FCC Paragon Review

We have used this company for tenant referencing for around 20 years and they have always been efficient and helpful, surprised by other reviews.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Kelly who was very informative and helpful. For someone who has never purchased tenancy insurance before she took me through the whole process with ease and I felt confident that I was in the right hands.

DO NOT EVER, EVER DEAL WITH THIS PEOPLE. You're gonna waste weeks
after them, providing hundreds of documents without sense. Basically they don't know how to do their job properly, every time different requests and different versions according to whom you'll talk to. After being treated like criminals, we've decided to give up. Extremely unprofessional, ridiculous and rude people. AGAIN, ALWAYS ASK YOUR AGENCY WHICH REFERENCING COMPANY THEY ARE USING AND IF IT'S PARAGON JUST GIVE UP IMMEDIATELY.

Lazy, incompetent and unprofessional. I had a very bad experience with this company. The staff are incompetent - incapable of extracting simple information from a few sentences of text. They also failed my tenancy application as I was on assignment in a different country. I provided all details of my accommodations and accommodation provider but they decided to fail the application rather than contact the accommodation provider.

Recently had reference checks done by Paragon... only took a day to complete, everyone was really nice and helpful! I ve now moved into my new home, thank you so much :)

Very nice customer service, quick and easy to set up.

Stupid company...wasted one week for referencing and asking unnecessary documents..then the flat gone to someone else because the landlord couldn't wait any more..
Don't Deal with any estate agency passing referencing to them.

A very seamless process with professional and personable staff. I was very happy with the service received and would recommend.

Terrible service made me wait for notting. When i chased they had no good reason.

I have been in the process to rent a house, and the estate agent has chosen to use paragon referencing company. Never have I had to work with a company who is incapable of understanding information.

They have asked for details about an address we lived in over 5 years ago, cannot understand work head office doesn't mean that is our base office, failed to get references on time, unprofessional communication with our employers and this is to name just a few. We had to provide surplus amount of documents and they asked for inconsistent information for my whole family, even though we all have the same address history.

This has made renting the house a nightmare, it is much more easier for the individual to just contact their employer for a reference, rather than using this external party.

Just wanted to say I dealt with a Paul Eaton he was very good always called be back and dealt with my issues

Very unprofessional staff who can t do their job right. They are literally a nightmare to deal with or chase up. I do not recommend

Unfortunately as a potential new tenant you don't normally have the choice of who does the credit checks.
THIS IS A WARNING
If you want to be frustrated, angry, stressed and treated with contempted this is the company for you.
Otherwise avoid
If you don't have any choice in the matter then I wish you the very best of luck as you are definitely going to need it

As a tenant going through a background check, they are horrid. They are trying to contact my previous landlord in France, but cannot get a French speaking person to call her. I have advised them calling my landlord is the only way they will get any information, but they insist on trying through post or email, and keep stalling instead of admitting they are not able to complete the reference check. Waste of time and money. Not sure why they accept background checks on foreign nationals if they clearly don't have the skills to do it...

Well I'm reading some reviews and wow! I think there's quite a bit of overstatement here.

There is a lady's review saying they ignore their data protection policies. I can't judge based upon her experience, but I do know I couldn't speak to FCC on behalf my partner's case until she gave explicit consent to do so. And she is my girlfriend and we are both applying for the same flat! I mean, this a hassle, but it's the law, I really belief in it and I appreciate it.

On the other hand, my partner's landlord doesn't have email, which makes harder the checking process. They kindly accepted to send over a paper form by post for him to fill it.

I've been always treated with respect and sympathy.

I mean, these guys have to do their job, and sometimes is not so easy to fit it with real life issues. They showed are able to apply common sense to sort out problems and deliver their reports.I Have no complain with this.

I was attended by Mr Paul Eaton and staff in switchboard.

Carlos

If your letting agent uses this company for your reference checks - AVOID.

First of all, FCC Paragon never contacted us with the link to the online application when they were suppose to (21/11/17). We had to contact our letting agent to say we were still awaiting the email. The letting agent then forwarded us the link a day later (22/11/17).

From there, the application form was rather lengthy, but we managed to complete it the same night (22/11/17) with all relevant documentation and information. After keeping a track on the online progress tracker, I noticed that they were awaiting certain documents regarding "Second Employment" - my partner does not have a second employment and he did not state on the application that he did! He contacted FCC Paragon who admitted fault as they "assumed" he did. This was resolved 24/11/17 .

The online progress tracker showed that all but the "Future Employer" section was completed. I chased FCC Paragon to see what the issue was and they stated they had emailed my future boss on 23/11/17 asking for a reference. This was a lie. I contacted my future boss personally who stated had no received anything from them. I contacted FCC Paragon again to let them know and lone behold, about 3 minutes after that phone call he received the email. He replied with 10/15 minutes and copied me into the email 24/11/17. The online tracking was not updated so again, I called FCC Paragon on the morning of 27/11/17 asking why this was. They advised that the only received his email on the Saturday and replied asking him to confirm my working hours. Again, this was a lie. I called my future boss who stated he had not received any email from them regarding this at all. From my phone call, he sent them an email confirming my hours with me copied in. I then contacted FCC Paragon a further 3/4 times telling them over and over again that this application has to be completed by 4pm 27/11/17 as advised by my letting agent. I checked the online tracker again 27/11/17 and this was all completed with the "Conclusion" section the only section pending.

