AXA Sun Life RIP OFF!!!!!

paullwill8 · 26 May 2006 at 5:47PM

Hi all.
I remember reading a post about Axa Sun Life Policies being rubbish, this was a couple of months back.
Anyway after the slagging they got I decided to ring them and surrender mine.
It had only been running for just over 2 yrs, started at £20 month and slowly got higher, recent payment being £28.
I reckon I have paid around £520ish in, they have said I am entitled to £105.
Could not beleive it, is this correct, not at all clued up on this sort of thing, but how can this be right. They have stolen my money as far as i'm concerned.

dunstonh · 26 May 2006 at 7:45PM

That is correct.

You need to remember that this type of policy became obsolete around 1999 at the latest. The only way you could really buy one after that is through adverts where they were aimed at the unsuspecting and unaware where no advice was given.

I dont rate AXA at all. Their products are generally poor, service awful and morals even worse.

Coatze_2 · 27 May 2006 at 5:15PM

paullwill8 wrote:

Hi all.
I remember reading a post about Axa Sun Life Policies being rubbish, this was a couple of months back.
Anyway after the slagging they got I decided to ring them and surrender mine.
It had only been running for just over 2 yrs, started at £20 month and slowly got higher, recent payment being £28.
I reckon I have paid around £520ish in, they have said I am entitled to £105.
Could not beleive it, is this correct, not at all clued up on this sort of thing, but how can this be right. They have stolen my money as far as i'm concerned.

Hello

Do not accept £105. What date exactly did you take the policy out

paullwill8 · 28 May 2006 at 10:46AM

Coatze wrote:

Hello

Do not accept £105. What date exactly did you take the policy out

Hi.
I took out the policy in December 2003.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2 · 28 May 2006 at 11:46AM

Sorry to hear about your woes with AXA!! Good luck getting your what you deserve back. When we got our mortgage through Countrywide they really wanted us to take their buildings and contents insurance and payment protection etc. OH was all for paying over £450 a year for it all but I said we were best to look around as heard very little praise for the AXA Sun Alliance! The mortgage advisor pleaded with us to agree to have them all because her manager was in listening in!! She did say we would be alright cancelling it which I promptly did and then signed up to Norwich Union Direct for buildings and contents which is only £185 a year with higher cover!!

dunstonh · 28 May 2006 at 12:20PM

AXA Sun Alliance!

AXA and Sun Alliance have no linked. Royal Sun Alliance Life is now owned by Resolution LIfe and Royal Sun Alliance (general insurance) now operate under the More Than name. My guess is you mean AXA Sun Life. Although that company doesnt do house insurance.

As it happens, AXA tend to come out better priced on home insurance more than NU. Although house insurance comes under general insurance and the general insurance companies have little to do with the life and pensions companies of the same name.

Coatze_2 · 28 May 2006 at 1:03PM

Hi

I would advise you to write a leter of complaint. add the paragraph below to your letter. they will be obliged to pay you your full money back, its not guaranteed but they have mislead you in a product that was advertised when you took the policy out.

have a read below

Record advertising fine levied on Sun Life
Sun Life said that it regretted "shortcomings" in advertisements used to promote its Bonus Cash Builder Plus Plan - a with-profit endowment assurance policy - and Guaranteed Over 50, a non-profit, whole-of-life policy that provided a fixed guaranteed sum on the death of the policyholder.
Around 200,000 people who bought one of the two products will be given the option to cancel their policy and receive a full refund of premiums, plus interest.
The FSA said the fine - the biggest levied for misleading advertisements - would have been higher had Axa's unit, Axa Sun Life, not co-operated with the investigation.
"The FSA takes the issue of misleading financial promotions very seriously. We expect firms to comply with the spirit, not just the letter, of the rules, so that consumers gain a clear and fair understanding through the promotion," the FSA's director of enforcement, Andrew Procter, said.
The advertisements, some of which featured the television celebrities Carol Smillie and June Whitfield, were part of a TV and print media campaign which included direct-offer promotions distributed between February 2002 to January 2004, thereby putting a significant number of consumers at risk of being misled, the FSA said.
The advertisements did not provide customers with sufficient information about how the products worked or the risks involved, and some included comparative data that was incorrect, it added.
The serious nature of Axa Sun Life’s breaches was compounded by the firm’s failure to promptly inform the FSA of their mistake in the data, the watchdog said.
The company said it had fixed the adverts when it realised that they were misleading and pointed out that it had never before been censured or fined by the FSA.
"Axa Sun Life regrets the use of incorrect building society data in a chart showing a performance comparison of BCB with a building society account," it said.
The company said it had also written to all policyholders who started a policy during the period when the incorrect data was used in the advertising, and have provided the correct information together with a summary of the key product features.
Axa also apologised to the FSA for the delay in notifying them of this incident.
Paul Evans, the chief executive of Axa Sun Life, said, "We voluntarily appointed an independent third party, Ernst & Young, to review systems and controls relating to our financial promotions and have acted on all the recommendations in their report. We have also reviewed and improved our ASLD promotional material.
"Axa Sun Life is pleased that the regulator has placed on record that we have been 'open and co-operative' throughout their investigation and that Axa 'should receive considerable credit' for the restorative action we have taken."

paullwill8 · 28 May 2006 at 1:24PM

Thanks again coatze, I shall be writing to them Tuesday.
I will let you know of the outcome.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2 · 28 May 2006 at 1:30PM

dunstonh wrote:

As it happens, AXA tend to come out better priced on home insurance more than NU.

As I am sure you must appreciate it all depends on individual circumstances and we found in our case that it wasn't viable for us. If you would like I can obtain the exact names for you. I remember Friends Provident was the underwriter for some of the products - mortgage protection I think but I am sure you will correct me if I'm not 100% accurate dustonh!

dunstonh · 28 May 2006 at 3:05PM

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote:

As I am sure you must appreciate it all depends on individual circumstances and we found in our case that it wasn't viable for us. If you would like I can obtain the exact names for you. I remember Friends Provident was the underwriter for some of the products - mortgage protection I think but I am sure you will correct me if I'm not 100% accurate dustonh!

Absolutely.

The other thing to remember is that different distribution channels can sell exactly the same product but on different terms. All IFAs can sell Legal & General products cheaper than Barclays who sell exactly the same product but with greater margins. AXA products cost more when bought direct from AXA than through IFAs. Many IFAs, myself included, can beat Cavendish on investments and beat HL on pensions if they want to. The pricing on these things often comes down to who you buy the product from and what version of the product they are issuing.

Chrismaths · 28 May 2006 at 10:55PM

I have to defend AXA Isle of Man as well. They are the only insurance company I have ever dealt with who know their stuff.

AXA Sun Life RIP OFF!!!!!

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