Scottish Widows mess

markmason

Hiya everyone I have come on here for any advice I can get in relation to a mess I have found myself in through no fault of my own, I took out a Scottish Widows mortgage and business cover plan with critical illness cover way back in 2002 when I took out my first ever mortgage, for £50k cover @ 36.00 per month for me and my partner to cover the term of the mortgage,right all sorted, a couple of years down the line and another child we moved house to a larger property and would you believe less mortgage, the bank at the time Lloyds/TSB said they would make the necessary arrangements regarding switching household insurance ect into the new address ,but we would have to take out a new plan with Scottish Widows to cover the mortgage which we did as we didn't need as much cover so our new policy was £16.00 a month £17k cover all sorted again peace of mind ! fast forward to today and a few months ago I was made redundant (not a very nice experience) so decided to have a look at the financial side of things money in/money out ect,and to my surprise found out I was paying Scottish Widows twice, once on the 4th of the month for £16 and then again on the 8th of the month for £36, my initial reaction was one was for myself and one was for my partner but was sure it was a joint policy,so pulled up the policy paperwork, and both policy's are the same just different amount of cover, why would I need two policy's for the same thing ? I put this question to Scottish Widows this morning ,the man on the phone was very helpful, he first told me that sometimes people do take out two policy's, and told me I could cancel the more expensive one with immediate effect, all well and good I said but it has no cash value if I did, so effectively I have been paying for a policy I didn't need or want for the last 13 years as the bank didn't cancel the direct debit all them years ago, so do I continue paying this and loose the policy or try to get the bank to pay back the £6k I have played into it then cancel, the only trouble is it was Lloyds/TSB and now they are both separate banks. Have I got a case for the banks to answer or is it my own stupid fault for trusting them to get it right for me all them years ago !!

garth549

A life policy doesn't automatically end when a mortgage ends (they're not tied, other than by the diminishing amount). You needed to cancel the old policy when you took out the new one.

I doubt you'll have any comeback I'm afraid as it's perfectly valid to have 2 or more life plans. I've still got one active that was taken out with a mortgage on a property I sold 3 years ago.

BoGoF

You answered your own question in your very last sentence - your fault, nobody else.

dunstonh

why would I need two policy's for the same thing ?

Maybe you wanted to keep the old one for family protection or any number of other reasons. Yes, you probably forgot to cancel it but many people keep multiple plans going. Only you can cancel the insurance. No-one else.

so effectively I have been paying for a policy I didn't need or want for the last 13 years as the bank didn't cancel the direct debit all them years ago,

If you had died it would have paid out. So, what you mean is that YOU didnt cancel the direct debit all those years ago. Plus, technically, cancelling the direct debit only cancels the method of payment. it does not cancel the policy. You should still notify the insurer. Although in reality, they give up after 2-3 chasers and cancel due to non-payment.

Have I got a case for the banks to answer or is it my own stupid fault for trusting them to get it right for me all them years ago !!

The bank is not at fault. You are. Lets say the bank had cancelled and your or your partner suffered a claimable event. You/partner would no doubt be on here moaning about how the bank cancelled the policy without permission.

This is why you have to cancel it.

Weighty1

I agree with the above.

Not only that, have you *never* noticed that payment going out in 13-YEARS? Maybe the bank would have done something if it was a couple of months but after 13-years of making payments you'd have to assume that you still wanted it to run or would have done something about it.