Old life insurance didn't get cancelled

kthomson2020

In 2017 my husband re-mortgaged to allow us to extend the lease on our flat. We agreed a new policy to cover the new amount with Legal & General. Recently we changed to a different life insurance company to get a better deal and realised that our original policy before 2017 had never been cancelled even though the replacement policy was with the same company. Looking closer at the correspondence they do mention about cancelling the direct debit but surely the company should have cancelled the original policy and not continued to take payment for it ?

Thrugelmir

Onus is on you to cancel the policy. 

Aretnap

It's very common to have more than one life insurance policy so there's no reason for the company to cancel the old policy unless you expressly tell them to - in fact it would be an extremely Bad Thing if they did. 

For avoidance of doubt, both policies would have paid out had one of you died - indeed they still will if you keep both running. 

Old_Lifer

Provided you can afford  the premiums,  you can have as many  life policies as you like.      When I was younger, I had more than twenty policies running at the same time  (mostly endowments).

Naturally,   they will continue collecting the direct debit if you don't cancel the policy.

csgohan4

as above responsibility is with the policy holder, the insurer has no details about any new insurance products and nor is it their business to assess if you are suitable to have the current policy.

dunstonh

Recently we changed to a different life insurance company to get a better deal and realised that our original policy before 2017 had never been cancelled even though the replacement policy was with the same company.

The insurer is not allowed to cancel it without you telling them. For all they know, its an incremental policy.  Not a replacement.   It is you who controls your finances. Not others.  You should have cancelled the policy with them and cancelled the direct debit.  you did neither.

Looking closer at the correspondence they do mention about cancelling the direct debit but surely the company should have cancelled the original policy and not continued to take payment for it ?

The agent who sold it is different to the insurer. (even if they share the same logo - hopefully it wasnt the same company as that is an expensive way to buy).   The agent is not allowed to cancel it.  They told you what you needed to do.  You didnt do it.

kthomson2020

Thanks for all your replies - Whilst I understand that you are supposed to cancel the direct debit, We did ask for the old policy to be cancelled and this never happened hence our frustration in finding it had rolled on. Both policies were with the same provider and the agent knew that the old product needed to be cancelled.

sheramber

If you have ben paying it all this time what is the problem?It is still covering you and will continue to so until you cancel it or claim. Is extra cover a problem? 

Sandtree

kthomson2020 said:

 We did ask for the old policy to be cancelled

And what was their response when you asked?

If you instructed them to cancel it and they didn't then you have grounds for complaint unless they told you to just cancel the DD after you asked and you forgot to do so. 

Weighty1

As Dunstonh mentions above, the adviser wouldn't be able to cancel it. Only AIG, to my knowledge, allow an adviser to cancel a plan on behalf of their client.  Imagine an adviser cancels a plan wrongfully and then a claim arises.  This is a far worse scenario than what happens.  I'd suspect that as inferred by Sandtree, if you told them to cancel it they have told you to cancel the direct debit or call L&G and you didn't.

PaulW922

kthomson2020 said:

Thanks for all your replies - Whilst I understand that you are supposed to cancel the direct debit, We did ask for the old policy to be cancelled and this never happened hence our frustration in finding it had rolled on. Both policies were with the same provider and the agent knew that the old product needed to be cancelled.

If you asked for the old policy to be cancelled (and you can show this) then I think you do not need to worry about whether you cancelled the DD. The insurer should not have taken the premiums and you should be seeking a refund. However if you cannot demonstrate this, and carried on paying fo three years, it might be tricky