Beware of Octagon Car Insurance

kinannisa

usually before purchasing, I check the reviews and ratings in some websites that explain about the ratings. One of the fair reviews I found from hxxp://thecheapcarinsurances[dot]com

wealdroam

kinannisa wrote: »

usually before purchasing, I check the reviews and ratings in some websites that explain about the ratings. One of the fair reviews I found from hxxp://thecheaxxxxxxxxxances[dot]com

An American company.

Reported as spam.

Atidi

dacouch wrote: »

As a general rule of thumb, if an Insurer is registered in Gibraltar or other small country it's best to avoid them. They register in Gibraltar as the regulation is much much less stringent and they need less liquid cash set aside to pay claims as opposed to UK registered Insurers.

It's a good (In my experience) indication that they are at the "not all that" end of the scale.

Personally I also avoid Lloyd's of London syndicates for car insurance.

A number of insurers are based in Gibraltar. However, a special FSA rule says that these policies have the same protection as those from UK-based insurers. Specifically: "The UK requires all EEA (European) insurers... to participate in the FSCS in the same way as all insurers that are directly authorised by the FSA."

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance

dacouch

Atidi wrote: »

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance

Quote:

A number of insurers are based in Gibraltar. However, a special FSA rule says that these policies have the same protection as those from UK-based insurers. Specifically: "The UK requires all EEA (European) insurers... to participate in the FSCS in the same way as all insurers that are directly authorised by the FSA."
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ins...-car-insurance

They may have the same protection under the FSCS but there's no getting away from Insurers based in Gibraltar do so because the regulation by the Gibraltar authorities has far lower requirements than a UK registered Insurer regulated by the FSA.

How do you think Gibraltar attracts Insurers to register themselves their, they don't do it for the warmer weather and cheap fags.

Show me a car Insurer who is registered in Gibraltar and I'll show you a cheap and cheerful Insurer with reams of small print and a lots of bad reviews.

Atidi

So you are saying the MSE article is totally incorrect?

If so, I suggest you get onto MSE Towers with your evidence and get them to revise it pronto.

In the meantime, perhaps you could name one or two car insurers that don't include realms of small print and are devoid of any poor reviews ... and, since this site is supposed to be mainly about money saving, if they don't cost the earth, that would be nice too

JuneS

dacouch wrote: »

...How do you think Gibraltar attracts Insurers to register themselves their, they don't do it for the warmer weather and cheap fags...

Presumably for similar reasons to that which made Amazon decide to register in Luxembourg or Google decided to register in Ireland (or even Burmuda!)

This link explains the advantages of registering a company in Gibraltar
http://www.gibraltaroffshore.com/gibraltarnonresidentcompany.htm

[STRIKE]
(Sorry, it seems I'm not allowed to post links still)
[/STRIKE]
It appears Insurers have been flocking to Gib. for over 10 years now.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2843209/Insurers-flock-to-Gibraltar.html

Is there any evidence over those 10 years to support the allegation that insurers registered in Gibraltar are at higher risk of failing than those registered elsewhere?

dacouch

Atidi wrote: »

So you are saying the MSE article is totally incorrect?

If so, I suggest you get onto MSE Towers with your evidence and get them to revise it pronto.

In the meantime, perhaps you could name one or two car insurers that don't include realms of small print and are devoid of any poor reviews ... and, since this site is supposed to be mainly about money saving, if they don't cost the earth, that would be nice too

What MSE have posted is correct, an Insurer based in Gibraltar will benefit from protection from FSCS. However as I stated registering in Gibraltar attracts the cheap and cheerful Insurers due to the far less stringent regulation in Gibraltar.

If you read my original post which your arguing about, I stated being registered in Gibraltar is an indication in my experience of an Insurer to avoid. I did not say they offered any less protection under the FSCS etc.

As an aside MSE's advice on Insurance is not always great, the posters on this part of the forum have pointed out a few times mistakes in their advice.

As an example of why I would avoid Gibraltar based Insurers here the independent summaries or core cover against Gibraltar based Insurers. Have a read and you will see they offer very basic cover.

