Misold Mortgage Decreasing term assurance

CorollaX

Dear all.
my wife and i took out a mortgage in 2007 and that time and the adviser sold us this "life insurance" by legal and general. and since then it's costing us 50 a month. i would like to know is this so called "mortgage decreasing term assurance same as PPI? if it is and i was misold, how can i make a claim for it?

Credit-Crunched

CorollaX wrote: »

Dear all.
my wife and i took out a mortgage in 2007 and that time and the adviser sold us this "life insurance" by legal and general. and since then it's costing us 50 a month. i would like to know is this so called "mortgage decreasing term assurance same as PPI? if it is and i was misold, how can i make a claim for it?

i) A sensible product on a mortgage, unless your wife is able to guarantee that she will not die during the term of the mortgage

ii) Complelty different to PPI

iii) Unlikely

iv) See point iii

dunstonh

i would like to know is this so called "mortgage decreasing term assurance same as PPI?

Not even close. Decreasing term assurance is life assurance. PPI is PPI.

if it is and i was misold, how can i make a claim for it?

If you can show you are immortal then you may have a case.

and that time and the adviser sold us this "life insurance" by legal and general.

Not a surprise there. Most people take out life assurance on their mortgages. Its common sense. Why do you think you shouldnt have it?

CorollaX

fully understood. thank you all.

haras_nosirrah

the others are right although maybe a little bit blunt

when it comes to misselling it is usually because you can't claim on it, didn't need it or you didn't know you have it

you know you have it and as you would have filled in a health questionnaire at the time that fails that point

you can claim on it unless you are immortal

you did need it as you are both liable for the debt and if one of you died the other would have full liability for the mortgage and be left in considerably hardship and probably lose their home on top of having lost their partner - not a nice position to be in

essentially it fails on all points. If you don't believe you need life insurance you are free to cancel it at any time as it is set up as a monthly direct debit with no tie in however I would not recommend you do that as no one knows the future and unless either you or your wife would not be financially screwed by the demise of the other then it is good sense to have life insurance in place (assuming you are not immortal of course)

PipsD

I was railroaded into taking out a decreasing term assurance policy on mortgage I took out in 2003, was ensured was wise as would continue as life insurance after mortgage term ended. I signed over mortgage to my father's wife in 2012, yet advised to continue the £25 per month as life insurance. In 2018 when 15 year term ended, got a letter stating payments would cease and no recompense. Feel I was misled, ill advised from start to finish.

SpiderLegs

You get recompense from life insurance when you die. I’m guessing you are still currently alive?
do you have any dependents?
who advised you in 2012?

Nearlyold

PipsD said:

I was railroaded into taking out a decreasing term assurance policy on mortgage I took out in 2003, was ensured was wise as would continue as life insurance after mortgage term ended. I signed over mortgage to my father's wife in 2012, yet advised to continue the £25 per month as life insurance. In 2018 when 15 year term ended, got a letter stating payments would cease and no recompense. Feel I was misled, ill advised from start to finish.

In what way do you believe you were misled - what were you expecting from the policy?

dunstonh

I was railroaded into taking out a decreasing term assurance policy on mortgage I took out in 2003

There were still a handful of lenders that required life assurance in 2003.  Not many as it had been declining since the mid 90s.  However, it is common sense for most people to take out life assurance on the mortgage and most do.

I signed over mortgage to my father's wife in 2012

You cannot sign a mortgage over to someone else.  

 Feel I was misled, ill advised from start to finish.

Life assurance is one of the easiest products to understand.  If you die it pays out. If you live it does not.   

Nothing you have said suggests any wrongdoing.   So, why do you think you were misled?

Boa21

Just to chip in. My understanding from having Life insurance when I had a mortgage, it is a good thing, especially if you have a spouse/dependents. That way if you die, then the mortgage is paid off and they don't have to worry about it.

I think there are basically two types of life insurance for a mortgage - the decreasing term talked of and level term.

Decreasing term will only ever pay out the value of the outstanding mortgage. Whereas level term pays out whatever the value you orginally started it off at. So, for example if you insured £200k and you die when there is only £5k left on the mortgage, it still pays out £200k to your beneficiaries.

In either case, if you outlive the term of the insurance you get nowt back.

There is nothing to stop you cancelling life insurance and taking out a better or cheaper alternative if available. Again, any money spent is gone. No difference from househould insurance, you don't get anything back at the end of the term, only peace of mind while you have it.