they are!)

I have had dealings with them and they have done this time and time again. No insurance = no risk and they get to keep the initial deposits without worrying about payouts as they cancel the insurance as they see fit.

Scam - go straight to the ombudsman.

RazoRmedia

Octagon seem to be a scam organisation.
The main purpose is to lose documentation or claim to not have received no claims bonus documents and cancel insurance without warning.
This way they keep the first initial deposit which can make up almost a quarter of the years insurance in some cases (plus a £50 cancellation fee even though the customer is not cancelling, they are!)

I have had dealings with them and they have done this time and time again. No insurance = no risk and they get to keep the initial deposits without worrying about payouts as they cancel the insurance as they see fit.

Scam - go straight to the ombudsman.

wilson32

I bought 2 policies from them last month but only managed to sent in one NCB letter to start off but they use that letter to apply on the second policy which I taken out much later stage and cancelled my first policy. Whereas, my second policy still have some time allowance for me to send in the NCB but they decided to acknowledge my NCB for the second policy but cancel my first policy which the time allowance for sending the NCB is due. When I called them and clarified what is happening, they said it is not their administration error but on other hand they blame me for not putting the ref no of the policy as the got thousands of policies to handle. Then I asked why they don't bothered to pick up the phone and clarify it with me. The answers from the manager in octagon is that they don't usually call theirs customer for confirmation. I personally think they did it on purpose so that they have excuse to cancel my policy and charged me more. For that 1 month policy that I have taken out cost me 110 pounds because they charged 50 pounds for admin cancellation.

The worst part is that they actually cancelled it a week before they bothered texting me though therefore leaving me illegaly driving for a week with my baby girl in the back of the car. Luckily, I didn't stop by the police or no incident happen or else god knows what can I do! They are conman, useless, irresponsible and totally incompetent.

chanz4

Is it me or for the exception of x2 new peeps?