PPI help please, unsure if I can claim

Isla_2

Hi

I took out mortgage payment protection insurance with Legal & General just over 5 years ago. At the time I was advised by an independent financial adviser, he didn't offer me quotes from any other company and he had been at my house for 5 hours at this point and I felt pressured into signing up for it and its only now I have realised it doesn't even include unemployment cover which I believed it did.

Am I able to claim against Legal & General even though I was independently advised?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Isla wrote: »

At the time I was advised by an independent financial adviser, he didn't offer me quotes from any other company

Did you ask for these to be provided? Otherwise, the IFA was not obliged to do this.

Isla wrote: »

its only now I have realised it doesn't even include unemployment cover which I believed it did.

The insurance then is not PPI at all, but more likely Life and Critical Illness cover. You really don't have a mis-selling complaint. The IFA simply did not sell you PPI.

You can't complain because you thought the insurance covered more than it did. Why didn't you check the cover 5 years ago? You are saying you signed up for the policy without reading it first (or subsequently)

Isla wrote: »

Am I able to claim against Legal & General even though I was independently advised?

Of course not.
Any mis-selling complaint must go to the seller of the insurance, not the provider.


Nothing you have said indicates any mis-selling, though. With Mortgage PPI, advisers were allowed to "disturb" the customer with regard the need for insurance because it covers a valuable asset.

Isla_2

I believe I was miss-sold because the protection has never suited my needs and I believed this adviser would not leave before I signed up for the protection and I really needed my mortgage arranged.

[Deleted User]

Isla wrote: »

I believe I was miss-sold because the protection has never suited my needs

Five years ago, the IFA would have done a complete "Demands and Needs" for you, which it will be very difficult for you to argue against. This document should still be in the possession of the IFA.

Do remember that Mortgage PPI does not suffer from the same kind of faults as loan and credit card PPI. You should therefore not attempt to apply complaint reasons that mostly apply only to loans and CCs retailed by Banks.
The vast majority of Mortgage PPI complaints are rejected for this very reason. Did you pay for the insurance separately from your mortgage?

EDIT:

Isla wrote: »

I have realised it doesn't even include unemployment cover

The insurance then is not PPI at all, but more likely Life and Critical Illness cover. You really don't have a mis-selling complaint. The IFA simply did not sell you PPI.

Isla_2

Thank you for your help, exactly what I have been sold is also puzzling me...

I have 2 direct debits coming out in regard to this (I have always wondered why) one for Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (which is the accident and sickness) and one for Mortgage Payment Insurance, which I have no idea exactly what this covers at all...

My mortgage is with Nationwide.

I know I have been irresponsible re checking all this but I remember the adviser appointment being at around 5pm and at 10pm he was still here not leaving until I took some protection out. I felt uncomfortable because I didn't really understand it all and I was young and buying my first home, I naively trusted what I was being advised to do.

[Deleted User]

Isla wrote: »

I have 2 direct debits coming out in regard to this (I have always wondered why) one for Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (which is the accident and sickness) and one for Mortgage Payment Insurance, which I have no idea exactly what this covers at all...

The two payments indicate that the insurance has been set up correctly rather than simply added to your mortgage payments.

It is a simple matter to obtain details of what your insurance covers-just ask the provider.

You are wasting your time pursuing this as a miss-selling complaint, though, because you are even contradicting yourself in these few posts you have made. First, you said the insurance didn't cover your needs and now you are saying you don't actually know what cover you have?

Anyway, others can advise further as I take my leave of your thread...

Isla_2

It's hardly contradictory because I know what Im certainly not covered for.

dunstonh

At the time I was advised by an independent financial adviser, he didn't offer me quotes from any other company

An IFA is not there to offer quotes. Their job is to recommend what is appropriate from the market. That is the whole point of using an IFA. This is one of the reasons there are so few successful PPI complaints against IFAs.

he had been at my house for 5 hours at this point and I felt pressured into signing up for it and its only now I have realised it doesn't even include unemployment cover which I believed it did.

Are you sure it is PPI? Could it be PHI? Could it be life assurance?

Am I able to claim against Legal & General even though I was independently advised?

L&G have no liability. The adviser does. However, you need to get things straight as complaints against IFAs mostly fail.

I believe I was miss-sold because the protection has never suited my needs

What are your needs and what does the protection cover? What does the statement of demands and needs say about what you need and what this provides?

I felt uncomfortable because I didn't really understand it all and I was young and buying my first home, I naively trusted what I was being advised to do.

Nothing you have said indicates any wrong doing. The length of time for appointment is long but I have had sessions that long before. Typically with people that want to get everything tied up from start to finish. Normally I stagger over 2-3 appointments. If you were doing the lot in one go (mortgage and insurances) then 5 hours sounds about right.

Unlike the banks, IFAs are personally responsible for the advice they give. This is one of the reasons IFAs have low volumes of complaints and also only a small number of complaints get upheld. When you know you are responsible, you tend to do things better. There will be exceptions to that of course but the problem you have now is that you want to put in a complaint despite not knowing what it is you are complaining about. The time issue is not a valid complaint 5 years after the event. And if it was an one appointment to do mortgage and insurance then the time is about right. The "didn't offer me quotes from any other company" is not a valid complaint with anyone, not even banks. However, it is the least valid reason with an IFA as an IFA has to recommend the policy they feel is best for you. Not act as a quote comparison site.

That just leaves whether the cover you have is suitable or not. However, you dont appear to know what cover you have. So, until you do, a complaint on that basis is not sensible. IFAs dont auto payout like banks. Just a year ago, the FOS commended IFAs on the quality of their files and how they showed they knew their clients (a dig at the banks who did not). IFAs account for under 1% of complaints overall at the FOS. Most are rejected. All types of advisers account for 0.2% of PPI complaints at the FOS. The biggest IFA and mortgage adviser network in the country (which is one of only two IFA firms to actually make the published FOS stats) had so few PPI complaints registered that the FOS did not disclose the number as it is not statistically meaningful (this means they had between 0-30). The PPI issue is not seen to be an adviser failing. So, if you have a valid complaint, you need to be more aware of what products you have and what is wrong.