Refused Life Assurance

Mike_JB

I have been refused Life Assurance cover by Norwich Union, not sure why. They first refused my application due to medical reasons. I queried this with my doctor who checked my records to see if there was any problem. He couldn't find any problem so got in touch with them and found they had misread some of the notes sent by the doctor's surgery. He wrote to them showing where they were wrong, but Norwich Union's Chief Medical Officer would not go back on his assessment unfortunately.

I have two questions :

1. Can I still get life cover elsewhere, despite one of the questions on the application forms being, "Have you been refused life cover by other agencies".

2. Do I have a leg to stand on with Norwich Union regarding their total failure to listen to my doctor. Should I just ignor them and move on and try somewhere else.

payless

Was it direct or thro' a broker - a broker may be able to speak to the right people to get a review, although if the CMO has made a decision.....

So go eslewhere, yes you must declare the refusal , but hopefully the next insurer will consider it on own criteria

dunstonh

NU Underwriting is very good. I have spoken to them before on a number of occassions and had refusals reversed. The most common reason is where the doctors notes say there will be ongoing tests. That can blow any application out of the water. You adviser should be doing all this so speak with them.

You do have to declare this to any other insurer if you apply elsewhere and it will almost certainly result in them writing to the GP to find out why.

gyzmo

I would write a formal complaint to norwich union and then refer it to the ombudsman if they don't change their stance. By having to declare a refusal, it will affect future policies. especially irksome when the refusal should not have been made on the grounds stated. It's the equivalent of having a bad debt listed on a credit file when you have no such debts. don't stand for it.

dunstonh

Thats a bit draconian when you dont know the reasons why it has been declined. A simple call to underwriting by the adviser could resolve all this in minutes.

They dont decline things for no reason. There is something in those notes that is causing them to make this decision and you just need to know what it is. Otherwise chances are other insurers will do the same.

Astaroth

The "go to the FOS if they dont do what you want" attitude is annoying. Whilst we dont write life, the brand I currently work for received 30 complaints to the FOS last year and the FOS ruled in our favour on every single one. As a larger group the FOS only rule against us in about 5% of cases but we still have to pay the £300 per complaint - at the end of the day these costs are just passed back to the customers through increased premiums.

gyzmo

If a GP states that there are no medical conditions, and it is believed that something has been misunderstood by the insurers, and the insurers will not budge despite evidence to the contrary, then frankly they deserve to be taught a lesson.

I'm not advocating going to the FOS just because the answer is not liked - only where something wrong has happened and the company wont budge. When I was working with motor claims, most (about 90%) of the complaints I received should not have even happened, but did so because staff could not be bothered doing their job properly or were so ill trained that they really pi**ed the customer off with their nonsense.

A lot of insurers bring complaints on themselves by vaunting their dedication to customers via expert staff, yet train their staff so poorly and impose so many targets on them that it becomes impossible to do a job properly. I too disagree with FOS complaints for the sake of it, but if insurers behaved properly we woudln't have much need for the FOS in the first place.

dunstonh

If a GP states that there are no medical conditions, and it is believed that something has been misunderstood by the insurers, and the insurers will not budge despite evidence to the contrary, then frankly they deserve to be taught a lesson.

You wouldnt believe the number of times the GP says one thing but the notes say another. I think at this stage it just needs a bit of intervention as to what is actually the issue rather than jumping to the complaint stage.

gyzmo

I would agree so long as the insurer takes a common sense approach and takes constructive action, i.e, not just say "our manager [or whoever] has said it, so that's that" - a situation I have seen all too often. At the risk of repeating myself, such approaches deserve FOS intervention.

ohmsoft

I agree with the complaint route - but we're forgetting that just because it goes through the complaints procedure does not mean you will need to go to the FOS - very often invoking a complaint simply means that the matter is investigated at a competent level by someone who is given time and empowerment to deal. This could be just the intervention that is needed.

Hopefully at this point they will either change their decision or write back explaining the - valid - reasons for referal. As stated above FOS uphold rates are low and companies want them to stay that way which is why you are normally given a fair hearing before a final response is issued.

rossbenn

Mike_JB wrote:

I have been refused Life Assurance cover by Norwich Union, not sure why. They first refused my application due to medical reasons. I queried this with my doctor who checked my records to see if there was any problem. He couldn't find any problem so got in touch with them and found they had misread some of the notes sent by the doctor's surgery. He wrote to them showing where they were wrong, but Norwich Union's Chief Medical Officer would not go back on his assessment unfortunately.

I have two questions :

1. Can I still get life cover elsewhere, despite one of the questions on the application forms being, "Have you been refused life cover by other agencies".

2. Do I have a leg to stand on with Norwich Union regarding their total failure to listen to my doctor. Should I just ignor them and move on and try somewhere else.

The first thing I would suggest you do is get the facts right.

a Ask your doctor for a copy of the report and read it.

b You will then have grounds for having a go at the insurer.

c Like all things in life doctors are under pressure, they can get it wrong and fill in the wrong details for the wrong client. This is not unknown.

d When you know the facts get your I.F.A. to take up the case on your behalf, this is after all what you pay him for, assuming you have one.
The underwriter will listen to him rather than you.

e Lastly to all those who recommend buying these products direct to save a few pence. Beware.
Good Luck