Reclaim PPI St Andrews MBNA Advice Please - Policy exclusions?

it_can_only_get_better

Hi Everyone

I am a new member and thought I would venture onto this site to help a friend.

Here is the case summary and any advice would be so much appreciated!

This lady has been off work for 7 months with acute anxiety and depression - diagnosed by GP; seen counsellor and prescribed relevant medication.

She has been faithfully paying PPI on all accounts and even been paying full monthly payments on each card/loan to date. We have advised her to activate her PPI now.

One of the companies she is dealing with is MBNA, whose PPI is offered through St Andrews. She telephoned them today - got transferred back and forth from MBNA to St Andrews and no one claimed to help her - when St Andrews would not speak to her they transferred her back to MBNA who said "well, you have mentioned the word "insurance" so no one will want to speak to you". Odd? I thought so! The advisors who spoke to her from St Andrews were very unhelpful and rather rude when she said why she was off work - he stated that unless she had been under a psychiatrist for at least 7 weeks then she has no grounds to claim (even though she said it was diagnosed by a GP, on medical records, medicated and seen a counsellor and even occupational health). She told them that she had a long standing account and good payment record with PPI included for est. 10 years+

They refused to provide a copy of terms and conditions of policy but stated that she would not have a valid claim with this condition. Can you please advise what steps would be best to sort this out as it seems like she is being fobbed off and dismissed, hoping she will give up and not pursue a claim. We feel she has a valid claim or should be able to claim all contributions back - a possible mis-selling of the PPI?

Any ideas???

mikegilbert

Hi, she should first phone again to MBNA requesting a claim form, or the specific contact details of whom to get a claim form from. If they are obstructive in any way advise them that you will be contacting the FOS ( Financial Ombudsman Services) immediately after this call and lodge a complaint. They can be contacted on 0845080 1800. They will discuss with you your issues and should contact both you and MBNA in writing regarding your dispute and claim. I might suggest that you consider whether your friend has been missold this policy, as it appears that as she does not have a copy of the Policy Details ( did she ever have one?) she could not have made an informed decision on whether the policy was in here best interest and actually suited her needs. Come back to us here and we willl try to help, but take it slowly, document all phone calls, dates times and content . Do not give up or worry there are lots of people in same position all trying to help each other.

maxdp

it_can_only_get_better wrote: »

Hi Everyone

I am a new member and thought I would venture onto this site to help a friend.

Here is the case summary and any advice would be so much appreciated!

This lady has been off work for 7 months with acute anxiety and depression - diagnosed by GP; seen counsellor and prescribed relevant medication.

She has been faithfully paying PPI on all accounts and even been paying full monthly payments on each card/loan to date. We have advised her to activate her PPI now.

One of the companies she is dealing with is MBNA, whose PPI is offered through St Andrews. She telephoned them today - got transferred back and forth from MBNA to St Andrews and no one claimed to help her - when St Andrews would not speak to her they transferred her back to MBNA who said "well, you have mentioned the word "insurance" so no one will want to speak to you". Odd? I thought so! The advisors who spoke to her from St Andrews were very unhelpful and rather rude when she said why she was off work - he stated that unless she had been under a psychiatrist for at least 7 weeks then she has no grounds to claim (even though she said it was diagnosed by a GP, on medical records, medicated and seen a counsellor and even occupational health). She told them that she had a long standing account and good payment record with PPI included for est. 10 years+

They refused to provide a copy of terms and conditions of policy but stated that she would not have a valid claim with this condition. Can you please advise what steps would be best to sort this out as it seems like she is being fobbed off and dismissed, hoping she will give up and not pursue a claim. We feel she has a valid claim or should be able to claim all contributions back - a possible mis-selling of the PPI?

Any ideas???

In their own words

"St Andrew's are our chosen provider of creditor insurance products. They provide daily business support and are flexible to the needs of our business. This enables us to continually provide customers with products they want. Their knowledge of both regulation and the market is invaluable. Customer Service is also at the forefront of St. Andrew's philosophy. They have an industry leading claims process, and are continually looking to improve this further. Overall, it is a very successful partnership"

PPI Products Manager
In our own words

"St Andrew's and MBNA work very well together in partnership and have an excellent working relationship. St Andrew's provide a staff member working on a residential basis which helps understand the client's needs and allows us to provide the very best possible advice and service."
Business Manager


These are some testimonials from St Andrews Insurance site. Just for a laugh.

Think you will find that the doctor needs to have referred your friend to a psychiatrist so that they can accurately diagnose your friend. A lot of insurance companies do not cover people for "stress" now as diagnosed by a doctor.

They will do anything to get out of paying for this.

it_can_only_get_better

Thank you ever so much guys for your replies and the very amusing quotations on St Andrews!

I shall keep my fingers crossed - I am like a dog with a bone and hopefully we can sort this out for her!

Cheers and have a great day - at least the sun is shining!!!

maxdp

it_can_only_get_better wrote: »

Thank you ever so much guys for your replies and the very amusing quotations on St Andrews!

I shall keep my fingers crossed - I am like a dog with a bone and hopefully we can sort this out for her!

Cheers and have a great day - at least the sun is shining!!!

