Contact from a PPI advisor...

chocolatefireguard

Hello all.


Before the August 2019 PPI deadline, I put in a complaint using MSE's Resolver tool to my old mortgage provider, for a "Total Mortgage Protection Plan" to cover a mortgage that I had with a large high street bank from 2003 to 2011, when I finally managed to pay the loan off fully. I received a letter from the bank saying that as I had got my application in before the deadline, it would be considered. I have since had several letters from them, usually monthly, saying that due to the large volume of claims, I would be hearing from them soon. Around the middle of December, I had had enough of waiting and contacted the Ombudsman (as it had been nearly 16 weeks), only to receive an email stating that they acknowledged my claim but that they were busy as well but they did acknowledge my email. Finally, just before the New Year, I received a phone call from one of the bank's advisors, asking for more details of my claim. I was busy at the time of the phone call and we agreed that the advisor should call back when I was free.



FYI, when I and my girlfriend (now wife) had a mortgage interview with the same bank way back in 2002, the staff were very friendly and seemed knowledgeable about the products they were selling, and myself and the missus (both of whom at the time had relatively low paid, but full time jobs) left the interview under the distinct impression that the mortgage protection policy was a part of the mortgage package itself, and that the mortgage we sought was contingent upon buying the insurance policy itself. At no point were we told that the insurance was optional, or that if we required it, we could get it cheaper elsewhere. The insurance itself seemed expensive at £50 per month, compared to a mortgage repayment of £160 per month, so a rough calculation shows that I paid a little under £5K for the insurance policy for the 8 years that I held the mortgage.



Anyway, what I wanted to ask from the much wiser people than me on here is, do you think I have a claim? I have kept all of the original paperwork from the original interview and bank statements from that era, so I have account numbers, mortgage roll numbers etc. Do you have any idea of what the advisor from the bank is going to ask me when they ring back, as I have already provided quite an exhaustive account of what my original complaint was in the original letter? Are these kinds of phone calls common? Should I let the Ombudsman know that I have since been contacted by the bank?


I would really appreciate some help with this matter, as I am quite the novice in matters such as these.



Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Nearlyold

The adviser will ask you questions about your financial and employment circumstances at the time of the TMP sale to establish whether you may have been missold it. There are no strong missold reasons in your post (they didn't have to tell you about the possibility of getting cheaper cover elsewhere for example and you probably have no evidence you were told the TMP was compulsory).

TMP was a multi segment plan - Life Cover - Critical Illness - PPI, you could have had 1 or more of the segments, which segments did you have?

[Deleted User]

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

do you think I have a claim?

Nothing you have said is compelling. Complaints about Mortgage PPI are the least upheld in any case.

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

left the interview under the distinct impression that the mortgage protection policy was a part of the mortgage

While they are unlikely to have told you outright the insurance was compulsory, the advisor was allowed to "disturb" you about the possibility that you might become sick or unemployed. Was this what happened?

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

myself and the missus (both of whom at the time had relatively low paid, but full time jobs)

Your joint status at the time just indicates that the insurance was suitable for you and that you would be eligible in the event of a claim.

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

At no point were we told that the insurance was optional

This would have been very plain on the mortgage documentation you signed which included your "needs and wants"

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

At no point were we told.......... that we could get it cheaper elsewhere.

That's like complaining to Tesco that they didn't inform you of cheaper prices at Asda! It's really not a valid complaint and the Bank had no obligation to tell you that you could buy the same or similar less expensively.

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

The insurance itself seemed expensive

Bank sold products ARE expensive, however once again this is not a valid mis-selling complaint.

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

Do you have any idea of what the advisor from the bank is going to ask me when they ring back

They'll ask you to confirm the details of your complaint. They'll ask about your employment status at the time of the sale and also about any employment benefits (if you had them). They'll also want to know about your financial circumstances at the time to confirm whether you had need of the insurance.

chocolatefireguard wrote: »

Should I let the Ombudsman know that I have since been contacted by the bank?

To what end? The next time you should contact the Ombudsman is if and when your complaint is rejected and then only if you truly believe it has been rejected unfairly.


Remember that Mortgage PPI is still retailed today and complaints about it are the least upheld. It's possible that the Bank could decide to refund the PPI segment of your TMP, but expect a full rejection and you won't be disappointed.

SonOf

I put in a complaint using MSE's Resolver tool to my old mortgage provider, for a "Total Mortgage Protection Plan" to cover a mortgage that I had with a large high street bank from 2003 to 2011

The TMPP was a multi-segment protection policy offered by the Halifax. The segments were life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection and MPPI. You could have any combination of those. Only one of the segments is PPI.

At no point were we told that the insurance was optional, or that if we required it, we could get it cheaper elsewhere

There has never been a requirement to tell you that you can get it cheaper elsewhere. That is a myth. Not being told it was optional is very hard to prove.

The insurance itself seemed expensive at £50 per month,

This suggests it is either not PPI or PPI is only one bit of it. Statistically, it is more likely that it is life assurance and possibly critical illness cover (neither are PPI).

Anyway, what I wanted to ask from the much wiser people than me on here is, do you think I have a claim?

1 - we dont know if you have PPI. As mentioned, the policy type you have did have a PPI segment available but the majority of these plans were life assurance and critical illness cover and not PPI.

2 - Your complaint reason seems limited to didnt think it was optional and were not told you could buy elsewhere. The letter is not a complaint reason and the former rarely succeed unless the available evidence points to that being likely.

I have kept all of the original paperwork from the original interview

In which case, you should be able to see if you have MPPI or not. Take a look and let us know what it covers. e.g. life assurance, CIC and/or MPPI or income protection.

Do you have any idea of what the advisor from the bank is going to ask me when they ring back, as I have already provided quite an exhaustive account of what my original complaint was in the original letter?

It is likely that they have found no evidence of missale so far and your complaint reasons are very weak and likely to be unprovable. When that is the case, they have to fall back to suitability and eligibility checks and that is what the phone call will be about.

Are these kinds of phone calls common?

Yes they are on weak complaints where there is no apparent wrongdoing.

Most MPPI complaints fail. And if you dont even have MPPI but life assurance and CIC or others then it will be no go. I suspect you have life assurance and MPPI and possibly another segment. So, even if you succeed, it will only be the MPPI element that is refunded.

Halifax used to be a soft touch. There was a period when they are auto paying out on most PPI complaints. So, you missed the golden period. Now they look more closely but there are still pretty much soft touches compared to others.