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insurance companies

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  • 30-08-2011 7:46pm
    #1
    alicante56
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8 ✭


    a number of weeks ago joe duffy show had an article about insurance companies increasing premiums by 100% on life assurance policies or the other option was to accept half of the pay out due to you if you did'nt increase the premiums.

    If anyone is interested in setting up group to fight insurance companies on this issue please make contact


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    #2
    amdublin
    Registered Users Posts: 20,653 ✭✭✭✭amdublin


    What does it say in your Terms and Conditions about them doing this?

    Are the insurance companies acting within the remit of the t&c's?


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    #3
    alicante56
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8 ✭alicante56


    they talk about 5 year reviews and increases every year in line with inflation but in initial paperwork and t & c there is no indication that it would jump by 100%. A lot of information in relation to my policy anyway was withheld.


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    #4
    amdublin
    Registered Users Posts: 20,653 ✭✭✭✭amdublin


    Have you ever gone to the financial ombudsman about it?
    Sounds like something they'd be interested in hearing about it.


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    #5
    alicante56
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8 ✭alicante56


    on the way........want to get a posse together.......we can't all have taken the info up wrong..........now can we


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    #6
    Pablo Sanchez
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,207 ✭✭✭Pablo Sanchez


    Actually i think you are wrong on this one, by all means go to the ombudsman but you wont get much joy.

    I would imagine that if customers of 'Whole of Life' (WOL) policies actually took the time to read their policies they will see clearly that at the time of a review the life company will impose the current rates that apply to people of that age/health status etc.

    Lets just put first things first. If you take out a WOL policy for say 200k when you are 30, you might pay a premium of €35 euro. Now imagine that you live for a further 50 years. The total premiums you would have paid would be 35*12*50=€21,000 if the policy was not renewable.

    If you expect a business to promise you 200k at some point in the future (we will all die at some point) do you think its reasonable for them to keep the rates you pay the same at when you first took it out? No business would survive doing such a thing.

    If you want the cover you pay the price, its as simple as that.

    Just another example of Joe Duffy raising the hackles of his misinformed listeners.

    On the other hand if you took the policy out and your broker siad that the premium would stay static for the whole of your life then you do have a case for misselling, this is very different from the argument made by the OP however.


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    #7
    alicante56
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8 ✭alicante56


    ah pablo you are the first one i have spoken to that appears to have complete understanding ( you in insurance?????) of the situation and thats what i am talking about , was'nt told the premium would stay static just linked to inflation and i am goin down the road of misselling or even false and misleading information which is one step up.... I don't mind..... have the balls (i'm a woman) and the money.....principal of someone trying to make a fool of me...............


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    #8
    Pablo Sanchez
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,207 ✭✭✭Pablo Sanchez


    alicante56 wrote: »
    ah pablo you are the first one i have spoken to that appears to have complete understanding ( you in insurance?????) of the situation and thats what i am talking about , was'nt told the premium would stay static just linked to inflation and i am goin down the road of misselling or even false and misleading information which is one step up.... I don't mind..... have the balls (i'm a woman) and the money.....principal of someone trying to make a fool of me...............

    If your policy is inflation linked it is also known as an auto increase option, but this is different to the reviews which would be carried out seperatly to your annual (voluntary) increase.

    If you were not told that review would take place at regular intervals then the broker/advisor you were with was either a chancer or ignorant. Neither of these would be acceptable but im guessing that your beef was with the advisor and not the company in that case?


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    #9
    broker2008
    Registered Users Posts: 750 ✭✭✭broker2008


    Pablo is correct.

    A unit linked whole of life policy has an element of life cover and an element of savings within the policy. The cost of the life cover when you first took out the policy was less than the premium that you paid into the policy so a fund is built up. As one gets older the cost of life cover increases and less will go towards the savings. At some future date, the cost of the life cover is more than the premium that is being paid and the cost is covered by dipping into the fund. At some stage, the money runs out and the policy has to be reviewed hence the big increase in premium. I have seen higher increases - 350% as there really wasn't a high enough premium to start with.

    Had you taken out a mortgage protection or level term insurance policy the premium would have remained static, however, there is little or no opportunity to increase the life cover and there is no savings attached at any stage.

    http://www.itsyourmoney.ie/iym/wholeoflife


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