From there, I receive a call from FCC Paragon on the afternoon of 27/11/17 asking for my most recent payslip and online bank statement showing this payment. I logged into the online tracking again to see that they had put a "awaiting information" against "current employer". FCC Paragon have had since 22/11/17 to sort this out and they waited until 3 hours before my deadline to ask for this information and request a financial reference from my current employer.

If I hadn't of chased my future employer / current employer and FCC Paragon myself, none of this would have got done and id have been none the wiser - missing my deadline. Doing their job for them!

Another call made 2 hours before my deadline to FCC Paragon to see why none of this had been updated and it was completed for me while I was on the phone.

WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER COME ACROSS. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. LIARS. WASTE OF TIME.

And I still don't know the outcome.

REPLY TO BELOW COMMENT -
As I cannot reply to your below comment, I will have to edit it into my review.

Can you tell me which part of my review is not factually correct?

I have all call records which show where I have chased your company over and over and over again. I also have the call records to show where I have spoken to people your company should have chased themselves knowing my dead line was 4pm 27/11/17.

You did not send the emails where you advised you had. You did not complete the relevant checks until only a few hours before my dead line.

I understand no company wants bad reviews but I will not be taking this to email as I want it all to be visible.

I strongly suggest you check all of your call records / call recordings / emails etc and you will find that I am indeed, factually correct.

Awful service, awful company! Their referencing agents were just terrible at their jobs, saying they had sent emails to referees when they hadn't, not following up and just generally being terrible - we had to do most of the work for them! If you find a letting agent that is using FCC Paragon then just keep looking, they are not worth the hassle! As a final point, we opted out of marketing emails and then received an email trying to sell contents insurance just 6 hours later, they can't be trusted with even an email address so don't trust them with all your personal details!!

Horrific completley invade your personel info whilst never needing to know some much info.. and are constantly breaking data protection avoid like the plague

Jen was great and dealt with my enquiry in a very efficient and very helpful manner 5 stars

In order to move into a beautiful new apartment, I have had to undergo thorough reference checking which has been undertaken by FCC Paragon.

Unfortunately, my current landlord has made life a little bit difficult for me, making the process somewhat stressful and tricky.

FCC Paragon have been of the utmost help and their client service has been outstanding to say the very least. I have spoken to a number of staff there now, all of whom have been polite, eloquent, helpful and most importantly, able to treat me as a human being with an individual set of circumstances and not just a number.

There are several members of their team I would like to praise but most notably, Alexandra and her colleague, Tasha have been so kind and so professional and are a credit to the wider organisation.

My endless gratitude to FCC Paragon for their service.

Housing is a basic human right, not a luxury. I would argue these people are terrorists.

My experience getting a reference check to rent an apartment is as follows:

Received a sales call from this company. I was under the impression my information would only be used for referencing purposes. Apparently it s also used to pitch sales. I think this is against GDPR?

Also, during the referencing process this company asked a lot of irrelevant questions that did not seem applicable. During the process I did question myself that something did not feel right. My concerns were confirmed when I received a sales call. I guess they have sufficient information to profile and market to me.

The whole process of providing information just so I can rent a place to live made me feel very (very very) uncomfortable.

FCC also requested a reference from my employer which was expected. My employer also commented that too many questions out of the ordinary were asked and the process felt long winded. He did not enjoy the process either.

If you're thinking of using them as a letting agent then seriously, think again! I have personally used FCC Paragon now for over 10 years & I can honestly say I cannot wait to find a new provider. It seems their terms and conditions cover them for absolutely any possibility that could ever arise, leaving our landlords with a completely useless cover.

Acting as a guarantor for my student daughter the level of harassment and demands for ridiculous amounts of information was a disgrace. The people I spoke to were rude and incompetent. That this company is allowed to behave in this way is a More

Lauren T, Sam A, Holly G and Stephanie T are always very helpful and available for quick updates on the applications they look after.
They are extremely professional.
Thank you very much guys!

Literally broke the law by contacting referees who have stated that they did not wished to be contacted. Stated several times the referrer did not consent to be contacted and yet they reached out regardless of their wishes. If you wish to do business with a company that breaks the law, this is the perfect company for you.

A very helpful and professional yet personal service. Quote completed and Policy in place within just a few minutes,

I am a tenant and it was great to speak to real people at FCC Paragon! They made my referencing experience painless.

5th year using this company. Great price and friendly, efficient service. Call centre is amazing in today's standards. My calls have always been answers quickly by competent advisors. Just wish they done vehicle insurance.

