Cancelling Life Insurance That Mortgage Broker Set Up

warden90

Hi folks. 
During the process of getting our mortgage, the broker we used set up life insurance for my girlfriend and I through Aviva. It turns out that I get this through my work benefits for the both of us a lot less than we're going to be paying Aviva, so I'd like to cancel this if it was at all possible without having to pay our broker any fee of some sort. 

Does anyone know what the story is with cancelling? We are past the 'cooling' period but after reading their cancelling stuff online, we should be able to cancel but won't get any money back that we have already paid.

Thanks 

[Deleted User]

As long it wasn't set up in lieu of paying a fee, you should be ok.  If not, then you'll need to pay the broker separately.

MovingForwards

One thing to think about is what happens if you change jobs, is your role one that normally gets life insurance? Or is it just a perk of this job?

warden90

Deleted_User said:

As long it wasn't set up in lieu of paying a fee, you should be ok.  If not, then you'll need to pay the broker separately.

The broker received a payment from Aviva for setting it up. I'm assuming if we cancelled then they would ask for the payment back from the broker? 

warden90

MovingForwards said:

One thing to think about is what happens if you change jobs, is your role one that normally gets life insurance? Or is it just a perk of this job?

If that was to happen then I would just need to look elsewhere for life insurance. Its mainly just the monthly cost of it for my girlfriend and I that's the problem. We'll be paying a lot more through Aviva than I'm paying for it through my work. 
I'm guessing that the higher the monthly cost that our broker sorted for us, the more commission he would have got? 

[Deleted User]

warden90 said:

Deleted_User said:

As long it wasn't set up in lieu of paying a fee, you should be ok.  If not, then you'll need to pay the broker separately.

The broker received a payment from Aviva for setting it up. I'm assuming if we cancelled then they would ask for the payment back from the broker? 

Yes - and if your deal with him was that he would get paid via commission instead of directly by you, he will ask you for a fee instead. 

But if it was just an extra policy you wanted, he wouldn't.

dunstonh

warden90 said:

Deleted_User said:

As long it wasn't set up in lieu of paying a fee, you should be ok.  If not, then you'll need to pay the broker separately.

The broker received a payment from Aviva for setting it up. I'm assuming if we cancelled then they would ask for the payment back from the broker? 

If you agreed an explicit fee with commission offset then yes they would.
However, if it was not fee based and only commission based (i.e. no agreed offset) then they cannot ask you to cover their lost commission.    This used to be possible but a change in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 means that that would now be considered an unfair contract term and not considered to be enforceable.    

warden90

dunstonh said:

warden90 said:

Deleted_User said:

As long it wasn't set up in lieu of paying a fee, you should be ok.  If not, then you'll need to pay the broker separately.

The broker received a payment from Aviva for setting it up. I'm assuming if we cancelled then they would ask for the payment back from the broker? 

If you agreed an explicit fee with commission offset then yes they would.
However, if it was not fee based and only commission based (i.e. no agreed offset) then they cannot ask you to cover their lost commission.    This used to be possible but a change in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 means that that would now be considered an unfair contract term and not considered to be enforceable.    

I will need to check but I'm not sure I've had anything that I've agreed on to do with commission etc from the broker. 

warden90

So after speaking to family and friends about our life insurance that the broker set up, they were shocked to hear that the policy that we had been put on was costing us close to £80 a month.

We cancelled this over the weekend. Had a look through the paperwork that we received from the broker about any fees and this is the only part that I'm unsure about for any commission paid etc... 


THIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT AFFECT ANY STATUTORY OR OTHER RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY LIFE ASSURANCE, PROTECTION ASSURANCE OR PENSION POLICY THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ARRANGED IN CONNECTION WITH THE LOAN

Does this mean anything? 

dunstonh

So after speaking to family and friends about our life insurance that the broker set up, they were shocked to hear that the policy that we had been put on was costing us close to £80 a month.
Why shocked?  I am paying over £100 a month for mine.   The amount you pay in premium is not enough detail for anyone to get shocked about.   The context is one the amounts it covered and any other things it covers too (such as critical illness cover and income protection).

We cancelled this over the weekend. 
Have you arranged replacement cover already then?    If not, going uninsured as is risk. 

THIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT AFFECT ANY STATUTORY OR OTHER RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY LIFE ASSURANCE, PROTECTION ASSURANCE OR PENSION POLICY THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ARRANGED IN CONNECTION WITH THE LOAN

Does this mean anything? 
It does but it needs to be understood in context with the rest of the agreement.   If there was no fee involved, then there would be little reason to have that paragraph.

warden90

dunstonh said:

So after speaking to family and friends about our life insurance that the broker set up, they were shocked to hear that the policy that we had been put on was costing us close to £80 a month.
Why shocked?  I am paying over £100 a month for mine.   The amount you pay in premium is not enough detail for anyone to get shocked about.   The context is one the amounts it covered and any other things it covers too (such as critical illness cover and income protection).

We cancelled this over the weekend. 
Have you arranged replacement cover already then?    If not, going uninsured as is risk. 

THIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT AFFECT ANY STATUTORY OR OTHER RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY LIFE ASSURANCE, PROTECTION ASSURANCE OR PENSION POLICY THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ARRANGED IN CONNECTION WITH THE LOAN

Does this mean anything? 
It does but it needs to be understood in context with the rest of the agreement.   If there was no fee involved, then there would be little reason to have that paragraph.

They were just shocked as they are paying quite a bit less than what we were going to be. 

Yes, we have another insurance policy in place. 

The rest of the agreement has this...

"1. The Client engages the Arranger to act on his behalf in order to facilitate secured credit or loan facilities (“the Loan”) with a relevant lender (“the Lender”) in connection with the acquisition or remortgage of commercial or residential freehold or leasehold property.

2. The fee payable by the Client for the Arranger’s services shall be £250 (“the fee”), which becomes due on production of a mortgage offer by the Lender

3. All payments to be made by the Client under this agreement shall be made in full without any set-off or withholding for any counterclaim, unless the Client is required to do so by law.

4. If any sum payable under this agreement is not paid when due then that sum will bear interest from the due date until payment is made in full, both before and after any judgement, at 2% per annum over HSBC Bank plc base rate from time to time.

5. This is our standard client agreement upon which we intend to rely. For your own benefit and

protection you should read these terms carefully before signing them. If you do not understand any point please ask for further information.

This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law   "