Life assurance policy

Moonmoggy

I have recently come across the details of a life assurance policy I was sold when I bought my first home. I was led to believe I needed it and would not get the mortgage without it. It was for death and critical illness, both of which are covered by my employer and pension - I am a teacher. I was never in a 'risky' employment position and did not really need this policy which only covered my mortgage at the time. On changing my mortgage years later I cancelled the policy which had been completely useless to me. I felt a bit robbed really that I had been sold it! Can I claim this as ppi? I have had some recent success with a CPI claim and would like to try peruse this if it is viable. Any advice?

Nasqueron

It is not PPI - it is life assurance
Depending how you bought it, I believe (should be an expert along to correct this if not) if you bought through a broker where you didn't get a fee they were allowed to insist on the insurance as part of the deal (so they got paid basically)

You could do with posting a bit more info such as when you bought it, where you bought it and how you bought it (through bank/broker etc).

Life assurance is only "useless" when you don't need it - my last 10 years of car insurance were useless as I never claimed on them but it was always a safety net

Could you have paid off a 25 (?) year mortgage with a long term sickness that lasted longer than 12 months (especially with 6 months on half pay)?

Insider101

#1 it's not PPI.
#2 lenders are allowed to insist on it as a condition of offering you a mortgage. It's just not that common anymore.
#3 as per the above, some brokers operated a model whereby you would get free mortgage advice if you also bought insurance through them. That is allowed.

So only if you were told it was a condition of the offer when it actually wasn't would you have anything to complain about.

dunstonh

I was led to believe I needed it and would not get the mortgage without it.

Quite possibly the case. Until the mid to late 90s, many lenders made it a condition of lending. Some even went into the early 2000s.

Also, many brokers operate the business model that requires you to purchase an insurance through them to get the free mortgage advice. A model that is allowed as long as the insurance is suitable.

It was for death and critical illness, both of which are covered by my employer and pension - I am a teacher.

Teacher benefits do not include critical illness cover. Teachers are not exempt from death either.

I was never in a 'risky' employment position and did not really need this policy which only covered my mortgage at the time.

Employment is irrelevant.

Can I claim this as ppi?

No. Its not PPI. It is life assurance and critical illness cover. Two totally different products. A bit like going into Tesco and asking if a potato is a banana.

Any product can be mis-sold but you havent given any viable complaint reason. If this is an old 90s case then condition of borrowing is quite possible (which is allowed). If it was via a broker, then again, condition of insurance is allowed as long as the insurance is suitable.

If you were single, living alone and had no dependents, then you may have a case. However, any decent client file would show that the life cover cost only pennies when added to the critical illness cover and it was common sense to add it on a long term liability.

magpiecottage

dunstonh wrote: »

Teachers are not exempt from death

I am not sure what the OP means about not being in a "risky" position but the comment by dunstonh is sadly true.

It is true that teachers get some life cover whilst members of their pension scheme but if they leave the job (and I have known plenty do so) then the life cover stops.

So there is no guarantee that it will be in place for the entire mortgage term.