critical illness/life assurance mis sold

kevone

hello
in 2000 i took out a buy to let mortgage through an agent from allied dunbar, i was told i needed both critical illness cover and life assurance by the agent. the term of the mortgage was 25 years and the total payment for the insurances was £104.52p per month, making a total of over £31,000 over the 25yrs!!

After about 2yrs i had reason to speak with my BTL lender who advised me neither critical illness or life assurance was needed, so i cancelled with allied dunbar. Within a week i was threatened by allied dunbar that i may lose the BTL mortgage and needed to re instate asap,this went on for months causing worry etc.

only now have i realised that i was missold these insurances and i have spoken with allied dunbar who seem to agree.
does anyone know what i should expect in compensation bearing in mind i paid just over £2000 but would of paid over £31,000 for the term of the mortgage!!

dunstonh

n 2000 i took out a buy to let mortgage through an agent from allied dunbar, i was told i needed both critical illness cover and life assurance by the agent. the term of the mortgage was 25 years and the total payment for the insurances was £104.52p per month, making a total of over £31,000 over the 25yrs!!

Premium isnt that high but Dunbar were always damned expensive. An IFA would probably have got the same cover for half the cost. However, Dunbar were tied agents. So, they could only offer their own policies.

After about 2yrs i had reason to speak with my BTL lender who advised me neither critical illness or life assurance was needed, so i cancelled with allied dunbar. Within a week i was threatened by allied dunbar that i may lose the BTL mortgage and needed to re instate asap,this went on for months causing worry etc.

There is some truth in there. In 2000, a number of lenders still did require life assurance as a condition of the loan. The letter you got would most likely be generic and use words such as "could". There is also the financial need issue versus mandatory need. You may well have had a financial need for it and the consequences should a claimable event happen and you are not covered can be very serious.

only now have i realised that i was missold these insurances and i have spoken with allied dunbar who seem to agree.

They would have looked at the documentation issued. Very few life/CI cases get upheld when its a mortgage as the vast majority of people have a financial need. If they have assessed the complaint and upheld then it would suggest poor admin. Allied Dunbar had a nickname in the industry which was Allied Crowbar. Their agents were prone to tactics that were bad in their day, let alone today.

does anyone know what i should expect in compensation bearing in mind i paid just over £2000 but would of paid over £31,000 for the term of the mortgage!!

If they have upheld your complaint, then normally the letter confirms the redress. So, I am surprised you dont know. However, the norm here is a refund of premiums paid plus interest. Nothing more, nothing less.