Can a mis-sold Self Assurance Policy be reclaimed.

Fyffes

Hi all.

I've searched high and low for a definitive answer to this but can't find it anywhere. A colleague asked me if I'd help him reclaim PPI on a mortgage which he took out in 2002. On closer inspection, the policy he was stuck with was something called a "Self Assurance Policy" from Scottish Provident.

At the time of taking on the mortgage, my colleague and his partner were fully covered for every eventuality through their employment contracts. Therefore, this "assurance" was 100% unnecessary in the first place.My colleague has contacted Scottish Provident who informed him that there was no PPI in connection to this mortgage.

And just to complicate matters, the policy was actually "sold" to my colleague by a mortgage broker who is independent of Scottish Provident and now trading under a different company name.

Any help with this would be much appreciated

magpiecottage

Scottish Provident sold through IFAs, rather than its own sales force if I remember correctly, so it had no responsibility for the sale itself.

I think I am also right in saying that it did not offer PPI and that "Self Assurance" was a brand name for Life Assurance/Critical Illness/Permanent Health Insurance products.

You could complain to the broker but, with the exception of ill health benefits, cover from an employer is generally not considered suitable to protect a mortgagor. In addition, this type of policy did not fall under the GISC code and so FOS will almost certainly have no jurisdiction over the adviser.

Fyffes

Thank you for taking the time to respond Magpiecottage.

That information is very helpful and much appreciated :beer:

dunstonh

Just confirming the above. This would have been a life assurance, critical illness or permanent health insurance. Not a PPI.

At the time of taking on the mortgage, my colleague and his partner were fully covered for every eventuality through their employment contracts.

Employer benefits are typically for lost pension income and lost earned income and not suitable for the coverage of debts. if the Scot Prov plan is Critical illness cover then the employer rarely offers this as part of their package. If it is PHI then it would be designed to kick in when the employer sick pay stops. If it is life assurance then it is designed to match the mortgage. So, based on limited info, it would be unlikely to be a mis-sale.

Also, as said, its 3 years pre-regulation.

Michaels_nanny

Hi, we were sold a 'self Assurance Policy' from Scottish Provident but sold to us by an agent from the mortgage company. It was a re-mortgage & we already had a ppi with our original mortgage held for 11 years. We wanted to keep that but the advisor told us we couldn’t have the re-mortgage if we didn't take out his policy. He also told us that his policy was better as it didn't have a 3 month delay to paying out, he told us his covered sickness too.
Where do we stand?
TIA

dunstonh

Hi, we were sold a 'self Assurance Policy' from Scottish Provident but sold to us by an agent from the mortgage company. It was a re-mortgage & we already had a ppi with our original mortgage held for 11 years. We wanted to keep that but the advisor told us we couldn’t have the re-mortgage if we didn't take out his policy. He also told us that his policy was better as it didn't have a 3 month delay to paying out, he told us his covered sickness too.
Where do we stand?

You stand nowhere. Unless you have evidence that you are immortal or you were lied to then complaints of this nature rarely succeed. Most people take out life assurance on their mortgages. It is common sense to do so and that is why people do it. You would be arguing against the norm and almost certainly have no evidence of wrongdoing.

-taff

And if it was a broker, it's possible that was his payment for his 'free advice'

And if it was sold before 2005, he's not liable anyway.

keithsweeney

I've finally cancelled a direct debit to Scottish Provident of £37 per month I'd been paying since year 2000.
I had assumed that this was a life assurance policy but when I phoned up to ask about it (i'd moved house a couple of times and lost contact with them) they informed me it was a Self Assurance Mortgage Plan which would pay out up to £24k if I got ill and couldnt pay the mortgage. This was arranged thru a financial advisor whose company seems to have since been swallowed up by another (Nexus IFA)
I've worked out that I have now paid in the region of £7.5k over the years for a maximum benefit of £24k. Does this come under the heading of 'not treating customers fairly' I wonder as surely there is a disparity between the premium paid over the years and what I stood to benefit from?
Have contacted the Nexus company but not had a reply from them. Do I go straight to Scottish Provident and ask for a refund?
Any thoughts welcome

BorisThomson

keithsweeney wrote: »

I've finally cancelled a direct debit to Scottish Provident of £37 per month I'd been paying since year 2000.
I had assumed that this was a life assurance policy but when I phoned up to ask about it (i'd moved house a couple of times and lost contact with them) they informed me it was a Self Assurance Mortgage Plan which would pay out up to £24k if I got ill and couldnt pay the mortgage. This was arranged thru a financial advisor whose company seems to have since been swallowed up by another (Nexus IFA)
I've worked out that I have now paid in the region of £7.5k over the years for a maximum benefit of £24k. Does this come under the heading of 'not treating customers fairly' I wonder as surely there is a disparity between the premium paid over the years and what I stood to benefit from?
Have contacted the Nexus company but not had a reply from them. Do I go straight to Scottish Provident and ask for a refund?
Any thoughts welcome

There's nothing wrong with a policy not being the best value. Indeed it would have been excellent value had you needed to claim on it early in the policy. You have no valid grounds for complaint.

[Deleted User]

Nothing you have said indicates any mis-sale occurred.

Obviously you now regard this as simply as too expensive, but you can't complain about that.

Why do you think you haven't been treated fairly? You would have signed your agreement to this policy and the documentation would have been clear it was not Life Assurance.

You cannot complain or demand a refund because you "assumed" it was a different type of policy.

Nearlyold

Is the benefit a single payment of £24k or an annual income of up to £24k? ie is it CI or PHI?