Advice please, can i claim?

jonquigley

Hi all

I took out a mortgage in 2000 with Nth Rock via an independant financial advisor (who is no longer trading) who also pushed me to take out a monthly Life Assurance/Critical Illness policy with L&G. This policy is still being paid monthly by SO, although Ive luckily nearly cleared my mortgage. I dug the paperwork out recently following the PPI scandal & thought I had cause to claim the MPI back. I filled in Martins complaint template & sent it to L&G 6 weeks ago by recorded delivery along with copies of their schedule & that of the advisor, but had not had any reply to date. I called them this afternoon but the said they had no record of my letter...Ive just traced the letter on the PO website & it was delivered on 12th Feb! The lady at L&G went on to say I should take the matter up with the advisor who sold me their policy, but when I told her that they were no longer in business she said that any issue I may have is with that company & not Legal & General! She did offer to give me the Ombudsmans number though. I have that already, but is she right in what she told me?

Thanks all, and any advice is most welcome.

magpiecottage

First things first.

Legal & General is correct. An insurer has NO responsibility for advice given by an Independent Financial Adviser.

Legal & General actually has 8 weeks from receipt to get a response in the post to you but even if it fails it will not change the fact that the responsibility for ensuring the policy is suitable lies elsewhere.

Critical Illness and Term Assurance policies were not regulated in 2000. That date was before the introduction of the General Insurance Standards Council's code of practice which in any case did not cover long term protection policies such as this. Consequently a complaint against the broker, even if you could find them, would almost certainly fall outside the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Finally, you have given no reason why your complaint should be upheld. The mere holding of an insurance policy does not mean it was missold.

dunstonh

I took out a mortgage in 2000 with Nth Rock via an independant financial advisor (who is no longer trading) who also pushed me to take out a monthly Life Assurance/Critical Illness policy with L&G.

Nothing wrong with that. Most sensible people take insurance to cover their major debt.

This policy is still being paid monthly by SO, although Ive luckily nearly cleared my mortgage.

Good. That confirms it was set up correctly with monthly payments. So, nothing wrong there. The fact it is still running is obviously a choice you have made and not an uncommon one. Many people keep the policy running after a mortgage is repaid to keep the benefit should they have a claimable event.

I dug the paperwork out recently following the PPI scandal & thought I had cause to claim the MPI back.

You havent mentioned you have MPPI. Plus, you havent indicated any reason for complaint.

The lady at L&G went on to say I should take the matter up with the advisor who sold me their policy, but when I told her that they were no longer in business she said that any issue I may have is with that company & not Legal & General!

That is correct. The insurer has no liability for the advice you were given.

She did offer to give me the Ombudsmans number though. I have that already, but is she right in what she told me?

The FOS is no good to you either. They cannot review complaints against IFAs that are no longer trading and the company has no assets. The FSCS wont look at it either as it is before regulation (2005).

Most of all, you dont appear to have PPI and more importantly, you dont appear to have any reason for complaint. It looks like you are just compensation hunting. Thankfully, that will fail.

jonquigley

Thank you for your valuable advise. I am not, however, just compensation hunting, I simply wanted to know whether or not I had been miss sold a product I may not have needed as many have been. Thanks again, and I will now not pursue the enquiry further based upon your advice

dunstonh

hank you for your valuable advise. I am not, however, just compensation hunting,

It is always hard to tell on just some lines of text. Thank you for being polite in the response. That actually supports your approach as the compensation hunters tend to get abusive when you point out what they are doing.

I simply wanted to know whether or not I had been miss sold a product I may not have needed as many have been.

Most people have not been. This is still a minority issue. Also, mortgage protection is the area with the least issues. So, statistically, the odds are you were not and there was enough in your post to suggest that there was no wrong doing at all.

Ultimately, even if there had been wrongdoing, the fact it was in 2000 means you had no-one to complain to as FSCS protection for insurance only started in 2005 for business written after that point 9for the type of business you have)