Beware of Octagon Car Insurance

Mr_Poves

Just to add onto this thread , not a very nice company to deal with , I've had a policy with them that's due to expire soon , so after having made the last direct debit payment a month ago I cancelled the direct debit , as insurance companies have a nasty habit of auto renewing a policy and carrying on debiting .
I got a letter and email off them this morning telling me my policy was being cancelled in 5 days ,
a whole 3 week's earlier than my policy runs out !
They state it's their policy to do this whenever a direct debit is cancelled , obviously they want people to leave the direct debit up and running so they can carry on debiting and if anyone realises there will of course be cancellation fees .
The lady I spoke to was just repeating the whole "company policy" script until I threatened them with the fca and insurance ombudsman .
I would not touch them with a barge pole again after this experience , and am so glad I have not had to make a claim if this is how they treat customers who don't wish to auto renew a policy , STEER WELL CLEAR !

Blessed77

I previously read their reviews but I guess I gave it a blind eye. I truly regret it. I have been with Octagon insurance for 2 years. Yesterday I decided to cancel my policy as we had just bought a car and needed a car insurance we could insure two cars at a discount. I contacted octagon car insurance to request for my NCD, only to be informed that last year I had an accident.
This caught me by surprise as no one had contacted me to inform me about the accident. I never thought of it much either as I recalled the accident mentioned was when I scratched another driver tyre. Whilst taking a turn. We took pictures as it only involved the car tyre.


However, when renewing my insurance the new insurance company informed me the details octagon insurance hold against me. Octagon insurance company statement is that I caused a multiple car accident by ramming into other multiple cars. This has greatly affected my renewal policy as the data has been shared without any clarification from our end about the accident. Secondly, if octagon had contacted me I had my evidence. Thankfully I still have photos.

It is quit disappointing knowing that your insurance should protect you and clarify any information against you before making their own judgement.
I am glad that I was able to advise my sister and mother not to use their services yesterday, as I wouldn't like anyone to experience the same issues that I am experiencing. I have emailed a complaint to them and hopefully they should reply.

Pumphrey71

Don't deal with this company unless you are prepared for an extremely stressful experience. Our daughter took out car insurance with Octogon following a comparison quote where they seemed to be the best deal- NEVER in 35 years of insuring our own vehicles have I ever experienced anything like it!
As parents we wanted to be named drivers and despite being accident free veteran motorists with max no claims and our own insurance policies we were asked to provide copies of driving licences. Not that unusual perhaps but then Octogon decided that wasn't enough and insisted we get a licence check code from DVLA and provide that too. Daughter had to provide numerous ID docs amounting to more evidence than is usually required to open a bank account- one piece of evidence she sent was her P60 which they refused because it was issued more than 3 months ago! They asked for council tax bill dated within the last 3 months!!! (Not issued again until March) we provided everything they asked for and thought that was the end of it......oh no not as simple as that...daughter had to ring 5 times, hours of waiting in queues to pay the deposit. When finally they agreed to take the payment they had doubled the price of the original quote. When challenged they claimed the 1st quote expired whilst they were waiting for the DVLA codes (which were sent within a few hours of request) after much arguing with Octogon they agreed to reduce the price almost back to the original one if we waited another day for insurance to start! We agreed to do this and they started to process the payment...next thing they said they couldn't do it because their finance dept closed at 7pm, by then it was 7.15pm and we had been on the phone for over an hour! They agreed to hold the price until 1st thing following morning which then took another hour on the phone. I appreciated processes have to be followed but daughter has 5 yrs NCD and we both have 20+ years- I dread to think how it would be if she ever had to claim. My advice is to steer clear unless you really have no choice.

albowfry

I used to be insured with octogan when they was new to compare the market.
I will list the problems I have had with them.

1.They only sent documents via e-mail. If you want a paper copy they charge £25.

2. If you complete 1 years no claims with the company they won't add it onto your existing ncb amount and will request £25 for this document for your next insurer.

3. Will always keep you on hold so your call charges go up.

4. When you get quoted via compare the market and call the company to insure for the price comparison quotation. Octogan will always charge more.

5. Can't define WORKING DAYS between bank holidays.

6. Will lie about what date the insurance is cancelled.

7. If you have a problem. A brick wall has more problems.

8. Will call you out as a liar if you change your address.

9. Take payment then impose stupid time limits to send requested information off.

10. If the insurance is cancelled they will put the burden on the finance provider, when it is octogan that do all the cancellations.

DO NOT TRUST OR USE THEY WILL NOT INVESTIGATE ANYTHING TO YOUR SATISFACTION..

Quentin

Add on this too:


They have an unenforceable condition that they will hope to catch you out on regarding making a claim


The unenforceable condition is that your car MUST have a valid MOT certificate (if required)


They know its unenforceable (FOS have ruled on this), yet still try it on, and no doubt anyone ignorant of the situation will be taken in by it when a claim is rejected purely because no MOT certificate is available

aje2010

Thank You so much.

This company OCTAGON were coming in £200 cheaper than next one in on comparison site, good job I googled them. I dealt with a similar company a few years back, they had figured a way to make money by scamming their customer.
I hope all those that dealt with them reported them to the regulatory bodies.
God bless you for the warning.

Chaz46

Octagon Insurance are a nightmare! I was with them, when I had a minor vehicle accident in 2012. There were continuous problems with the way the company dealt with me as a customer and the way they dealt with the claim. After several complaints I took the matter to the ombudsman and was eventually awarded £300 in compensation by the company for the way they had behaved. Result!

Today, 4 years later, I have just received a legal letter from the third party's insurer warning me that Octagon have not settled their clients claim of £1800 and that if it is not settled within 14 days they will pursue me for this amount plus the 4 years interest!!

Unbelievable! I have no idea how I am going to sort this out. Furthermore, I ask, why is a company that is so awful allowed to trade in the UK .

Any advice on how best to deal with this matter?

FatallNoA

Excellent post. Everything is clear and well-painted) thank you very much

snorkybingo

Chaz46 wrote: »

Octagon Insurance are a nightmare! I was with them, when I had a minor vehicle accident in 2012. There were continuous problems with the way the company dealt with me as a customer and the way they dealt with the claim. After several complaints I took the matter to the ombudsman and was eventually awarded £300 in compensation by the company for the way they had behaved. Result!

Today, 4 years later, I have just received a legal letter from the third party's insurer warning me that Octagon have not settled their clients claim of £1800 and that if it is not settled within 14 days they will pursue me for this amount plus the 4 years interest!!

Unbelievable! I have no idea how I am going to sort this out. Furthermore, I ask, why is a company that is so awful allowed to trade in the UK .

Any advice on how best to deal with this matter?

@Chaz46 Octagon are supposed to act on your behalf, this 3rd party insurance company can't chase you for Octagon's failings, and 4 years too late, could this be some kind of scam? You already went through the Ombudsman so contact them again with your reference number if you have it. Personally I wouldn't respond to them in any way and if they continue to try and contact you then seek advice from the Citizen's Advice Bureau. The consumer hotline number to ring is 03454040506. Good luck!

Chaz46

Thank you, for your advice, Snorkybingo, . I spoke to Octagon on Monday and apparently the claim is still being disputed - after 4 years! I know, it doesn't seem possible. Anyway, its got to the point of lawyers being involved with the real possibility of court proceedings. Apparently, a letter of this sort is not unusual at this stage. If court proceedings do begin then it will be my name on the court papers as they hold me responsible and it will be the legal obligation of my insurer to negotiate and fight the case on my behalf and if necessary meet any costs that are incurred.