Mortgage protection insurance with switching banks

Rev. Kitchen

Just looking for some input here guys, To out line what has happened

I had a mortgage with bank of Ireland so took out repayment protection insurance. 2 years later i swithced to halifax so i went in and sat down with BOI to make sure all my insurance where ok ( life Mort. prtection etc) i had to pay a little more for my insurance as my mortgage was going up a little but they said i everything else was fine.

I even had some trouble with direct debits between halifax and BOI so had to deal with them on the phone and they mentioned nothing about not being covered.

Anyway i lost my job after about 5 years paying this insurance and submitted the claim it was given the ok and i expected to receive a check once a month for the sum agreed.

I had not recieved any money so i rang up the insurance crowd and they said that 2 cheques had been sent to BOI. But where returned saying mortgage closed. I told them i moved to halifax and BOI had told me everything was fine that i was covered. But they said they only deal with BOI and i will have to ask halifax about their protection insurance i said i only have this policy as i was told it covered me but they are refusing to deal with any other bank other than BOI.

What can i do i was sold this policy and asurred i was covered under it now even though they will pay out on a BOI mortgage they wont for my halifax one ??

And with out it im basically screwed as i spent all my redundancy paying my mortgage while waiting for this claim to come through that both BOI and the isurance guys said i would have no problem with.

jor el

You'll need to check the terms of your insurance to see if it states that mortgages from outside BOI are covered, or that they are not. Check any and all written correspondence you have with BOI from the time you were changing your mortgage.

Did Halifax not check this with/for you? Surely they would have known that another bank's policy would not cover you on their mortgage.

Rev. Kitchen

Basically im screwed i checked the t&c online now and it only covers the BOI mortgages i guess its my own fault for not checking it through fully myself. Not sure if those t&c's have been updated recently as i cant find the ones i had in 2004 when i took it out first. but other renewal letters i have from them list reasons as to why they wont pay out and this is never listed.

When i was getting the halifax mortgage you needed to have protection cover i gave them the info i had and they accepted it.

In fairness BOI have been really sympathetic and have tried everything to try and help me but its the insurance company Genworth that are just plain refusing and where even really rude to the girl from BOI who was trying to explain it to them.

Word of warning i guess to anyone that did switch to make sure to double check your insurance.

Its not like im trying to pull a fast one if i had been informed i needed to change it i would have done so, i kept paying the policy for for the next 2 1/2 years i could have just been paying that i the correct company if i had known.

Now i dont know what to do im really screwed as i used my redundancy to pay my mortgage since i lost my job because the insurance company had told me they where going to pay out and their was no problem with my claim.

jor el

Strange that they let you pay insurance on a loan that no longer existed. When I had a bank loan, and cleared it off early, the payment protection insurance automatically canceled, and I even got a refund.

I wonder would you have any comeback over this, and the fact that Halifax accepted the other insurance as being valid? Could either bank be held in any way responsible. A solicitor may be needed, but since you're out of work, you may not be able to afford one, I guess.

Welease

jor el wrote: »

. A solicitor may be needed, but since you're out of work, you may not be able to afford one, I guess.

Why not pop into your local citizens advice.. they should have access to some free legal advice for you..

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

Musha

Genworth do my mortgage protection and I am with EBS... IS there no way they can pay the claim benefit to your own account and not the mortgage account, in fairness have not been to impressed with their customer support a bit hit and miss as far as product knowledge is concerned try pushing it a bit futher if they increased the premium to cover your extra borrowing then you should be covered, if not at least you should get your premiums back for the period as it would be classed as mis-sold. Seek legal/help to reslove

broker2008

I am not a great fan of this product and I don't sell it. Seems very unfair but the T&C's. I would be writing to Genworth, BOI & Halifax. After all these 3 compan ies benefitted from your business in one way or another. BOI would have got commission originally and I would imagine that they should have cancelled the cover when their loan was paid off. Halifax to a lesser extent should have answered your initial questions - they obviously didn't know the answer! I am a firm believer that these companies and Genworth should have to send out a request at renewal of the policy to ensure that one is still eligible. Of course BOI should have notified Genworth that the loan was paid off ie there is no longer need for the insurance. Both BOI & Genworth could at your suggestion make an ex-gratia payment of some sort. At the very least Genworth would have to return premiums paid for when you had no cover. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

dotsman

Definitely keep complaining (via registered letter) to all 3. Between them, they all messed up and you're the one left without a chair now that the music has stopped.

Once all official complaints procedures have been exhausted, you can escalate to Joe. He's a legend at this sort of thing. Although the whole procedure may take a while (and thus not rectify your current problem), I would expect him to at least order Genworth/BOI to repay your insurance premiums (since you were effectively paying for a non-service these past few years).

Halifax are probably not financially responsible for your dilemma, but whoever you dealt with is/was a tool!