Miss sold decreasing cover life insurance

greshna

Hi please could someone tell me if I have a valid case.. On getting our mortgage in 2006 we were told that life insurance was compulsory, the mortgage is interest only, we wanted cover to pay off mortgage if either of us died, things were not explained at all, over 6 years after paying in excess of £60 per month we were told it was not compulsory and that the cover we had was decreasing cover and not level cover. I cancelled the policy and I believe this was miss sold. A broker arranged for us and the insurer was Norwich Union.. firstly who should I write to? I have all policy details to hand.. has anyone else encountered something similar? could anyone help me please.

dunstonh

we wanted cover to pay off mortgage if either of us died

Quite logical and most people take it out for that reason.

I cancelled the policy and I believe this was miss sold.

A decreasing term assurance is for a repayment mortgage or an interest only mortgage with a repayment vehicle. Did you have an ISA to go with the mortgage or other repayment vehicle?

firstly who should I write to?

I wouldnt bother. You had a financial need for the policy. However, the wrong policy was sold (unless there was a repayment vehicle). That policy was cheaper than the one you should have had. So, effectively, your complaint is that you want to pay more per month. So, there is no refund here.

has anyone else encountered something similar?

Yes. I have seen this before. No redress payment but the firm was required to change the life policy to a level term assurance but not backdate the missing premiums. You have already cancelled the policy and no doubt replaced it.

Had one of you died and the policy not paid out enough then a complaint would have seen the firm required to pay the difference.

Again, if a repayment vehicle had been put in place, then decreasing term assurance would be the right option.