Dreadful.

They could not understand very basic information.

It is also very difficult to contact anyone, as I just got a 'Noreply' email address when they asked me for details. I phoned them and they promised to call me back and never did.

They were meant to send a reference document to my last accommodation. Each time i asked whether the referencing is gonna finish or not, they were like "we are awaiting for response from Lee Abbey" Then it turned out that my last accommodation which was my reference (lee abbey) hasnt received the document. I communicated to them in 20 mins. this stupid company couldnt in 5 days. What is the use of this company then? I can do the referencing bymyself!!! just send the documents receive the documents! i am writing this live. i am still staying at a hotel!

Excellent service, always helpful and a pleasure to deal with.

Worst agency ever,tried to rent a flat and they searched me as i thought they are from FBI,they send me to the bank self service to print from them the bank statements,what a joke,they think i haven t got anything else better to do during covid-19 only to put my life on risk going at bank,caz the online ones i send there wasnt good enough :)))
Wouldnt reccomand at all!

really helpful in sorting out a tricky insurance issue for me

Utterly Inefficient, Completely Unprofessional. TERRIBLE customer service and communications. Only 1 star because that's the minimum. Acid Reflux is more pleasant to deal with.

They expect you to provide a nimiety of documents and their poor customer service won't take into consideration legitimate alternatives. In addition, I felt that they harassed my guarantors to a very inappropriate degree: my guarantor is a full time nurse who dedicates her time to looking after very sick patients, you cannot possibly expect her to prioritise you over her work. No offence but tenants could actually benefit from you guys shutting down.

Not a professional company. They took all the details from me and then e-mailed my boss which is fine, and straight away they start calling him to double check that the information I gave them are correct, so prepare everyone's information you give, that they will be bombed with phone calls and e-mails from them for at least a week.

By reading previous review's I was so worried about my ref. Not even 48 hours and my reference completed, louise was so helpful and friendly ... have all your document ready and everything will go though quickly.

Top service! Friendly, helpful and professional. Thank you, Kelly for your time and patience, explaining everything clearly to me and for giving me the information I needed to make the right decision about my insurance. I highly recommend contacting Kelly for your insurance needs!

Staff were very helpful, friendly and efficient. Would use again.

They look professional until you meet them. Went for an interview here, by far this was the worst interview I'd ever had, unfortunately due to travel issues I was late to this interview and quite rushed off my feet. I was met by two people who were rude and dismissive obviously due to the lateness, rather than give me a benefit of the doubt with a professional approach, the interview instead was held in canteen where I was met with a dismissive and rude attitude. I'm glad things didn't go to plan so I got the true picture of what I was letting myself in for. Bullet dodged and god help the person who achieves the position I went for.

FCC Paragon have been a breath of fresh air and a delight to deal with. I dealt with Hannah Bennett from the outset when trying to claw back thousands of pounds of outstanding rent from an ex-tenant. She has been nothing short of a miracle worker and has been successful in getting monies back from my debtor whilst also providing regular and professional feedback and timely reminders etc as required. I plan to use their services again (for another evicted tenant soon) and have no hesitation in recommending their services to others too. Thank you FCC Paragon, and Hannah in particular (and for clarity, I have no connection with the company or any of its enployees).

I definitely would recommend this company I had issues with my employer taking time to complete my reference and Karol from FCC Paragon was very patient and helpful with me. He was able to explain the procedure and gave me all the advice I needed. Moving homes is always stressful but with his help it was good. I m a happy tenant

I have worked with many agencies, using various reference agencies.
Fcc Paragon has one of the most user friendly processes i have come across.
Aidan is always happy to help and provides a 5 star service

I've used these insurers for a number of years and have always found them to be very helpful and straightforward to deal with.

LANDLORDS BEWARE! Do not use this company, they ignore their data protection policies and will share your information with anyone. I now have an angry past tenant who not only has been given my name in relation to a bad reference but the reference was incorrect! No protection for landlords with this company.

Agents please be aware of this company, they sell services that's impossible to meet the criteria.
THEY ARE NOT AN INSURANCE COMPANY, DECISIONS ARE AT THEIR OWN DISCRETION. In other words they make up rules as they go along.

Paragon insurance normally call me to remind me of my renewal policies for my landlords insurance. I m normally happy with the price and renewing takes very little time and no fuss .

Very helpful staff. Lovely service and i would highly recommend.

the staff really difficult to talk to . very unpleasant to speak to them . if you want to contact your GB regarding high blood pressure then speak to any of their staff . if I could rate them 0 star I would have done so ..

Very helpful and personable staff, extremely human and willing to go to lengths to answer queries. Feels like an organisation of real people, not faceless cogs in a corporate machine. This is very welcome, feels quite rare these days & I very much hope Paragon keep up the good work.

Update 11 Nov 2019 - More great service from Paragon following another query from me. Excellent attention to detail and follow-up. Pleasure to do business with them - thank you!