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/motor-insurance?ProductTypeView=StarRatingsCenter_VehicleInsurance_ComprehensiveCar_ProductDetails&Ratings=1,2,3,4,5&Products=244542&Product=&Search=octag&Sort=

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/motor-insurance-product-detail?ProductTypeView=StarRatingsCenter_VehicleInsurance_ComprehensiveCar_ProductDetails&Ratings=1,2,3,4,5&Products=&Product=18495&Search=zenith&Sort=

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/motor-insurance?ProductTypeView=StarRatingsCenter_VehicleInsurance_ComprehensiveCar_ProductDetails&Ratings=1,2,3,4,5&Products=231546,221560&Product=&Search=1st%20central&Sort=

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/motor-insurance?ProductTypeView=StarRatingsCenter_VehicleInsurance_ComprehensiveCar_ProductDetails&Ratings=1,2,3,4,5&Products=231546,221560&Product=&Search=markerstudy&Sort=

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/motor-insurance?ProductTypeView=StarRatingsCenter_VehicleInsurance_ComprehensiveCar_ProductDetails&Ratings=1,2,3,4,5&Products=231546,221560,72830,131611&Product=&Search=ecar&Sort=

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/compare-motor-insurance?ProductTypeView=StarRatingsCenter_VehicleInsurance_ComprehensiveCar_ProductDetails&Ratings=1,2,3,4,5&Products=231546,221560,72830,131611&Product=&Search=direct%20line&Sort=

All very low Defaqto ratings, the Defaqto rating is fairly easy for an Insurer to rig by just jigging certain parts of their cover. The Gibralter registered Insurers don't even bother doing this just going for cheap basic cover.

If you look at MSE you will see large amount of complaints about the above Insurers especially in relation to the relatively small customer bases they have.

An example of a non UK registered Insurer who have had problems due to the regulation outside the UK not being as strict would be Quinn Insurance who failed quite spectacularly. The founder has just been released from prison...

The purchase of Insurance is a non tangable product which has no worth until you want to claim. If you want your money to get basic cover that might pay out when you want to claim then ignore my advice.

JuneS

Atidi wrote: »

...In the meantime, perhaps you could name one or two car insurers that don't include realms of small print and are devoid of any poor reviews ... and, since this site is supposed to be mainly about money saving, if they don't cost the earth, that would be nice too

So any answers to this part of the question???

I see the following only get 2 stars (for at least one of their products) on that site compared to the 3 stars Octogan receive (except the Octogan Economy policy which only gets 2 starts too presumably because it doesn't include windscreen cover)

Axa
Equity Red Star
i-kube ( a favourite amongst the young, inexperienced drivers who accept having a black box fitted to their car)
RSA (formally Royal & Sun Alliance, trading as eChoice)
Tesco
Virgin
Zenith
Zurich


The Star Ratings process assesses and analyses the key features, benefits, and terms and conditions of every Star rated product or policy - not the ability of the insurer to pay out

Similarly, in the 4 star rating (where Octogan Extra sits) we have offerings from the following providers:

Aviva (formally Norwich Union)
Churchill
HSBC
Jaguar Cars (and many other manufacturers too!)
More Th>n
RAC
RBS
Santander
CIS

JuneS

dacouch wrote: »

...The purchase of Insurance is a non tangable product which has no worth until you want to claim. If you want your money to get basic cover that might pay out when you want to claim then ignore my advice.

Surely this could go for any insurer, no matter where they are registered?

JuneS

dacouch wrote: »

...An example of a non UK registered Insurer who have had problems due to the regulation outside the UK not being as strict would be Quinn Insurance who failed quite spectacularly. The founder has just been released from prison...

Why was the founder locked up?

Presumably he did something illegal and not just for registering his business in Gibraltar (which in itself is certainly not illegal)


Edited to Add:

Don't worry about this one. I think I ve just found the answer:
He got nine weeks for contempt of court

The former billionaire had breached court orders forbiding him from interfering with the Quinn family's international property, previously valued at €500m

http://www.postonline.co.uk/post/news/2222283/quinn-insurance-founder-faces-nineweek-jail-term#ixzz2Hn1TYs4l

(Yay! Looks like I can post links finally )