Mis-sold PPI on mortgage?

JTT_2

I'm not sure if this is the right thread? I got a mortgage nearly two years ago through a broker for Kings Group. When I was accepted by Chelthnam & Gloucester, the broker said I had to take out insurance through them; if i did I would not have to pay the brokers fee of about £4K. Also I had to be with the insurance company (Zurich) for at least two years or i would have to pay the brokers fee £4K back.
Now then. When the estimate came through it was about £78 per month, which I thought reasonable. However when they did some more checks the insurance went up to £119, because my wife has a pre-medical condition. By this time I couldn't pull out because I would have to pay the brokers fee, so I had to take it.
Is there anything I can do? Have I been mis-sold.

Thank you for any responses.

MortgageMamma

PPI insurance is not medically underwritten, are you sure this is what you have?

dunstonh

Is there anything I can do? Have I been mis-sold.

From a mis-sale point of view, you havent been mis-sold. You needed the product and the product met that need. No mis-sale. The medical rating is a non-issue.

The use of threat of a £4000 fee if you cancelled within 2 years could be a breach of TCF rules if there is no fee agreement signed by you saying you agreed to take out the insurance for two years to offset a £4000 fee (what???? £4k for arranging a mortgage!!!!)

One of the FSAs examples on TCF is not using fees which are too high to put people off from using that option. Such as making your fees match commission. Also, whilst the FSA doesnt define reasonable fees, it does expect under TCF guidelines for fees to be fairly representative of the level of work done. There is no way a mortgage deserves a fee of £4000.

To be honest, most firms like this are a total disgrace and when someone does cancel they make threats of taking you to court etc to scare you. However, when it comes down to it, they usually cannot provide any fee agreement to enforce such a request and you wouldnt expect a court to enforce a fee with no evidence that it even existed.

Advisers often back down when you reverse the threat saying you will complain if they force it and will go to the FOS if required. (a complaint to the FOS will mean the firm gets charged £400 and the adviser has a complaint on their file which stays with them. A couple of uphelds can kill the career path of an adviser).

Allied Dunbar were known as Allied Crowbar. Very expensive, prone to mis-selling and used all sorts of slick marketing. (the firm you mention are reps of Dunbar/Zurich).

JTT_2

What I have is insurance if I am made redundant etc and cannot make repayments. I may have got confused with medical insurance. However at the time I felt I had no choice to back out of the insurance (Zurich) because the broker had this £4K hanging over me. I did tell them at the time I felt this was a raw deal and that I was unhappy. I wanted to sort my own insurance but I would have had to pay ££££ to the broker.
Is there no re-course?

Thank you for your replies.

MortgageMamma

Personally I would put your concerns in writing to the firm that sold you the mortgage, addressed to the compliance officer. that sort of practice is unfair and the broker should never have put you in that position, its wrong. If you have any emails or something backing up what he said, or documentation, that would help. even if its just an agreement stating that if you cancel your insurance policy they will recover the 4k from you. it all helps.

If you get no recourse then I'd sugest making a complaint to the financial ombudsman service. if you need support come back to one of the advisers on the site we are a principled bunch and would be happy to help you out.

There is a strong possibility the individiual adviser you saw will have jumped ship for whatever reason, but dont let this put you off, its actually the firm he conducted business under which is responsible for his conduct.

You have been treated unfairly and I think you should deal with it. but please don't let this one bad experience tar your perception of all financial advisers/mortgage brokers. most of us are good honest people who only do the best by our clients, you just need to find the right one and stick with them.

Good luck

MM

JTT_2

Unfortunatley I don't have any emails only myself and my wifes word. I will write. Should I mention anything about money that I have paid on an insurance I know I could have got cheaper or should I just keep it about being mis-lead.

Thank you

dunstonh

Should I mention anything about money that I have paid on an insurance I know I could have got cheaper or should I just keep it about being mis-lead.

That wont get you anywhere. They were tied agents of Dunbar/Zurich and have no requirement to offer you best advice. They just have to give you the best option from their product range. The fact it is expensive is not something that will be upheld in a complaint. Thousands of people buy products daily from the banks despite IFAs being cheaper and better.

The complaints dept would reject any mis-sale complaint on the basis of need or premium as there was a need and tied agents being expensive doesnt matter. Having an unfair clause set against you with such a high figure on the other hand is not treating customers fairly. Try and use the term treating customers fairly as it's the FSAs little baby at the moment and they are looking for TCF breaches wherever they can.