Barclays Mis sold insurance to my elderly mother . Plea for help.

Louis1963

Hi Everyone.
I will try and make this short and concise and would very much appreciate any help.
I am now dealing with my elderly mothers paperwork as she is unable to now due to her ill health.
I am recovering from a series of strokes myself and finding reclaiming very daunting I'm afraid.
My mother who is now 87 years old ,took out a personal loan from Barclays (around 2004) and it was paid off within 2 years. She told me that she was sold a policy by Barclays at the time of signing loan agreement to cover the loan ( she is still paying £30.00 a month to this day for it). I contacted Barclays and they were very dimissive with me ( My speech problems post stroke didnt help either)
I have discovered that she has already paid in almost what the policy is worth (upon death) It seems that she was mis sold insurance , more that she was sold a policy that covers her loan and payable upon death !!! ( less than she paid in )
Please can anyone help me ? Im recovering from ill health and dont know where to begin with all this.
I do feel that she was taken advantage of by Barclays and sold "something" she didnt require and was misled by the bank loan representative as my mother was 80 years old at the time.

My mother is still paying £30.00 instalments via DD (monthly) and the policy is almost worth less than she is paying for it.
Policy is worth £3000. Mum was told £13.000 at time of signing for it !
Needlesstosay , my elderly mother is very upset and worried with all this as she has been a Barclays customer for over 40 years .
And I dont want her to continue to be paying for some "policy" that is worthless as she is on a limited income and needs that £30.00 a month to pay for fuel bills etc.
She is one of those that trusted people , especially banks !

Thank you for your kind attention.
Regards. Louis.

src007

Do you have any other details of the cover?

Its sounds like life insurance? Did it have unemployment, accident and sickness cover as well?

It might be worth having a careful look at the small print to see if there are age restrictions. If she was too old to use the insurance it was clearly mis-sold.

It could be worth putting in a complaint that she believes she was too old for the cover and then you can see what they say. Banks deal with thousands of complaints every week and they certainly aren't allowed to treat people any differently for raising concerns.

Ultimately, she has a right to know if the insurance was any use to her and if it wasn't she should get a refund.

I hope this helps.

Louis1963

Thank you so much for your reply.
I will be contacting the bank and insurance provider in writing for full details of the policy . I have'nt been able to do what I should due to still recovering from a series of strokes myself. My eyesight was affected and deafness and speech so I was literally deaf and dumb and still am to a lesser degree.
Thanks again and I will post any news on here when I can.
Kindest Regards, Louis.

dunstonh

What are the grounds for complaint as so far nothing seems to indicate any mis-sale here?

src007

dunstonh wrote: »

What are the grounds for complaint as so far nothing seems to indicate any mis-sale here?

Surely, if its a life insurance policy for the loan there is a good chance it was useless for her as she was 80 at the time of the sale?

http://www.barclays.co.uk/Insurance/LifeInsurance/LifeInsurancefromAviva/P1242557963444

Apply for Life Insurance

• Aviva Life Insurance is only available to UK residents aged 18-66. Cover stops on your 70th birthday

I'm not saying she definitely wasn't covered but its something that needs to be checked if she's paying £30 per month for no reason.

dunstonh

Surely, if its a life insurance policy for the loan there is a good chance it was useless for her as she was 80 at the time of the sale?

I cant recall when Barclays moved from Barclays life to Aviva (and wasnt there a bit of multi-tie in there for a while as well?). Remember that what they current do is not what they did in the past.

The fact the policy was set up indicates that the age was acceptable as the insurer would a) not be able to provide an illustration and b) would not be able to set it up.

I wonder if it isnt a term assurace but either an over 50s plan or an underwritten whole of life assurance. Both of which have higher acceptance ages than a level term assurance.

I am not saying it was not mis-sold but so far there is nothing to indicate that it is. We also need to remember that Barclays used an advice process for their life assurance plans unlike PPI which didnt. So, documentation should have a better audit trail. That said, we are talking Barclays.

Louis1963

My mother was clearly told that the policy Barclays sold to her was to cover the loan repayments.
She did not need a life policy to do that !
Mis selling or mis representation , either way, Barclays misled my mother.
Thanks for your reply.

dunstonh

My mother was clearly told that the policy Barclays sold to her was to cover the loan repayments.

Nothing wrong with that.

She did not need a life policy to do that !

Did she have savings to cover it?

Mis selling or mis representation , either way, Barclays misled my mother.

what evidence exists to support that accusation?

Remember that this is not PPI. It is not an non-advised sale. A lot of the ease at which PPI cases are upheld do not apply here.

Louis1963

Why would Barclays sell her a life policy and not PPI to cover the loan ?
My mother is still paying for the "loan cover" as she was informed it was ,to this day.
She already had life policies with RL and SL and did not ask ,nor want another.
I appreciate your comments however, I feel you dont understand that she was not given the correct information and dare I say taken advantage of.
Commission hungry and target driven staff do come to mind.
Thank you for your comment.

dunstonh

Why would Barclays sell her a life policy and not PPI to cover the loan ?

eligibility for PPI would make PPI a mis-sale.

She already had life policies with RL and SL and did not ask ,nor want another.

So why did she sign the forms to set one up?

I appreciate your comments however, I feel you dont understand that she was not given the correct information and dare I say taken advantage of.

i dont think you appreciate that you have no evidence to support that accusation. So, if you want it classed as a mis-sale you are going to need highlight a failure.

Louis1963

She was 80 years old at the time she took out the loan.
She didnt ask for a life policy .
Barclays told her the policy was for loan protection cover.
She signed for that and not for a life policy which Barclays failed to explain /disclose .
I have every right to my opinion of the bank and persons responsible until proven otherwise regarding the incorrect /inappropriate sale of policy/product for loan protection purposes.
Barclays track record on mis selling / inappropriation speaks for itself !
I will investigate this matter throughly.
Thank you for your contributions .