Life Insurance

dotann

My husband, who will be 70 in June, took out a life insurance polcy around 10 years ago. I have only just found out about this and feel that to sell somebody a policy which finishes when they are only 70 is wrong. He cannot renew it so the £50 a month he has been paying is 'dead' money. Should insurers not advise people of the advantages of a policy which covers you for life. I feel he was conned into this by brokers as he does not deal with any of our insurances as can never get a proper deal. Can anybody tell me if there is anyway this can be adjusted.
This might sound a bit strange, but it is my first time on here so not quite sure of the protocol.

dunstonh

I have only just found out about this and feel that to sell somebody a policy which finishes when they are only 70 is wrong.

Strange as most policies tend to end around retirement age. Yet you are saying it is wrong.

Should insurers not advise people of the advantages of a policy which covers you for life.

No. It is not the place of the insurer to tell the person this. They either have to do their own research or use an adviser. Most insurers in this country no longer hold any authorisations to give advice, opinion or comment.

I feel he was conned into this by brokers as he does not deal with any of our insurances as can never get a proper deal. Can anybody tell me if there is anyway this can be adjusted.

You havent given any indication of wrong doing. Maybe if you told us what you thought they did wrong then we could comment on what could be done, if anything.

InsideInsurance

Insurance is about transferring a risk. The amount of risk you transfer dictates the premium you will pay.

The majority of life policies are fixed term and the underwriter can factor in the fact the persons policy will terminate by the age of X and the probability they have lived to X is Y%

You can get whole of life policies but the older you are the proportionally more expensive they are -v- fixed term as the insurer knows they will be paying out £A and so it is a case of balancing a monthly premium of £B x C months of average life.

As to if insurers or brokers should advise, that depends on their status, a lot of insurers are non-advisory, they can only tell you the facts and let you decide. Brokers are more frequently advisory in nature but by no means universally. Ultimately you would need to discuss with your husband and broker over if the appropriate options were raised and appropriately considered. It could well be that the quote was 4x the fixed term and it was decided that was too much to be spending

opinions4u

I'm in my forties.

I have life assurance that runs until my youngest is 22 years old.

I'll be in my early fifties when it expires.

Fingers crossed, I won't see a penny back for the money I've been paying for the last 15 years and the next 8.

After that, I don't envisage having life cover again. I can't see why I'd need it.

It is possible to buy a policy that runs until you drop. The likelihood is that you'll pay more in to it that you ever get out of it. Some people will end up dying early and claiming more than they've paid in, but the majority won't. But the price is often excessive or the cover minimal.

Stick the £50 a month in to a savings plan. It will be worth whatever it's worth when the time comes.

kingstreet

Can you tell us the need your husband wished to cover and what options he discussed with the "broker" you feel he was conned by?

ACG

Ive paid £1300 for car insurance this year...im kind of hoping i dont see a penny of it back.
Ive paid about £500 for buildings and contents insurance thins year....again, im kind of hoping i dont see a penny of it back.

It not paying out and covering your husband to age 70 isnt a miss sale.
Was it an advised or non advised sale? If it was advised and there was no need (eg no kids, mortgage etc) then there could be a miss sale. If it was no advised then there isnt a lot you can do.

Just_Some_Guy

Your husband took out a ten year policy when he was 60 that would pay out only if he didn't see 70. Ten years pass and the policy expires without a claim being paid. I don't see what the problem is?

dunstonh

Ive paid £1300 for car insurance this year...im kind of hoping i dont see a penny of it back.
Ive paid about £500 for buildings and contents insurance thins year....again, im kind of hoping i dont see a penny of it back.

But doesnt that mean it was mis-sold and you can get compensation?

ACG

Ill call up a claims company, they will probably think so.