Can you claim for mis sold life assurance?

db2007

Hi all
Could anyone advise if you are sold an £80 monthly life insurance policy at the time of taking out a £150k mortgage (house value £220k) by, I think a broker, can I reclaim as mis sold? The policy is through AXA and the mortgage lender Santander. I went through a broker. I think it also covers some health issues like some cancers. No claims have been made.

Many thanks for any help.

OshayAway

Why do you think it was mis sold?

lisyloo

To claim mis-selling you'd have to prove there was no need for the policy.
That's going to be quite difficult.
Usually the broker would ask you about your circumstances. For example what other cover you had.
If they have documentary evidence of a need, then you'll struggle to show mis-selling.
On the other hand if they didn't go through the right processes then they may be at fault.

It depends entirely on the details.
You need to tell us more. For example why you think you were mis-sold and why you think you never had a need for it.

In most cases it would be fairly easy to show a need for lilfe/illness insurance and much more difficult to show you had no need of it.

dunstonh

Life assurance is pretty straightforward to see if you have been mis-sold.

In the event of your death, is anyone financially worse off? if yes, then you have a financial need (so no mis-sale) if no, then you have no financial need so mis-sale (however, be wary that there are still times people choose to cover it on long term debts and they are allowed to and that doesnt make it a mis-sale).

CI cover is near impossible to get classed as mis-sale unless you have around £200k plus in savings. If you had that, you wouldnt need the mortgage.

So, it all boils down to why you think you were mis-sold and what evidence you have.

db2007

Dear all

Thank you for your responses. I have been going through my outgoings as I have had a financial emergency and was asked what the £80 per month payments were for. I had to look them up - my fault. I will cancel the insurance but thought that it was quite expensive and wondered if there was room for a complaint about the product. I think I was talked into buying the insurance by the broker but as you guys have said - life ins mis selling is hard to prove. Older and wiser now.

Kind regards,

ACG

You were talked into paying £80 a month for something you didnt understand?

Do you have a family? If you were to die would they be able to make the payments to keep a house over their heads?
I think the only mis-selling is that it possibly wasnt enough cover. However your partner, kids would stand a better chance of paying off a £70k mortgage than they would a £220k mortgage.

If you have family who would stay in the house, kids etc you would be hard pushed to get anyone to back you up for a miss sold life policy. If however you are signle, no kids etc then you may have a case.

conrad2001

I was sold life insurance in 1993 when i took out a mortgage- i had not then and still dont have any dependants- if i had of died- i would expect the building society just to claim back the house. I assumed (knowing no better as a 23 yr old) that i had to have this insurance to pay off the mortage if i died. It's only now as my patner is buying a house that I realise this is not a pre-requisite of havinga mortgage. HAVE I BEEN MIS-SOLD THE LIFE INSURANCE? If so what do i do now??

dunstonh

conrad2001 wrote: »

I was sold life insurance in 1993 when i took out a mortgage- i had not then and still dont have any dependants- if i had of died- i would expect the building society just to claim back the house. I assumed (knowing no better as a 23 yr old) that i had to have this insurance to pay off the mortage if i died. It's only now as my patner is buying a house that I realise this is not a pre-requisite of havinga mortgage. HAVE I BEEN MIS-SOLD THE LIFE INSURANCE? If so what do i do now??

On those facts alone, then yes. However, some single people still decide to purchase life assurance on very long term debts as they expect to have dependants later. That is allowed.

Also note that a partner is usually classed as a dependent. Even if they are not financially dependent on you on the basis that most would want the mortgage paid off even if the partner could afford to keep the mortgage going.