Breach of Contract

Llinder

My story  is linked to PPI
If I am the first person to expose this area of PPI then Martin maybe interested to look into it further and take some action
The Company is Phoenix Life Ltd / Resolution Head Office Birmingham
I had a A Day sale endowment policy taken out in 1985 a 25 year term running alongside a mortgage
I was only given one illustration being endowment I was not offered any other form of protection for my mortgage, I still have that illustration with a signature on it, now that I am aware of hidden commissions I realise that this was for the purpose of the agent receiving commission
My Quotation Contract does not include any disclosure of commission
 in the notes
There were no regulations in place to monitor mis-selling of policies or commission charges until 1988 hence that means no time limit to a claim
I had the foresight to retain all of my policy documents and all communication as in exchange of letters
My policy maturity date was 2010
I had red warning letters and I was underpaid at maturity and this was blamed on the 2008 Financial Crisis
A 2007 Phoenix letter stated growth rate at 5% this is what it paid they had already decided
During the Christmas holidays 2022 I was researching about Plevin claims and what popped up were commissioned reports about the 2008 Financial Crisis these were very informative a FOS report by David Severn's and a Parliamentary Briefing Paper about Endowment Policies No.570
dated 8.6.2015, this briefing paper gave investment growth rates  for policies reaching their maturity target
I checked my policy documents again and I found evidence from a Phoenix 2013 letter that my policy had actually reached it's target but I could only join the dots since finding this evidence 9 months ago
For 9 months I have informed Phoenix of this evidence and I have repeatedly asked under SAR requests for a breakdown of all charges and I have requested a Commission refund 3 times via their own SAR forms
They have not given any explanation regarding my findings and they have not responded to my claim for commission however since rechecking my documents they have admitted liability to both charging commission and the growth rate that matched the growth rate in the briefing paper
They refuse to communicate with me anymore
They will not acknowledge my MPs request to settle this claim
They will not comply with ICO recommendations to disclose information
I have learned so much about Data as in data abuse and data breach this is how they have breached my contract by manipulation of words and figures to gain and keep funds that should have been paid to me
If they have done this on a wide scale how many customers accounts have they breached or mismanaged to gain illicit funds and have other companies behaved in the same way using the 2008 Crisis to abuse customers accounts
whatever they are hiding my suspicions and instincts tell me that this is way bigger than me this needs to be exposed and out into the public domain
I have repeatedly offered them the opportunity to counter balance my claim with legislation, regulation or contractual evidence, no response
I have asked why they have not threatened me with legal action again no response
I could continue with further relevant information but I will end it here unless you are interested in discussing this further
If this does turn out to be mismanagement of customers contracts to cheat them out of funds then the Legal Team and Board of Directors have sanctioned this

                          Llinder

Llinder

I sincerely hope that this is taken seriously with a view to Martin being interested to interview Phoenix staff because I like to think that past and current clients can benefit Llinder

DullGreyGuy

Martin isnt involved in this site, he sold it many years ago to Money Supermarket, see the footer above the "more tools". He just licenses his image and name for the site to keep using them (just in case the 8 figure sum wasnt enough for him)

Its not fully clear what exactly your issue is, nor why an insurance firm would be potentially suing you, but it does seem that you understand that the regulatory and statutory landscape was very different in 1985 when you purchased what is now a very outdated product. Most changes since then that have occurred are not retrospective in nature. 

Any complaint about commissions related to Plevin have to be made to the lender as the issue stems from the Consumer Credit Act and not the insurer however that generally became time barred on 29 August 2019. Mortgages aren't regulated by the CCA and therefore are out of scope.

Nearlyold

Phoenix (or whoever the insurance company was at the time) would have paid any commission to the firm or individual who arranged the Endowment policy. Who arranged the policy for you? At a guess I'd say the reason they've effectively ceased corresponding with you is they believe your grievance has no merit in any legal sense and thus consider the matter closed.

dunstonh

I was only given one illustration being endowment I was not offered any other form of protection for my mortgage, I still have that illustration with a signature on it, now that I am aware of hidden commissions I realise that this was for the purpose of the agent receiving commission

1985 sales were based on 1985 laws and regulations.  There were no regulations in 1985. So, only the law applies.

My Quotation Contract does not include any disclosure of commission

It wouldn't do.  It predates and requirement to do so.

During the Christmas holidays 2022 I was researching about Plevin claims

In which case your research would tell you that Plevin relates to s140a of the consumer credit act 1974 and in particular an amendment that came with the 2006 act.

you will also know that it doesn't apply to endowments.

For 9 months I have informed Phoenix of this evidence and I have repeatedly asked under SAR requests for a breakdown of all charges and I have requested a Commission refund 3 times via their own SAR forms

You have no basis in law that requires them to refund.

They refuse to communicate with me anymore

That tends to happen when you are classed as vexatious complaint.  

They will not acknowledge my MPs request to settle this claim

I doubt your MP has requested a refund as there is no legal basis for them to do so.

From what you have said, Phoenix (or the legacy company) did not sell the policy to you.  So, they have no liability for the sale.  They have not breached s140a of the CCA as mortgages didn't fall under the CCA.   And the plevin ruling doesnt apply.

Llinder

Update
I have researched all areas of regulation and legislation concerning my policy and they are ignoring me because they know that I have a case, a Barrister is currently looking into all of my policy details because both he and a forensic accountant think that there is substance to my Phoenix complaint it has nothing to do with 140a of CCA
if the above comments are correct Phoenix have no reason not to give me a explanation and also if I am complaining in a vexatious manner it would be in their interest to threaten me with legal action to deter me. However taking into account that they state they will not communicate anymore they continue to send emails, not valid of course but they are keeping the communication lines open hoping that I will react and update them of the action that I am taking, historic claims can still be made and my complaint stems from the most recent evidence found which was 2022

dunstonh

t has nothing to do with 140a of CCA

That was the basis that the commission on PPI was found to be at fault.   So, if it has nothing to do with that and there is no legal requirement for commission disclosure outside of that, then what basis is it?

You made reference to PPI in your first post and from your research, you will know that the only reason commission disclosure was required was because of the CCA.  Outside of that, it is not required apart from regulatory requirements appropriate at the time of sale.   Yours was pre-regulation. 

So, no commission disclosure was required. 

 a Barrister is currently looking into all of my policy details 

Barristers are damned expensive and they do not normally do things like this for free.  Plus, barristers mainly defend people in court. They don't do research and analysis.  Lawyers and their paralegals do that.   There can be exceptions but that is the general position.

Commissions on a 1985 policy would likely be £500-£1000.  The cost of a barrister will be tens of thousands.

historic claims can still be made and my complaint stems from the most recent evidence found which was 2022

Why do you think the 15 year long stop doesn't apply to you?

DullGreyGuy

dunstonh said:
Plus, barristers mainly defend people in court. They don't do research and analysis. 

Criminal Law barristers maybe, for those specialising in other fields of law they normally do both defence, claimant and "non-contentious" work, though may have a personal preference if they are lucky enough to have gotten to the stage of their career to be picky about what work they take on. 


They do do research and analysis but generally more targeted on the court side of things. You'd normally do most your work with your solicitors but they moderately often call in for the opinion of a barrister prior to formally getting to the stage of handing over to them for the court. Just like Solicitors have paralegals so Chambers have junior members and I'm sure we all remember the press from the last strike where it was pointed out that the House of Commons was hiring a Barista offering more money than a typical Junior Barrister will earn if doing legal aid or Family Law work (they are self employed so can earn below minimum wage)