Barclays Insurance are Pants!!!Warning!!!

abiras

I had barclays redundancy insurance for almost 2 years paying £49 each month. The insurance was meant to pay out after 14 days. The unthinkable happened and I was made redundant at the end of July. I immediately contacted Barclays insurance and informed them, they sent paperwork for me to sign so they could contact my former employers.
In order to get the insurance payout, I had to sign up for job seekers allowance. Was speaking to one of the "advisers" who let slip I would need to wait for 12 weeks to get any sort of payout from barclays as I was paid 12 weeks in lieu of notice.
I was furious, not least because I had paid extra to have the insurance pay out after 14 days.
I then got a letter from Barclays mid Sept asking for last 6 months payslip, p45, p60, letter informing me of redundancy and my initial offer of employment (yes you read that right!). Barclays stated in the letter they had contacted my former employer and they had not given them a response. Considering the long list, I contacted the HR dept of my former employer direct and found out that Barclays had only asked for details of my payment in lieu of notice and the terms of my redundancy.
Got my former employers to provide me hardcopy of the letter from Barclays as well as there response and got back to Barclays and made a complaint. Barclays apologised and informed me by phone that they no longer needed any details from me as they had everything they needed and would honour my claim and pay out from the start of August.
I patiently waited for my payout, only to get a letter from Barclays a month later on the 10th of October, once again asking for 6 months worth of payslips. As you would expect, I was fuming. I called up and made a complaint. Don't quite understand why it would take Barclays 1 month to get this letter sent.
I got a phonecall back on the 16th of October and the advisor read out a letter from Barclays dated the 15th of October (which I still haven't received) basically telling me that my pay in lieu of notice is being taken by Barclays as my salary so they will not pay out until 12 weeks are over. But not only that, they will wait another 14 days and on top of that, they will only pay out once I've sent them my bank statement showing the JSA has gone in after the 3 weeks and 14 days are over and only if i'm still unemployed at this time. Meaning the earliest they'll pay out is end of November. To add insult to injury, they've actually advised in the letter, if I'm unhappy with their decision to contact the FSA, it's almost like they don't care.
I'm flabbergasted that such a well known company can behave this way.
Also as soon as I logged a claim, Barclays sent a letter increasing my premiums from £49 per month to £63 a month.
Can someone advise if Barclays can actually do this- take payment in lieu of notice and treat it as a salary? Help please

Debt_Free_Chick

abiras wrote: »

Can someone advise if Barclays can actually do this- take payment in lieu of notice and treat it as a salary? Help please

Yes - that's exactly what it is. Let's say your notice period was three months. If you had worked your notice, you would have been paid your salary for three months and your date of termination would have been the last day you worked. Instead, you've been paid your salary but not been required to work your notice.

Pay in lieu of notice achieves the same effect as working your notice. In both cases, you get the same salary.

AFAIK all redundancy insurance policies work like this.

abiras

Actually I did not get the same take home. My salary was made up of basic + benefits which were 25% of the basic. Pay in lieu of notice was paid based on basic only and in one lump sum which means, I ended up paying additional tax. In effect, I was actually paid roughly 7.5 weeks equivalent to what I would have got if actually employed. (pre tax).
The main problem I have with this is, it wasn't in the small print..I'm one of those people who actually do read the small print. I thinking I was doing well used the payment to pay off debts.I thought I'd be living off the insurance. In effect, this decision has meant I'm incurring debts not paying off.
If I had known the above, chances are I would never have taken the insurance out in the first place. Even if I can't benefit, other people should be aware of this.

DOGZY_2

I can confirm I had the same problem with lieu of notice, but beware, only after the claim had been refused twice! Eventually after 8 months and threats to the FSA they agreed my claim was valid and stated they incorrectly used terms introduced in Oct 2012, rather than those in place in January 2012.
Therefore beware if you have been denied a claim in 2012 up to Oct. Due to the definition of impending unemployment look at your small print applicable as at the date of your claim. The definition in the policy and summary defines unemployment as 'has made you redundant'. If you are subject to collective consultation as long as your policy has been in force 60 days before your claim, you should have a valid claim, as until you receive formal notice that it is you, and not your colleague (i.e. a compensation agreement signed by both parties and dated), you are not unemployed.
Interestingly the only place the phrase 'notified of unemployment' appeared was on the claim form, not the brochure, the terms or the summary!. Caveat Emptor - buyer beware.

pcrosland

I tend to avoid personal insurance as they tend to have all these clauses & know that you are unaware of all the details! Luckly I ran this by my insurance brokers http://www.northernalliance.co.uk/ & they informed me of these issues so didn't go ahead in the end. May be worth a ring.

Uncertain

abiras wrote: »

Can someone advise if Barclays can actually do this- take payment in lieu of notice and treat it as a salary? Help please

Yes!

It is, in effect, salary.

Sorry, I know that is not want you want to hear. However the firm could have made you work those 12 weeks.

Payment in lieu if notice is exactly that. It is your normal pay but you have had the benefit of not having to work. That is why it is taxable, just like salary and unlike compensation (up to £30K).

Also, it would be the FOS you contact if unhappy not the FSA - quite different.

That is a standard phrase in any response to a complaint. They are obliged to tell you that.