Is self assurance mortgage insurance PPI

Query1974

I was sold self assurance mortgage insurance from the Scottish Provident as well as a mortgage from the Halifax through a Redrow Homes broker.

The broker told me I would have to have the insurance due to the contract (temporary) work I did and could not get the Halifax mortgage without it. As I remember; it was sold as a bundled pack so my mortgage would be paid off if I died and the loan would be paid if I was out of work. I did not need it as I always had work. I felt it was a requirement from the bank so took it out

It sounds very much like PPI insurance but is it?

-taff

Not if it was a condition of your mortgage, no.

Query1974

There's no mention of the insurance being a condition with the Halifax so it looks like the broker sold the self assurance with the pretend that it was required.

However isn't insurance on a mortgage optional? I thought the reason there are so many PPI claims is because people were not told it was optional.

-taff

Sometimes, it isn't optional.

kingstreet

A Scot Prov SAM is life and/or critical illness and/or income protection and/or unemployment cover.

It will have been an advised sale and there will be detailed records of the reasons for the recommendations.

Request a copy of the sales documentation.

Goldiegirl

I worked for the Halifax for many years - there was never any requirement to have any sort of life or PPI insurance to get a Halifax mortgage.

In many cases it was prudent to have these types of insurances but it was never obligatory.

societys_child

The op states it was sold though a broker

. . . through a Redrow Homes broker.

dunstonh

A lot of brokers have the business model that they do not charge for the mortgage advice but require you to buy insurance via them. This model is allowed. However, the insurance recommended has to meet the financial need. e.g. you shouldnt recommend life assurance to someone who is single, no dependants and living alone with no-one financially worse off in the event of their death. That would be a mis-sale. However, a couple buying a mortgage or where there are children etc would be common sense to have life assurance as there is a financial need and that would not be a mis-sale.

he broker told me I would have to have the insurance due to the contract (temporary) work I did and could not get the Halifax mortgage without it.

You have told us the product name which indicates the provider and the options the product offers. However, you havent told us what options you have under the policy. Is it life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection, MPPI, house insurance or a combination?

It sounds very much like PPI insurance but is it?

Only one segment on that plan is PPI. The rest is not.

What date did you do this?

magpiecottage

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I worked for the Halifax for many years - there was never any requirement to have any sort of life or PPI insurance to get a Halifax mortgage.

That is not true. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s it certainly was necessary to have life cover for an endowment or pension mortgage and the policy would be assigned to Halifax to make sure any claim was paid to them in the first instance.

Kingstreet, who used to work for the same company as me, may recall the "assignments" screen on its computer system with a record of "Halifax Building Society, Triinity Road, Halifax" for such cases (including those taken out via our employer's mortgage subsidy scheme).

However, as Kingstreet also says, Scottish Provident has never sold PPI.

Goldiegirl

magpiecottage wrote: »

That is not true. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s it certainly was necessary to have life cover for an endowment or pension mortgage and the policy would be assigned to Halifax to make sure any claim was paid to them in the first instance.

Kingstreet, who used to work for the same company as me, may recall the "assignments" screen on its computer system with a record of "Halifax Building Society, Triinity Road, Halifax" for such cases (including those taken out via our employer's mortgage subsidy scheme).

However, as Kingstreet also says, Scottish Provident has never sold PPI.

Yes, that is true.

Up until around 1989 I think it was, an endowment policy did have to be assigned to Halifax, after that the endowment policy was deposited with them, and then interest only mortgages started when they didn't inspect the repayment vehicle at all.

However, I was replying in the context of the OP. it sounded like it was some sort of TMPP policy, and that has never been a condition of having a Halifax mortgage.

So, to rephrase, there was never any requirement to have any sort of life or PPI insurance to get a Halifax REPAYMENT mortgage.

dunstonh

So, to rephrase, there was never any requirement to have any sort of life or PPI insurance to get a Halifax REPAYMENT mortgage.

Whilst it was not a requirement for Halifax. It may have been a requirement for the broker. Even if it was not a requirement for the broker, the broker would have been telling them person what their financial needs are. We have seen people mix up financial need with compulsory as they think "need" equals compulsory.

However, even if the broker said it was needed for the mortgage, that is the weakest complaint reason going and there wont be any evidence to support that allegation. So, a complaint would then look at suitability and financial need (which is how most mortgage insurance complaints end up) and typically you find there is a financial need and most mortgage insurance complaints get rejected.

I am not saying all will. Indeed, I have managed to get a refund in the past on a mi-sold case with mortgages but it is rare and you need to look at financial need and eligibility typically. Verbal unprovable allegations dont get anywhere with brokers.

See this FOS example regarding evidence of allegation: http://ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=6039 (i like this one too as the person complaining said they has dyslexia and he was unable to write a letter and therefore he left the PPI policy in place. Yet he managed to employ a claims company and write and email with no issues to the FOS. A point picked up on by the FOS. However, it also shows the FOS can be a bet strange at times. "Disappointing" that the lender hasnt got the original agreement. Yet it is a closed account where the sale took place over 6 years previous - so they shouldn't really have it under data protection).