AA Hospital Cash Plan through Royal Sun Alliance

Muffin_The_Mule

Hi.

I'm not sure I'm in the right place here but I could not seem to find a suitable place (mods please move to a more appropriate forum if required) but it's insurance related so here goes.

I have been a member of the AA since 1991 and have always been happy with their service and products.
They quickly became a "trusted organisation" for me.

In early March 1993 I was cold called by an AA representative who got me into a discussion about my general insurance requirements.
At the time I was going through a difficult divorce (partner had run off leaving me with full accountability for all the marital debit) and I was motorcycling 700 miles a week to go to work. All in all it was a pretty traumatic time both financially and emotionally.

I talked quiet frankly with the AA rep (as you do) and they pointed me towards a Hospital Cash Benefit Plan that the rep insisted would be an asset to me in my present circumstances. The plan offered cash payments of up to £1500 per month if I was off sick and other benefits as well. The rep was quick to point out that I was at high risk to have an accident on my motorbike and if off work who was going to pay all of those big bills?
The sell was quiet harsh and I eventually agreed to have the policy documents sent off to me.

A week or so after they arrived I had follow up call from the rep asking me if I'd sent the documents off yet and when I said I was thinking about it. They gave me the impression that this was an addition to my AA cover and that if I did not sign up I'd not only loose some of my AA benefits but no further offers of this type would be made.

Being a pretty nieve 26 year old I finally caved in and sent the documents off, the initial amount of £5.63 was done on Direct Debit with auto renewal (though I did not know this at the time) even though I was in lots of debt at the time.

Over time the policy payments got lost in the quagmire of my post marital finances until October 2005 when I finally got myself almost clear and had a good audit of my accounts. I realised that I was still paying for this useless policy that I'd never used despite a number of hospital admissions during the time it was running.

At the time the policy was sold to me I was asked no questions about any other insurances I had that would cover loan payments and such like (I had PPI cover on these) and I work wise I was entitled to a statutory 16 weeks of full pay (negotiable thereafter) for any single period off sick.

From 1993 to 2005 I paid just short of £1100 into this policy (the cost rose by 5% per year) which I could ill afford and I feel that It was grossly miss sold to me at the time with the rep taking advantage of my financial and emotional state to justify me buying it.
I always felt resentful about the way the policy was sold to me and that I had no need for it in the first place.

The question is now do I have any financial redress for the miss selling of this policy?
If so is it with Royal Sun Alliance (now First Assist) who I actually had the insurance with or is it with the AA who sold me the policy.
If there is financial redress how would the compensation be calculated?

Thanks for reading.

Muffin.

[Deleted User]

Your long post doesn't actually point out any valid reasons for complaint I'm afraid. You can't complain because you forgot about it and so neglected to claim on the policy.

Regardless, 1993 is twelve years before regulation (January 2005) and so the AA (who sold you the policy) won't even have to consider any complaint you might make.

Muffin_The_Mule

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Sorry for the long post.
I have always felt that the policy was miss sold, that was the complaint.
I had no need of it at the time and I was talked into buying it.
If the whole thing was prior to regulation then it's irrelevant anyway.

Again thank you.

Muffin

[Deleted User]

Muffin_The_Mule wrote: »

I have always felt that the policy was miss sold, that was the complaint.

You have to show exactly how it was mis-sold to you in any complaint. Saying you were pressured into buying it is only a valid complaint if the insurance would never have paid out to you and you'd have to be able to show evidence that such pressure was applied.

Time to move on from this...