Mortgage insurance cover

simpywimpy

A family member had a policy to cover mortgage payments for the usual reasons including sickness, unemployment etc which they have held since at least 2011 if not before.

February this year she phoned them to say she could afford the payments due to ill health (this is their words according to their records) so they cancelled the policy.

Fast forward to August and the lady concerned has passed away leaving a 20k mortgage debt.

I haven't spoken to the mortgage company as yet but my point is, surely we have a case because she left her job due to ill health towards the end of 2016 and when she called to tell them she couldn't afford it due to illness, they should have told her she was eligible to claim on the policy, not just cancel it for her.:mad:

Quentin

Worth a try - though not really up to the insurer to guess why the policyholder can't afford to pay the premiums (if that's what you meant), or why the policyholder didn't phone the claims dept.

simpywimpy

I don't think she realised she was covered for not being able to work due to ill health but I would have thought it was their job to ask further questions when it was clear she should have been claiming already

Quentin

It would depend on to whom she spoke about being unable to afford to continue paying the premiums.


If she just contacted a cs agent and said she couldn't afford to pay they wouldn't probe further - (none of their business why)


But as advised no harm trying a complaint that the call was mishandled

dunstonh

A family member had a policy to cover mortgage payments for the usual reasons including sickness, unemployment etc

ASU covers accident, sickness and unemployment. It does not cover death. it may be an idea to check what the policy actually covers as there is no such thing as "usual reasons".

I haven't spoken to the mortgage company as yet but my point is, surely we have a case because she left her job due to ill health towards the end of 2016 and when she called to tell them she couldn't afford it due to illness, they should have told her she was eligible to claim on the policy, not just cancel it for her.

A claim on the ASU is possible retrospectively. Obviously, it would only pay out a small amount if successful given the few number of months after the qualifying period.

they should have told her she was eligible to claim on the policy

How would they know if she was eligible? You are talking about low skilled, usually contract workers sitting in a call centre. Yes, it may have been a good idea to suggest she puts a claim in first. However, they wouldnt know if she was eligible or not.

Plus, if its not ASU and its Life assurance (the most common type of insurance taken with mortgages) then she would not have been eligible.

simpywimpy

The mortgage company themselves gave me a reference number for life cover but its not with them and they have no record of the company she was with. There is no direct debit either for anything other than car and house insurance that I can see.

The policy for the Halifax mortgage cover all I have is the reference number not the policy itself.

simpywimpy

UPDATE

The policy is total mortgage cover via Halifax and handled by St Andrews. They have today after receiving my complaint, sent a claim form in the same of the deceased asking for her permission to access her medical and employment records. No mention or acknowledgement that she has died even though they have had the certificate.

Of course they are closed for the weekend but whats the best way forward now? Can her son sign on her behalf?

The mortgage company wont even suspend interest accruing or payment while we get probate sorted out