Compton Group +ground rent +insurance

elsietanner71

hugabug wrote: »

Hi Just purchased house, mortgage free, moved in all insured with direct line. Compton have now sent 2 ltr telling me i need to use their insurers. First that I had to change (i wrote back saying no and it would alter all my other premiums for other things i had with D Line). Now they tell me they want £60 to approve consent for this year and that next year i MUST change to their insurance company.

Can anyone help with advise to get round this - they are bullies being paid a backhander no doubt.

All my solicitor told me was that i had to insure with reputable insurance co - now worried as am single mum on low income and cant really afford tofight these horrors but dont see why i should be held to ransome

Advice anyone PLEASE?

I had this with the Compton Group too and I fell for it the first year. The next year I asked them to point out exactly where in the lease it said I had to insure with their insurers, Zurich?

They replied a few days later saying there had been a keying error and that I didn't have to insure with their choice of insurer after all. Personally, I think they were trying it on.

It may not work in every case but it might be worth a try?

Good luck

Els x

hugabug

hi Els thanks for your advice will def give it a go .... it's a nightmare, and a worry esp on a low income, so i cant afford to fight them legally!!

cheers Hugx

jovigirl_2

Guys, I have just Twittered Martin, money saver and BBC Watchdog this thread. Just to see if we can get some help with regards to Compton. They cannot keep doing this. Maybe if you do the same we may be able to get some help and let everyone know what robbers Compton really are! Worth a try?

hugabug

I've just done same let's hope it helps .... Getting nowhere any other route. Demanding/robbing bullies .... How do they get away with it! Grrrr

jovigirl_2

Most of my neighbours are elderly and each year I help them do A Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act of 2002 form and send issue a Notice of Cover to them if they or I miss this and dont do it like two weeks before the end of our annual insurance we have to pay the £60 penilty. Bad for me as I made this mistake one year, but even worse for the pensioners. I am sick of sending this form to them each year. They left me alone for 7 years, it was only when I remortgage they caught me.

hugabug

Thanks for this .... Where do I get one of these forms? Do I log it two weeks before end of my insurance or two weeks before anniversary of my move date etc? Maybe pain but it us saves me money .... Only moved two months ago and they threatening to refer me to their legal team

I've asked them to point out exactly where in their lease it says I MUST use their insurance co .... Robbing lot!!

jovigirl_2

hugabug, its on my work PC. I'll put a reminder in on my phone now to post a link of it tomorrow. I send it in two weeks before my current insurance expires with my cover note. Its a pain, but stops them coming after you. I'm sure there just cowboys. We need someone like Martin or Watchdog to sort them out.

I sent the exact same letter to them that on of my neighbours had sent them, they no longer chase her each year, but still do me and my other neighbours. They cannot explain (compton) how they cherry pick people?

propertyman

Having read these posts it's full of "They cant do this its wrong evil etc they must be stopped".

But you all knew that you were buying a leasehold not freehold house. Every person should have had a fully detailed report from their solicitors explaining that these quite legal leases have certain conditions attached that you may find unacceptable. You then choose to buy or not, or factor in the cost to buy the freehold.

Fortunately there are laws which protect you;
1: first read the lease to see if the clauses are in there, some freeholders are not as thorough in checking as they should be. Some may even be dishonest. And others mistaken. We can only speculate.

2: Ground rents are contractually due, there is no principle about it, the charge is irrefutable.

3: Admin charges such as penalty notices are only due if
-the lease allows them
-they level of fee is then reasonable.
The Commonhold and leasehold reform Act 2002 gives protection agaisnt unreasonable fees.

4: There are statutory protections from being overcharged on insurance which lease advice.org set out.

2sides2everystory

hugabug wrote: »

I've just done same let's hope it helps .... Getting nowhere any other route. Demanding/robbing bullies .... How do they get away with it! Grrrr

They get away with it because the largest names in the insurance world are in cahoots with them. Comptons can't arrange insurance with anyone without an FSA licensed ultimate risk carrier (a recognised insurer) carrying the risk.

Secret commissions are supposed to be unlawful but the insurance industry turns a blind eye to them constantly. They will do business with anyone that provides them with a good flow of "business". The insurers' managements absolutely love it and congratulate themselves on "good underwriting" if the business makes the insurer a regular underwriting profit (which it always does when the "intermediary" - the freeholder's in-house insurance agency - sets the premiums as high as they can get away with year after year. And they do always do this because they get allowed to take enormous percentage commissions and generous credit terms before they account to insurers. There have also been examples where the freeholder obstructs valid claims by leaseholders and even charge a percentage of the claim monies in order to pass on claims to the insurer.

Watchdog, MSE and any right thinking MP should have put their names years ago to a serious attempt at dismantling this disgraceful rip off area of the property market.

I repeat that it only exists because the major insurers turn a blind eye to it and give unscrupulous property market players their "pen" in deciding the actual insurance premiums on their behalf which automatically condones an obvious conflict of interest because of the commissions allowed. It is quite common to find that the insurance middlemen cream off 50% for their own pockets meaning that 100% overcharges are very common.

PS I think propertyman wears rose-tinted spectacles - it is hard work to use the law against these scum especially when the government also turns a blind eye. Even if you eventually win a case against them, they just continue to rip off the other 99 out 100 leaseholders who haven't yet been helped to make a case. They see it as a minor inconvenience to be brought to book once in a blue moon on a single property.

hugabug

I have no issue with knowing I was buying a leasehold property (or to paying any ground rent) - but at no point was I told I would be tied into their backhanded insurance fixing/scam. I was told to insure with a reputable organisation and seek their approval which I have done. At no point was i told they would only commit to approving their own (commission paying) company. ALL my insurances/and those of my family are connected with direct line and we get a hefty discount as a result - if i start taking them away i will be penalised as will my family and I think it is fundamentally wrong.

Jovigirl look forward to form link - and any other practical advice any one can provide .... its down right blackmail!!!!