Life insurance HELP!!!

Nickilynch6

Hello,

I've read through so much stuff online I really don't know what to do....

My Grandmother took out life insurance back the the 90's. From what I can gather she was talked in to a policy which would cost her £100 a month and the lump sum would be £50,000.

Fast forward many years to 2011... Aviva got in touch who said they had taken over the plan and they were very sorry but her plan had never had a review and to take in to consideration the missed 20 years of reviews they were putting her payments up to £260. We argued it, got nowhere. They said there was no documentation of what she had been sold or past conversations so she either pays the £260 a month or loose everything she had paid. We finally got to an agreement that she could carry on paying £100 a month but the benefit would only be £19,000. To be honest we were so tired of arguing we left it at that.

Fast forward another 5 years of no contact and again, they now want £260 a month or she will loose it all.

She simply can't afford that, what can we do?

We know there is the financial ombudsmen but are we going to get anywhere. Is this the norm for old insurance policy's?

Anyone with any experience yor advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

huckster

First action is a written complaint from your Grandmother to Aviva about the unfair way they are treating her. Threaten to involve the FOS about the unprofessional way they are administering and underwriting the policy. Also threaten to notify the FCA, that FCA are not meeting the required standards expected in adminstration.

dunstonh

Aviva got in touch who said they had taken over the plan and they were very sorry but her plan had never had a review and to take in to consideration the missed 20 years of reviews they were putting her payments up to £260. We argued it, got nowhere.

Basically, she has got lucky. These reviews should have been carried out every 5 years from either year 10. However, they didnt. So, she got to pay less than she should have been.

However, they have now noticed the reviews didnt take place and are saying that they will not be collecting past money but they will be carrying out the reviews in future as originally agreed (the one 5 years ago being the first one and this one being 5 years later and the next one in 5 years time and so on)

Fast forward another 5 years of no contact and again, they now want £260 a month or she will loose it all.

There is also the option to reduce the sum assured and keep the same premium. Just as before.

We know there is the financial ombudsmen but are we going to get anywhere. Is this the norm for old insurance policy's?

This is the norm for plans of that era. They are obsolete now (by about 20 years) but it was quite normal for the time.

The main problem is that she got away with not paying more when she should have been (or having the amount reduced to pay the same). That is money in her pocket and Aviva's loss. So, its daft to complain about that. If Aviva were asking for back payments then you would indeed complain about that but they are not. They are being quite fair by not asking for those but they have put the review in place that the plan should have had every 5 years. The plan is now doing what it should have been doing.

1 - Does she even need the life cover now?
2 - if she wants to pay the same there should be an option to reduce the sum assured
3 - there will be another review in 5 years time

[Deleted User]

Nickilynch6 wrote: »

Hello,

I've read through so much stuff online I really don't know what to do....

My Grandmother took out life insurance back the the 90's. From what I can gather she was talked in to a policy which would cost her £100 a month and the lump sum would be £50,000.

Fast forward many years to 2011... Aviva got in touch who said they had taken over the plan and they were very sorry but her plan had never had a review and to take in to consideration the missed 20 years of reviews they were putting her payments up to £260. We argued it, got nowhere. They said there was no documentation of what she had been sold or past conversations so she either pays the £260 a month or loose everything she had paid. We finally got to an agreement that she could carry on paying £100 a month but the benefit would only be £19,000. To be honest we were so tired of arguing we left it at that.

Fast forward another 5 years of no contact and again, they now want £260 a month or she will loose it all.

She simply can't afford that, what can we do?

We know there is the financial ombudsmen but are we going to get anywhere. Is this the norm for old insurance policy's?

Anyone with any experience yor advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Hi Nickilynch6,

I see that you and your Grandmother have had previous contact with Aviva about the plan, however if you'd like me to look into things for you both with the relevant team, feel free to email me (or request your Grandmother to) at social@aviva.co.uk with the below details:

• Policy holder full name
• Date of birth
• Postcode
• Policy number
• Policy holder contact number
• Your MSE username so we can link the email to your comments here

Many thanks,

Marv
Aviva Social Media Support