has anyone been miss sold life insurance by zurich

peterbarber

I have now found out that I have been lied to by zurich insurance
over a life insurance policy taken out in 2003
I agreed to pay a flat fee of £50 no more no less
I now find that I am paying £112 because it is an adaptable life plan
I have also found out that the adviser did not work for zurich direct but was a broker I was lead to understand he was an adviser for zurich because he told me zurich do not employ brokers because of miss selling
the adviser was in an zurich building in london everything around me was zurich even the papers on his table
would most people think it was miss sold

ACG

I think you would need to have some sort of paperwork that says you would be paying £50 a month for the term of the policy.
Otherwise its difficult to prove one way or the other.

dunstonh

I have also found out that the adviser did not work for zurich direct but was a broker I was lead to understand he was an adviser for zurich because he told me zurich do not employ brokers because of miss selling

This would be unusual. Back then, most Zurich products were bought via the salesforce and not via independent financial advisers. It is important to know what type of adviser you used as it could impact on your complaint.

Zurich plans sold by Allied Dunbar agents (and later Zurich reps) only had this type of life assurance available (i.e. they didnt have level term assurance with guaranteed premiums). As they were tied agents, their remit was only to recommend from their product range. So, at no point could they have sold you a guaranteed plan.

If it was an IFA, then the IFA had the whole of market and could have done a guaranteed premium term assurance. However, the adaptable life plan was a whole of life assurance policy. Not a term assurance. It is only relatively recently that guaranteed premiums have been offered on whole of life assurance plans. The traditional method was to have a period of 10-15 years where the premium was guaranteed but beyond that, the premiums would be based on the investment returns.

the adviser was in an zurich building in london everything around me was zurich even the papers on his table

Which would suggest he worked for Zurich and was not an IFA. The FSA register would confirm this though.

would most people think it was miss sold

Cant say. If you saw a zurich rep then you got the product they offered and the only had to offer their product.

Documentation is king in any complaint. So, if the documentation says you have guaranteed premiums then you have a strong complaint. If it doesnt say you have guaranteed premiums then your complaint is weak and without evidence on your side, they could easily reject your complaint.

If you were talking 1980s or 1990s even, then a complaint would stand a good chance of success as documentation was weak back then. By 2003, you would expect the documentation to be much stronger. Take a read of that and see what it says about risk factors.


edit: A quick bit of digging has found that the Adaptable Life Plan was an Allied Dunbar product.

peterbarber

I have just recieved a copy of the policy by zurich
but have been told they cannot send me the original copy signed by me & the advisor has he was a broker working on behalf of zurich & that they do not have the original copy
the paper work has Allied dunbar on it
plan details sum assured £43,581
contribution £50.00 per month
policy type non qualifying whole life policy
no where in the 31 sheets of paper that form the policy does it have the policy risk in writing or even memtion the policy risk
I have now just recieved my bank statement that shows the policy contribution has risen to £117 per month
i f I ask for the policy to be stopped how will it affected me with my claim for miss selling & can they deduct money from the policy

peterbarber

A copy of the policy says sum assured £43,581
contrbution £ 50.00 per month
they say that they cannot send me a copy of the original agreement signed by me & the adviser has he was a broker working for a insurance brokers
I have asked them to contact the company in order to get the copy I signed but have been told that the adviser no longer works for them

dunstonh

but have been told they cannot send me the original copy signed by me & the advisor has he was a broker working on behalf of zurich & that they do not have the original copy

They are not required to give you an original copy. An original copy almost certainly doesnt exist. Documents are scanned and destroyed.

the paper work has Allied dunbar on it

So, that verifies that he was not a broker and was not an appointed rep of Zurich. He was an appointed rep of Allied Dunbar. It also makes your story lack credibility. You said in post #1 :

I have also found out that the adviser did not work for zurich direct but was a broker I was lead to understand he was an adviser for zurich because he told me zurich do not employ brokers because of miss selling

Zurich bought Allied Dunbar in 1998. They didnt rename until 2001. Yet you say you bought an Allied Dunbar plan in 2003. I understand that the adaptable life plan had its initial review points after either 10 or 15 years (cannot be sure on the exact length of the first review point. However, neither of those fit with 2003).

I'm not being critical here but just looking at it as a complaints handler would. Your story has a number of inconsistencies. I'm not going to wrap it all up in cotton wool and give you a response you want to hear. Much better to show you the problems with what you are saying.

The plans were poor and damned expensive. However, Allied Dunbar were tied agents. They could only sell their own products. If you wanted the best you wouldnt have used allied dunbar. You would have used an IFA.

In 2003, the risk warnings on investment backed whole of life assurance were not much different from what they are today. The key features document would clearly mention review points and the fact premiums can go up. The illustration would have had a number of warnings too.

If you are going to make a complaint, you need to be a bit more solid on your facts and if you do present a "forceful" story of events that can be taken apart easily, then chances are you will fail.

I am still not saying you were not mis-sold or that you were. Chances are you were not technically mis-sold (or have nothing to prove you were) but were given the hard sell. They were not called allied crowbar for nothing. I would suspect that if you complain, you would need to be reliant on a documentation error at their end to be successful as you havent given anything really to suggest a mis-sale (verbal accusations without evidence require something else to be wrong to be successful).

kingstreet

Do you have a copy of any factfind, suitability letter or quotation from the time you effected this cover?

What did you ask Zurich to supply? Did you ask only for a copy of the application?

I share dunston's puzzlement here. You need to establish exactly what happened and when, backing up your claim with as much documentation from the time as you possibly can.

peterbarber

do you think I should just cut my ties with them & shop around
Ive paid in over £7000 but will only get £2000 back

peterbarber

on the paper work they have sent me dated 2003 Allied dunbar is on the paperwork but the paperwork I signed with the adviser had zurich on it
I am being told the adviser worked as a broker for CMG advisers LLP & worked on behalf of allied dunbar but not for allied dunbar
I am finding all this very confusing

dunstonh

I am being told the adviser worked as a broker for CMG advisers LLP & worked on behalf of allied dunbar but not for allied dunbar

They could work in their own companies either individually or a group of them representing AD.

do you think I should just cut my ties with them & shop around

Certainly you should look to modern options. The choice to complain is going to be yours. We have given you an idea of what you are likely to need to cover in any complaint you make but my gut feeling is that it will be a hard one.

Dave101t

took it out in 2003, only questioning it in 2011.
nothing to do with the recent 'we can get you a refund on your.......' then?