MSE News: Had Stonebridge insurance? You could be due a refund

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"Customers of Stonebridge International Insurance may be entitled to redress after the firm was fined £8.4 million"...

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Had Stonebridge insurance? You could be due a refund



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laneycakes

Hi all

I've had an ongoing complaint against Stonebridge/Barclays over an accidental death policy "sold" in 1999.

I've complained about each company separately (they've blamed each other) and ended up with both complaints at the FOS. In dec 2013 the adjudicator said he didn't uphold my Stonebridge complaint so rather than send that to the ombudsmen I complained separately about Barclays. I did make that go to the ombudsmen as I wasn't happy with the adjudicators response (or attitude!) but it's just come back and they didn't find in my favour. Sadly having a letter from Stonebridge saying that Barclays gave them my debit card details without my express permission isn't enough to make the FOS find in my favour (Barclays disputes it so the FOS has decided that's good enough for them-despite the letter and me saying I didn't give the details!)

I appreciate my complaint is prior to this latest FCA ruling but my question is can I take the Stonebridge complaint back to the FOS and request them to look again/get ombudsmen to look again at it in light of this ruling? Or does the fact that I didn't peruse it in dec rule that out?

Thanks.

Messedupmojo

Hi

I've had a Questionnaire sent to me by Stonebridge about potential misselling - however i'm concerned, having had first hand experience of a similar questionnaire sent by Barclaycard - that the questionnaire is one sided and by completing it you will end up agreeing that in some way you were correctly sold the policy - seems a bit of a trick to me...

- Do you have to complete the questionnaire? - or should you put your own complaint in writing in your own words to them direct

Any ideas?

Thanks

bga146

I have been sold Accidental life insurance with Stonebridge about 8 years ago. The phone call made out that they were Barclay card. He went on to say with the amount of debt I had on my credit card he would advice me to take up his offer, which I did thinking it was connected to Barclaycard.
I eventually got the address from Barclaycard for Stonebridge, and wrote to them explaining that I did not have a policy number but that they take 8.59 a month from my Barclaycard. Their reply was short, and said that they had no record of me at Stonebridge and should ring their customer help line. Has anyone got any advice of what to do next?

Tara1995

I received the questionnaire from Stonebridge last May and completed it as I have been paying £8.90 since 2001 for their Accidental death Cover. I also took out the insurance as it was recommended by Barclays.
I was not informed that it would not pay out if I died accidentally and it was found that the melanoma that I suffered from in 2003 caused my death in any way. They sent me a letter in March to inform me that the conditions had changed recently and that if I died from an accident relating to my illness, I would now receive a proportionate payment depending on how much the cancer contributed towards my death. Previously, they told me that I would not have received any payment at all. I had thought that insurance companies only refused to pay out for pre-existing conditions so I was very surprised to learn that Stonebridge take into account any illnesses that develop after the policy is taken out.I was asked if I would like to cancel the policy now that I was aware of the limitations which I did. I have not heard anything from them since this time despite e-mailing their customer services dept. on a number of occasions. I would be very interested to know whether any policy holders have received reimbursement from Stonebridge or are they only going through the motions as they have been fined for mis selling.

katie39

I received a questionnaire from Stonebridge in January. I completed it and sent it off , stating that I was mis sold the policy as I had tried to cancel it in 2003 and was offered another policy instead. They have been corresponding with me via post every two weeks telling me they were 'investigating my concerns'. I had heard nothing back since 20 th march.... On the 10th april I contacted them to give a change of address and I was informed that my policy was cancelled on 29 th march, my claim upheld and a calculation had been made. So I expected to receive formal notification of this..... Still waiting for formal notification/ correspondence that my policy has been cancelled, 5 weeks after they went ahead and cancelled it!!
My question is, how can they cancel your policy without informing you?? Obviously, I knew that if the claim was upheld, it would be cancelled. But how can they NOT inform you of this? Especially as its 5 weeks later and I only found out by accident. Is this what they class as a reasonable timescale between cancelling and informing ?

katie39

* UPDATE* After emailing Stonebebridge with a formal complaint, I have received a standard letter telling me they were still investigating my concerns! I spoke to a customer service rep, who couldn't really give me any more information, apart that maybe the finance team were going to try and trace the phone call I had with a customer service rep back in 2003!! So basically its still ongoing. I'm confused... They cancel my policy without notification. Then my claim is upheld and a calculation is made.(only found that out from ringing them) Then it is still being investigated! I can see this dragging out for a while... She mentioned something about the refund being 'written off' but she didn't know what this meant.
Has anybody had dealings with Stonebridge regarding this?? Are they just going through the motions because of their fine last year?

Suz39

Hi,

I'm all very new to forums ....... l was wondering if anyone out there could give me some advice please. I too have been sent a Stonebridge insurance questionnaire for an accidental insurance policy that l was advised to take out back in 2000. I completed the questionnaire and posted it back. I have heard nothing more apart from today l received a letter from Stonebridge asking me for more information - do l want to continue with my policy or do l want to cancel it? If l cancelled my policy would l no longer be entitled to a refund / compensation? Is this a trick so that they can avoid paying? Look forward to reading your advice and thoughts. Thank you for your help.

hazyhazyhazy

Hi

My husband is in the same position. He has been paying £6.99 a month for 15 years. They take a payment from his debit card but he has never given them cards details in that time. They have never contacted him in 15 years. His policy would be invalid an s the information they hold is incorrect. He can't even remember taking the policy out.

Was wondering if you managed to get a refund

Thanks