Unfair process

I had taken a contract to cover my vehicle in May 2014. In December 2014 for the first time I received a call to advise that no payment was received since inception. Upon investigation it was discovered that the company had failed to institute the debit order. Netstar is now billing me for the total premium for the 8 months even though they agree that in the event of any incidents during this period i would not have been covered. My gripe is that I was not contacted by any means prior to December to query the non-payment. I have not received a statement or contract to date. As this was a new policy and given a busy work and home I was not aware that the premium was not going off my account. On the 3/02/2015 Netstar debits my account for R1074.06 without authorisation or a signed mandate. I had informed them that I am unable to pay the backdated Premiums due to financial commitments and due to the fact that I was not covered during that period. I cannot pay for a service I did not receive. Surely after 3 months of not receiving my premium this policy should have lapsed. I am very unhappy with the service and every attempt to make reasonable payments have been turned down.