Anyone Heard/using Octagon Insurance?

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

HI ALL

Its that time of the year for me again...dread it lol...renewal due 1st week of January 2013.

I'm currently with Tesco insurance, can't really comment on them as much as i've never needed to contact them or use their service...thank god! But their new quote is coming up £100 more than last year eventhough nothing's changed!!!

So i've been on the comparison sites etc and Octagon insurance is coming up the cheapest offering me everything including breakdown cover for say £10.00 cheaper than Tesco on my current policy but quick google search states they're the worst company to deal with in terms of customer services,hence my question...is anyone else out there using them???

Sammy

p/s...i'm thinking of fitting some 17" alloys some time next year, i haven't mentioned it in my current quotes...will it really make a big difference to my quotes? How many of you keep it hush sorry had to ask...i'm sorry...its illegal i warn you all! lol

[+Steve]

try the club insurance : http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/feature/owners-club-insurance

[oldcodger]

Hi Sam,

Took out mine with LV= after my previous regualar insurer, Direct Line dramatically increased the premium.

LV= were the best quote last year amongst the well known brands - they were / are Which recommended.

After all the storms and fraud claims talked about this year expected things to go up but really surprised to find it had gone down a few pound, still on the same ncd.

Think you wil find all female insurances have gone up noticabley do to the EU directive where women can no longer get better rates than men.

Must confess, rightly or wrongly, I give the really obscure places a miss.

The bigger the name, the less they like bad publicity from Watchdog etc if someone complains.

[Parts-King]

I always have in the back of my mind "You get what you pay for"

The problem with insurance is you dont know how good it is until you have to claim. You have already found out yourself on forums that they are not very good, I think that says it all to be honest

Kingo

[FROSTYBALLS]

There are some adverse comments re Octagon on the Money Saving Expert site.

Which? do an annual report on car insurance, and their Recommended Insurers (based being highly rated by Which? members, having an average or above policy score and a good customer score, meeting Which?'s standards for inclusion, being regulated by the FSA and being directly available to the general public) are:

1. NFU Mutual (score 83%); 2. Volvo Insurance* (79%);3. LV= (76%); Nationwide Building Society (76%); 4. Toyota Insurance* (74%); 5. Mercedes Benz* (74%); VW Insurance* (74%); 6. Age UK (74%); 7. M&S (71%); 8. The Co-op Insurance (69%).

* Car manufacturer insurance products have been included where the insurance product is available to all drivers (not just drivers of that manufacturer's vehicles).

John Lewis scored well for customer satisfaction but their standard policy didn't score as well as the Recommended Insurers.

[Lorna2]

I normally go to Direct Line or Tesco. I had my last Yaris insured with a company called Budget that I found on a comparison site. I only had a policy with them for one year. What a hassle they caused when I changed the car. The staff in the call centre hadn't a clue what they were doing. So I just left them and put the new car on with Hughes (NI brokers).

[FROSTYBALLS]

The group that owns the one comparison site also own Budget

[Cyker]

IMHO not worth the risk for the sake of a tenner.

I'm still ****ed off at this new insurance hike; It wouldn't be so bad if men's were lowered to balance things out but ours is still going up so rather than equality, the EU's just given insurance companies an even easier way to gouge us all!

It's funny as the trend was more women were taking up driving than men (Young male drivers get properly screwed; I know a lot of guys who didn't even bother taking lessons until they hit 24+ because of the insanely high insurance!) but this change is going to put a big dent in that!

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Thank you everybody...for all your input so far...who looks forward to insurance quotes/searches hey...

Looks like Octagon's the best i'm going to get this year...

Should i mention the Alloy wheel upgrade...i mean whats the worst that can happen??? I have a feeling someone's going to give me a lonnnnnnng legal sided lecture lol

[oldcodger]

Hi Sam

What kind of price difference are you talking about between the Octogon quote and say the average of the better known places.

Your cars original wheels were alloys so its not a real performace change is it.

Worth mentioning, they could always refuse a claim if it came to the crunch ? unlikely I would think, but why risk it ??

You never know who is going to run into you , had a van run into the back of me the other month, fortunately it was a square on hit and the bumper did its job with no real damage .

Still it made me decide to get one of these front /rear cameras so I have clear evidence of whats happening.

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Hi Sam

What kind of price difference are you talking about between the Octogon quote and say the average of the better known places.

Your cars original wheels were alloys so its not a real performace change is it.

Worth mentioning, they could always refuse a claim if it came to the crunch ? unlikely I would think, but why risk it ??

You never know who is going to run into you , had a van run into the back of me the other month, fortunately it was a square on hit and the bumper did its job with no real damage .

Still it made me decide to get one of these front /rear cameras so I have clear evidence of whats happening.

OMG oldcodger, you didn't say...are you okay? Did you go through insurance? Did you get a new bumper? It must have made some damage or if not atleast a mark???

I like the look of that camera actually, are they expensive? Never knew thay existed!

Re.the alloys...i agree...from 16's to 17's i can't see why it shoudl make any difference...i might just keep it hush...and the difference between Octagon and the cheapest known brand is £100+...i can see myself signing up with them hoping that i never need to contact them

[oldcodger]

Hi Sam.

Could be a £100 well spent going for a main player...

You always get web based good and bad reports of all the insurers but think you have to consider the ones Which rate as good.

Alway felt my gear ratios very low, partic motorway cruising, but I only have 15", sounds like the SR had 16"s and you have taken them to 17"s - just for looks ?

Do wonder though if there is any actual difference in final diameter as the larger wheel usually has a smaller tyre wall.

No damage from the smack in the bum this time, last time with the old avensis it was a new front at £2000.

The cameras are around £55 depending if you buy here or from China.

Been working well so far, as you can see in the pic you can get a bigger picture on playback which shows your speed, location and a g meter automatically records and saves the images of any big bumps/ impacts like a smash.

It records all the time onto a 16g micro sd card which hold 4hours of recordings for both front and rear cameras

Works well at night even though it does not have ir leds like some cameras.

Seems to work well as a deterrant, any tailgaters seem to back of quickly where the realise its a camera and not a sat nav.

(and no I'm not a 25 mph sunday driver !)

[FROSTYBALLS]

If you haven't fitted the 17 inch alloys yet, there is no need to mention your desire for your current quotes as the modification hasn't occurred yet. When you're nearer to fitting them, then get a quote from whoever you're insured with at the time.

As regards your current quotes, some people have had poor experiences with Octagon, but, from the Money Saving Expert site, they do seem to be doing something to correct their customer service.

I would be more inclined to do some more shopping around.

Also bear in mind that some insurance companies have quite large shareholdings in some comparison sites, so most of these are not as impartial as they may appear. I think the only independent one may be Money Supermarket.

Have you tried the other supermarkets (Sainsburys, Asda, etc), banks/building societies, Kwik Fit, etc.

Your insurance quotes are probably affected by the increase in women's car insurance which is due to kick in this month, bought about by the recent EU legislation which now prevents insurance companies offering cheaper insurance to women than men. May be as well to ask Octagon whether their quote includes this increase - if not, will they increase your premium afterwards?