Claiming back mis-sold phone insurance policy

Socksey

I am in the middle of trying to claim back a policy I did not need from the Geek Squad. I was sold it in 2012 and was paying until 2018 when I cancelled it.
I have written to them outlining why I should not have been sold the policy and they have replied with some quite intimidating letters (short version is they say that they take these thing very seriously and that there is no way they would have done this and I better be able to back everything up etc... fair enough but they word it in a way that makes you want to back off)… I have had a series of letters saying they can't complete their investigation etc and I'm trying to get hold of copies of policy documents from my previous house insurance and HSBC Advance (or what it was previously known as) cover documents. I can't find these in the house as it's over 7 years.


Would anyone here have a PDF of the HSBC cover documents from around 2011/12?


When I say it was a hard sell through Carphone Warehouse... I went in to buy a phone, I knew the model and network I wanted (was keeping a previous phone number) and I was with my 3.5 year old child so didn't want to be in too long... it took them over an hour to sell it as most of that time was spent trying to sell me the insurance and telling me effectively how stupid I would be not to get it as I could break the phone walking out the door. Not once did they ask if I could possibly be covered elsewhere. So I do feel justified in asking for my payments back (that's all I've asked for so not being ridiculous). Still trying to find a copy of household insurance.
Thanks for any help.

[Deleted User]

Socksey wrote: »

I'm trying to get hold of copies of policy documents from my previous house insurance and HSBC Advance (or what it was previously known as) cover documents. I can't find these in the house as it's over 7 years.

Ask your provider for details of cover you personally held in 2012.

Not sure it'll help much unless you had significant overlap of cover and, even then, any refund would be goodwill on the part of the second provider.

I'm not sure why you think you were mis-sold, how could Carphone Warehouse have known what insurance you already held?

The_squirrell

Can I ask?
If you knew that you did not need it and did not want it....why did it take you six years to cancel it? This could have been done at any time and definitely before your first payment was even taken.
I appreciate that taking the policy may have been encouraged by sales staff,but having it for six years when you say that you knew it was not required, does seem like a long time.

[Deleted User]

Socksey wrote: »

Not once did they ask if I could possibly be covered elsewhere. So I do feel justified in asking for my payments back

They are not required to ask that. You should have known yourself surely?

Even if you didn't know, why did you pay it for six years without checking yourself if you held duplicate cover?

No wonder the letters you are receiving in response to your concerns appear to you to be "intimidating". This insurance is not useless PPI...

-taff

You can ask for them back but they are not obliged to give it to you. You are basically saying to them 'I paid you for six years, now I realise I shouldn't have, can I have my money back please?'
You haven't provided them with any information regarding any other cover [ or have you?] , you voluntarily agreed to buy it and then you didn't cancel it immediately. You didn't say to them at the time, no thanks, I'm covered elsewhere.
You have let this way too late.

Socksey

Some interesting replies. Thanks. I have asked HSBC for the information and so far they have supplied the current document.
No, it's not a case of buyers regret.... obviously you have never been made to feel like you are spectacularly stupid for not buying their policy, which was the sales method used and yes, if they are going to sell something that they are selling as an add on to something that you are buying anyway, they should check that it is appropriate for you... in the same way as PPI would not have been appropriate for someone who wasn't working. Compound that with a person who is wrangling a 3.5 year old and you just want to get out and every time you say 'no, it's fine... I just want the phone' they go on at you again and again until you finally give in just to get out...
Why six years? after being brow beaten into buying it... you are convinced that you need it and eventually when you realise that actually you are paying for the cover twice over elsewhere you cancel it.
My objection is to the sales tactics as with out them I would not have bought the policy... however, it is impossible to show them how it was sold as it was in 2012... I have had mobile phones since 1998 and never felt the need to insurance before... they used this in their arguments against me, again telling me I was very stupid and extremely lucky. The only thing I can do is to show that actually I didn't need the policy in the first place and I'm trying to find documents to show this.... unfortunately I have no record of the conversation.
Basically, the policy shouldn't have been sold and they should have taken a polite no for an answer.

[Deleted User]

Socksey wrote: »

Some interesting replies.

Interesting how? Because they don't agree with your assessment that the insurance was mis-sold?
You purchased an insurance policy and have now decided (after paying it for six years and cancelling it for two ) that as you (allegedly) already have duplicate cover you were somehow mis-sold.

You are, of course, entitled to complain that the sale was too pressurised and you were bullied into making a purchase. However, with no evidence that this actually happened and, again, years after the event do you really expect a result in your favour?

As to the "duplicate" cover, even if the cover was identical that does not oblige the seller of the second policy to refund you. As said, any refund would be goodwill. I also doubt whether you'll be able to retrieve evidence that there actually was any significant overlap of cover in the first place.

I'll just add that not all insurance is PPI and not even all PPI was mis-sold.

The_squirrell

And as someone who used to sell this type of insurance (without any hard sell tactics I may add), some customers would often ask to have this cover separately to their home insurance.
Why? Well each time you made a claim on your home insurance, your premiums would be very likeley to rise the following year. An excess on this type of policy is likely to be much less than the excess on your home insurance. If you break a screen on your phone or drop it down the loo etc, this is the sort of thing that would be covered and you would be much more likely to claim on this than your home cover.
I am not saying that all these policies were great or even promoted in the best way, but having some sort of cover elsewhere, doesn't necessarily mean that it was a bad thing.
For the record, my personal opinion is that six years plus two is quite a long time to make your mind up. That's just my personal opinion though

meer53

You can't really compare PPI and mobile phone insurance. One covers a possible major life event, the other covers a device which can be replaced for a very small amount in an emergency. You should write it off as a lesson learned and move on.