Halifax Total Mortgage Protection Plan

Shegs

Hello...


When I took out my first mortgage I was told by the mortgage advisor that I had to take out HTMPP.
This included 3 main parts; mortgage repayments cover, life cover and critical illness cover.
The mortgage paperwork states that buildings insurance was needed but there is nothing about TMPP being compulsory.
I never claimed on the cover and paid this from 2002 to 2008.
I genuinely believe this was mis-sold but recognise it is different from PPI.
Can I make a claim and if so how should I proceed?


Thanks in advance.

Nearlyold

TMPP was not compulsory, in relation to your belief it was miss-sold do you have any evidence that you were told it was compulsory. Other than the compulsory issue do you have any other reason to believe the cover was not suitable for you, remember that not having made a claim is not a miss sale reason.

Was the Mortgage Adviser employed by Halifax or an Estate Agent or a Mortgage Broker?

Shegs

Hi Nearlyod
No evidence available as this was a conversation in the mortgage advisor's office at the bank.
Yes, the mortgage advisor worked for the Hailfax.


The reason I questioned it with him at the time was that my employer has a death in service policy worth three times my salary which would have been enough to cover the mortgage.
It was then I was told it was compulsory.


I did have the cover for some time and am sure it would have been paid out had I claimed. I just didn't want the cover.


Hope that makes sense.

dunstonh

I never claimed on the cover and paid this from 2002 to 2008.

Most people would be happy they didnt claim. It would mean you would be dead or seriously ill if you had.

I genuinely believe this was mis-sold but recognise it is different from PPI.

How was it missold? Are you immortal or single with no dependents?

Most people take out life assurances on their mortgage. So, what makes you different? (as you say, this is not like PPI).

The reason I questioned it with him at the time was that my employer has a death in service policy worth three times my salary which would have been enough to cover the mortgage.
It was then I was told it was compulsory.

There was a time life assurance was compulsory for mortgages. By early 2000s, most lenders had stopped. However, 3x DIS is very low and it is a discretionary figure. Advisers are not required to include it in the mortgage shortfall analysis. Also DIS is really meant to replace short term income and reduced pension benefits. Most people need around 10-20 times income as a realistic figure. So, you do appear to have a financial need (unless you are single)

Shegs

Erm..Thanks?
As I'm on a forum asking for help, its obvious I don't know how the system works.
I don't know if claiming would make a difference so included this information. (not sure if you're trying to make a joke?)
Yes, single and no dependants. I think mis-sold because I was told it was compulsory when it seems it wasn't.
My mortgage was for £54k. The DIS would have been £60k+


Also, If it was required, I could have gone to the market for the best deal - instead was told I had to sign up with HTMPP.


Always felt it was wrong so time to find out.

Nearlyold

Did your employer also provide Critical Illness cover and longish term sick pay? As dunstonh says with a substantial long term commitment like a mortgage it's considered normal and sensible to take out cover, (though if you were single with no dependants the life cover would not be so important) however the cost of combining life cover with CI is usually pennies extra over just CI cover.

BooJewels

Shegs wrote: »

When I took out my first mortgage I was told by the mortgage advisor that I had to take out HTMPP.
This included 3 main parts; mortgage repayments cover, life cover and critical illness cover.

What everyone else has already said is true, but I'd like to add my own take on it too - because theory and reality can differ.

The repayments cover aspect of the plan is PPI and you can claim on that aspect of the policy if you believe it was mis-sold - the life and CI aspects of that can't be included - that outlay has gone, but it gave you the cover at the time.

Your original document will show the amount of premium related to which cover - CI and life are joined together, with what they call MRC as a separate premium, even though you pay them together in one payment.

We took out our TMPP in 2008, in branch with a mortgage adviser, when we made some changes to our mortgage. She actually held the application over the shredder and said that we had to take the cover in order to secure the funds as we didn't have sufficient savings to cover the mortgage without it, they couldn't lend without that additional security. So I know for absolute certain that we were forced into it, regardless of what regulation was in place at the time or how it should have happened. And being led to believe that it was compulsory is one of the grounds for a complaint of mis-selling.

Last year I made a PPI complaint in respect of other accounts with them and to cut a very long story shorter, they did end up paying out on the MRC aspect of the TMPP - which was still an active account. I actually didn't want them to, I naively hadn't realised that a 'complaint' actually means cancel the policy and get a full refund - they told me that I could complain and have it registered as such, but if I wanted to keep the policy I wouldn't obviously get a refund, which I agreed to and actually confirmed in writing on the form and in the covering letter - that was simply untrue and it then all got rather messy trying to undo it.

So if the policy is now dead, by all means ring the PPI complaint line and give them your account number etc. and they'll send you a claim form. They then ring you at some time later to talk through the details of why you felt it was mis-sold.

dunstonh

A single person with no children or f financial dependents or no partner usually has no need for life assurance. However, when you have Critical illness cover, the cost of adding life assuarance to it ranges from zero to a few pennies normally. So, you do tend to find that it is considered normal to have life assurance with CIC. If it was life only then that would be a different matter.

Sj4444

I tried to claim on our TMPP with Halifax probably 2 years ago... they turned us down, so I went to the ombudsman and they went in Halifax!!!8217;s favour. They did find an issue with the critical illness and life insurance though as Halifax didn!!!8217;t take into account as the years went on our cover would be reduced, so we were refunded an amount to make up the difference. I still know we were missold the whole policy, I still remember the meeting with the advisor to this day and it was 16 years ago! I even asked the advisor if we needed it as I didn!!!8217;t want to pay £140 per month on top of a mortgage! He told us we needed it to be accepted for the mortgage !!!55357;!!!56398; anyway has anyone successfully had their TMPP refunded? Also just wondering if we can apply again to the Halifax even though the ombudsman made their decision 2/3 years ago? Thank you

dunstonh

I tried to claim on our TMPP with Halifax probably 2 years ago... they turned us down, so I went to the ombudsman and they went in Halifax!!!8217;s favour.

That is the most likely outcome. Remember his is MPPi and not PPI.

anyway has anyone successfully had their TMPP refunded?

Some have on the MPPi element but not the rest. However, your complaint failed. So, it doesnt matter what others have had.

Also just wondering if we can apply again to the Halifax even though the ombudsman made their decision 2/3 years ago?

The FOS adjudicator decision can be appealed but not after 2/3 years. Even then The FOS ombudsman only overturn around 1 in 10 adjudicator complaints and that is not normally on easy stuff like PPI.

BooJewels

Sj4444 wrote:

I still know we were missold the whole policy

The whole policy isn't in question unfortunately, only the MRC aspect of it can be complained about. Had you been successful in your complaint, you would only ever have got the MRC portion of it back - MRC being Mortgage Repayment Cover - the part that pays a monthly amount if you lose your job or are off sick for a decent time - i.e PPI.

Sj4444 wrote:

anyway has anyone successfully had their TMPP refunded?

Nobody has, only the MRC portion is ever refunded. I was successful with that aspect of mine - ironically, as posted above, I didn't want it and returned the money, as I wanted to retain the policy.