Accidental Death Policy - does this sound like misselling

djtonyb

Hi Guys

After a bit of advice please (sorry if I'm rambling)

My MIL has had bad health for most of her life and its getting worse in recent months. She is going to be placed in a nursing home as she is unable to look after herself at home after a recent stroke.

In looking after her affairs whilst she has been in hospital it has come to our attention that she is paying into an accidental death policy.

She started this when she was 61 and is paying £3.10/month. The letter states her accidental death benefit will half upon her 75 birthday (this month) and will only payout until her 80th birthday.

She rents her house and has a small funeral bond to help bury her, she does not require accidental death insurance (truth be told its probably going to be her ongoing/worsening health conditions that will ultimately cause her demise). She has no other assets.

Do you think it has been mis-sold? do you think we could reclaim some of the money as its not a required policy?

Can anyone tell me a good reason why she would need this policy?

Quentin

Maybe she thought 10p a day was a small price to pay for something to leave if she has an accident and dies from it?

djtonyb

I appreciate its only 10 p a day but for a disabled lady with only state pension income its 10p/day she could have benefitted from

kingstreet

Nothing you have said indicates any chance of a mis-selling claim being successful.

She probably took a phone call from a firm like Swintons who offer such plans quite regularly. It was sold on the basis of information given, without advice being given or sought and is one of those things you normally just say "no" to.

If you, by some chance, have initial disclosure documentation, key facts illustrations and an advice record of some description, let us know.

djtonyb

Thanks Kingstreet, Its with Avon Insurance and I'm led to believe it was part of the funeral bond ?. I've managed to get hold of a copy of the policy docs as MIL has no idea where she put the paperwork.

Do you think it would be beneficial to cancel it? Shes in no position to suffer an accidental death ( 24/7 nursing care and unable to walk)

McKneff

I think I would just cancel it and then forget about it to be honest.

Up till now, she is just as liable to suffer and accidental death as the rest of us, bus crash, fall down stairs, fire in the house, etc. etc.

And just as an aside, I wonder how many elderly people fall in hosptals/nursing homes, break bones which ends up killing them. I think we would be surprised.

dunstonh

Do you think it has been mis-sold? do you think we could reclaim some of the money as its not a required policy?

Virtually all accidental death plans are bought without advice. Even the salesforces dont even bother with it. The vast majority are mailshots where the person applies for it or where it was a freebie for a period and then continued after the free period. All that makes it very hard to be mis-sold. Misbought certainly but not mis-sold.