Life insurance PPI

fries320

Hi All,

we need a bit of advice on what we should do regarding our situation:

My wife had taken out decreasing life assurance with Zurich in 2004 through an IFA.

At the time, we remember quite vividly saying the we did not want PPI . The IFA stated that if we didn't take out the policy with the PPI cover we would be charged in excess of £1000 for his advice.

Now on reading the advice on this website, we have decided that this could have been a case of mis-selling however, we note that all the PPI claims tend to be for loans etc and not life cover.

our questions are:

Should my wife still be able to claim?

we have lost contact with the IFA (in fact I think he was taken to the small claims court a number of times) so can we claim through Zurich directly?

many thanks in advance

PS we've called for a payment breakdown and they haven't provided it yet

we also haven't cancelled the PPI yet, should we do that before claiming (if the claim is possible) or do both at the same time.

_Andy_

Life assurance isn't PPI - totally different product. As you have a joint mortgage why would you not want life cover?

dunstonh

Should my wife still be able to claim?

Is your wife dead? If so, then yes, you can make a claim. If not then you cant.

If you mean complain rather than claim then it appears you are confused and that would lead to a no.

we have lost contact with the IFA (in fact I think he was taken to the small claims court a number of times) so can we claim through Zurich directly?

Are you sure it was an IFA? Most Zurich life assurance plans were done through Zurich FAs. If it was an IFA you complain to the IFA. If it was an FA then you complain to Zurich.

PS we've called for a payment breakdown and they haven't provided it yet

Cant you work out it? Starts on x date and you pay £y pm.

we also haven't cancelled the PPI yet, should we do that before claiming (if the claim is possible) or do both at the same time.

Your main issues are:
1 - This it not PPI
2 - You have not identified any wrong doing
3 - It is before regulation

Unless you feel you are immortal then it is difficult to see any grounds for complaint.

roonaldo

its not even PPI! i dont think you are going to get a freebie off them.

magpiecottage

2004 predates the regulation of general insurance and this type of cover was never subject to the General Insurance Standards Council.

Therefore this would fall outside FOS jurisdiction

fries320

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies but I think there has been some confusion with what I am trying to find out!

I'm not worried about the actual life insurance (it's not the best cover any more but that's a different issue). It's the PPI for the for the life insurance premium cover that we didn't want. That is the issue for us. As well as the fact that we were told that we couldn't have the cover (life insurance) without PPI unless we paid a fee.

We are wondering if anyone had experience of this before? (ie PPI with insurance companies as opposed to loan/mortgage companies). Surely it's the same principle, but all the advice seems to be directed at loan PPI and not insurance PPI. Hence we are wondering if they (life insurance companies) were excluded from claims.


So just to be clear, I know that life insurance is not PPI, but we have PPI added to the life insurance montly payment to protect that the payment (if that makes sense)..... That is what we did not want but were told we had to have.

I hope that makes sense.....


Ps I'm not after 'freebies' but I just want to know if the IFA or as someone suggested FA, acted without our best interests in mind.

Thanks again

dunstonh

It's the PPI for the for the life insurance premium cover that we didn't want.

Life assurance doenst have PPI.

As well as the fact that we were told that we couldn't have the cover (life insurance) without PPI unless we paid a fee.

with the caveat that you cant have PPI on life assurance, some mortgage brokers do have charging models that require you to buy the insurance from them or pay a fee for the mortgage advice. This is very common with L&G mortgage advisers or Zurich mortgage advisers. (this increasingly suggests it was not an IFA)

We are wondering if anyone had experience of this before? (ie PPI with insurance companies as opposed to loan/mortgage companies). Surely it's the same principle, but all the advice seems to be directed at loan PPI and not insurance PPI. Hence we are wondering if they (life insurance companies) were excluded from claims.

You need to explain the product you are talking about as life assurance doesnt have PPI on it. So, it must be something else. It is not the same principle as advisers would have a factfind, needs analysis and would put something in place under advice. Loan and credit card PPI is not put in place with advisers and doesnt have the audit trail that should exist with advised cases. Also, a lot of loand and credit card PPI cases pay out because of lack of documentation and failings on set up (e.g. single premium instead of monthly) or the product is low quality (e.g. self employed exclusions on some loan and credit card PPI are too onerous to meet). Policies that are underwritten at point of sale, like life assurance, avoid most of those issues.

So just to be clear, I know that life insurance is not PPI, but we have PPI added to the life insurance montly payment to protect that the payment (if that makes sense)..... That is what we did not want but were told we had to have.

The closest product you describe is waiver of premium. However, that is not PPI. It doesnt suffer PPI issues and it is recommended as best advice.

fries320

Thank-you for that reply!

It makes a lot more sense now, I will go away and look at the policy in more detail now. If it cannot be PPI then I think that will be then end of that.

Thanks once again

Fries