You are more than welcome. Please post up your findings so we can all learn from this. Good Luck:D

it_can_only_get_better

Hi Guys
Just an update:
My friend telephoned MBNA/St Andrew last week (the person she spoke to this time was at least more polite). The MBNA representative proceeded to go through a potential PPI claim form over the phone with her and after answering all the questions, there was a 2 minute wait and then it was declined on the basis that MBNA/St Andrew policy on depression/anxiety is equated to "work related stress" and you must have been referred to a hospital psychiatrist for at least 7 weeks.
My friend stated her disappointment at having paid PPI for approx 11 to 13 years on the account and never claiming and enquired if she had been mis-sold her policy? To which the representative said "I really don't know...it would have been in the terms and conditions you would have received when you took out the policy...and amended T&C since". My friend then mentioned that she did not have any T&C sent to her or any updates over the years. I also believe that as the "work related stress" condition seems to be something that has come through the small print of policies more so in the last 5 years, it is unlikely that there would have been such focus or specific wording in a policy taken out between 1996 to 1998 anyway?
Any ideas guys?
Thank you so much for your support thus far!

di3004

it_can_only_get_better wrote: »

Hi Guys
Just an update:
My friend telephoned MBNA/St Andrew last week (the person she spoke to this time was at least more polite). The MBNA representative proceeded to go through a potential PPI claim form over the phone with her and after answering all the questions, there was a 2 minute wait and then it was declined on the basis that MBNA/St Andrew policy on depression/anxiety is equated to "work related stress" and you must have been referred to a hospital psychiatrist for at least 7 weeks.
My friend stated her disappointment at having paid PPI for approx 11 to 13 years on the account and never claiming and enquired if she had been mis-sold her policy? To which the representative said "I really don't know...it would have been in the terms and conditions you would have received when you took out the policy...and amended T&C since". My friend then mentioned that she did not have any T&C sent to her or any updates over the years. I also believe that as the "work related stress" condition seems to be something that has come through the small print of policies more so in the last 5 years, it is unlikely that there would have been such focus or specific wording in a policy taken out between 1996 to 1998 anyway?
Any ideas guys?
Thank you so much for your support thus far!

Hi there

Sorry to hear this.

Wonder if the FOS will be able to look into this, because I know not everything is made exactly clear in these policies where I believe its not fair, the ruling on 7 weeks of being under a psychiatrist.
Ring the FOS here:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact/index.html

I know this seems to be the case on some policies but still, if its being paid for every month ????

Good luck, please let us know the result of this, cheers.;)

bored_at_home

dont get me started on mbna.

i have 3 ppi claims for loss of employment going through st andrews just now.
2 have been fine, paying 10% of the balance each month, initially paying the first two payments together .

mbna apparently only pay 5% of the balance , they can only allow 1 payment a month from st andrews and each payment has to equate to a total 30 days.
so what theyr realy saying is wel keep charging you 27.9% interest, wel pay decembers in mid feb, jan in mid march, keep charging you late fees every month because OUR insurance doesnt pay in time, and keep ringing you every day asking you to pay the extra payment out your own pocket. we will keep blaming st andrews and st andrews will keep blaming us.
wel send you our terms and conditions which dont state the monthly percentage paid, just refers to "the monthly benefit" at every opportunity and yet charge the same as the ones who pay 10%.

i have written a stinking letter to MBNA customer advocates office regarding all this and am waiting for a reply promised by 19th march. in the meantime they are still ringing every day.

it_can_only_get_better

Hi Guys

Thanks so much for your comments. It certainly does seem to be something rotten here in this system between MBNA and St Andrew - it is all very well for them to keep passing the buck and blaming eachother but someone has to be accountable. I think we have worked out that financially, MBNA/St Andrew would be better off accepting her claim rather than having to return the PPI as we think that over a period of 11 to 13 years it should wipe out the balance so I cannot imagine them doing it!

What we need is actual fear and law to protect the customer as these companies really do think that they can get away with this kind of service and seem to be answerable to no one. It is shocking to think that PPI is such a multi-billion £ profit for these companies all sold on the basis that we are afraid not to take it out when they ask.

Please keep the ideas going guys - a battle plan will be hatched!

it_can_only_get_better

Dear Everyone

I thought I would update this case and let you know what has happened thus far and that we are now at a crossroads on deciding how best to proceed.

MBNA and St Andrews have been contacted by telephone again today and my friend spoke to countless departments (inc people who refused to give their names) as she is keeping a record of who what etc. They have maintained thier position on refusing the PPI claim and also when she has stated that she was therefore mis-sold the policy back in approx 1996; they claim to have sent a "re-phrased" policy update in 2003 which she says she never had!

Where do we go from here?

She is telephoning the FOS this afternoon to start that ball rolling.

As so much of her monthly payment to this company is swallowed up by interest and PPI payment - only approx £40 comes off the total owed. She is desperate to get rid of this account as they have failed her so badly and behaved mercilessly.

So I have wondered what her options might be now whilst off work or perhaps on returning to work? Can you please advise on the following?

1) Should she now cancel the PPI payments? Even if it is being investigated by FOS?
2) Would it be better for her to get a loan to pay them off completely? If so, could she negociate paying less as a full and final settlement.
3) Whatever happens, she does not want to lose her credit rating so many options that I can think of are not suitable? Therefore, are there any other options?

Thanks guys!!!!!

it_can_only_get_better

Ohh, I almost forgot...

She has another card with PPI and telephoned them to make a claim. Was put through to their insurance dept at which point the person on the phone said I see you are off work with anxiety and depression. She wondered how on earth they knew that when she had not been in contact with them before... Turns out that this other card PPI is also St Andrew and they share information between accounts. Is this legal, ethical etc? So they turned her down on the same basis without considering a new claim.

This is awful in my opinion and I wondered if anything can be done about it?