VIRGIN One Mortgage

Richard_Chambers

Many years ago I took out a Virgin One Account mortgage/current account. This is a form of offset mortgage in which mortgage borrowing and my current account are wrapped up in a single instrument. I initially borrowed about £165k although I had a borrowing facility up to £200k - although I never accessed the additional facility. As part of the conditions for setting up the account I had to take a "mandatory" life insurance policy covering the higher amount - even when unused. I was told that this was to ensure repayment of the mortgage in the event of my death. I am unclear as to whether it also included an illness/redundancy element too. I already had "in service" life insurance in place which would have more than covered any outstanding debt and of course the house itself was collateral for the loan so the debt would have been repaid comfortably without this mandatory policy. Is it likely that I have wrongly been sold PPI wrapped up as a life insurance policy? Any comments or similar experiences welcomed.

Browntoa

From memory all you had to do was prove you had valid life insurance to cover the mortgage but you were free to purchase it from anywhere , not tied to an inhouse policy from them

magpiecottage

Browntoa wrote: »

From memory all you had to do was prove you had valid life insurance to cover the mortgage but you were free to purchase it from anywhere , not tied to an inhouse policy from them

Whilst this is likely to be true, they were not obliged to offer any policy other than their own.

However, if they required life cover, death in service benefits provided as part of an employment package would not have been acceptable.

If you think about it, this is logical since, if the borrower leaves service, the cover ceases. In addition, legally, the cover is not owned by the borrower but the scheme trustees - who would not be obliged to use it to pay off the loan.

dunstonh

I already had "in service" life insurance in place which would have more than covered any outstanding debt and of course the house itself was collateral for the loan so the debt would have been repaid comfortably without this mandatory policy.

Death in service is there to go some way to replace lost income for a couple of years and reduced pension benefits. Not for debt provision.

s it likely that I have wrongly been sold PPI wrapped up as a life insurance policy?

Life assurance is life assurance. PPI is PPI.

Stephen_Lewis

Hi I have tried to pursue a PPI enquiry through virgin but they have stated that they have no record of my one account. I have now redirected the enquiry to RBS. Could you please provide me with the department you contacted for Virgin One. Thanks, Steve

tykesi

Stephen_Lewis wrote: »

Hi I have tried to pursue a PPI enquiry through virgin but they have stated that they have no record of my one account. I have now redirected the enquiry to RBS. Could you please provide me with the department you contacted for Virgin One. Thanks, Steve

You do realise the original post is from nearly two years ago and the poster hasn't been back since? I doubt they will pop up to reply to you, sorry.