Bank Of Scotland/St Andrew's Group 10 February at 1:26PM in Insurance & life assurance 2 replies 57 views

PaulMJM

I've just had a letter from St Andrew's Group advising me my accidental death cover is being cancelled and they had a review of their products and no longer want to provide this cover.  Can they do this? Has anyone else had this letter?  Can I claim back any money from this policy as I have been paying into this policy for over 30 years.

dunstonh

Can they do this?

yes.  Only income protection (permanent health insurance) cannot be cancelled by the insurer. 

Has anyone else had this letter?

yes.  Everyone that has this policy,

Can I claim back any money from this policy as I have been paying into this policy for over 30 years.

No. You have had the benefit of cover and there isn't a single reason to ask for a refund.

Aretnap

Presumably it's an annual renewable policy like home or car insurance, or the terms of the policy allow the insurer to cancel by giving you a certain amount of notice? If so you have no grounds for complaint that I can see. 

If the terms did say that the insurer has to keep covering you as long as you keep paying your premiums then you would have grounds for complaint, but it is vanishingly unlikely that an insurer would renege on such an agreement. Even in the worst case scenario of the insurer going bust they would either find another insurer to continue your cover, or send you instructions on how to claim from the FSCS if you needed to.

You don't "pay into" an insurance policy; you pay a premium and in return the insurer agrees to cover you for an amount of time. If you buy home insurance and your house doesn't burn down in the next year you don't get a refund - life/accidental death cover is no different.