Let me pose a question. A young relation wants to buy her rented flat which is up for sale. Her father is on business abroad and is therefore unable to advise her all of the time. Said young relative contacts a mortgage advisor in the hope that the mortgage advisor can secure a good deal from one of the many sharks companies that abound.
The mortgage advisor indeed finds a good deal and the young female relative accepts it.
However the point of this post is that the young relative was advised that she should take out a comprehensive insurance package so she wouldn’t “Be a burden on her dad”(Direct quote from the mortgage adviser), if anything went wrong.
The package consisted of everything from Critical illness cover, life insurance (why? she has no dependants), unemployment cover, and more. This for the princely some of £170 per Month. All in all there were eight elements to the package. (I would have listed them all, but Mrs FE fielded the call and wrote them down whilst under the influence and I cant read all off her spider scrawl. And she can’t either. Wimmin!).
Is this misselling? I certainly think it is. Playing on the fears of a twenty three year old, is not fair game in my mind.
What do you think?
It might well be miss selling, but I believe there has to be a cooling off period on any financial service like this sold. That's the first thing I'd check.
ReplyDeleteIs said offspring still within the 'cooling off' period (if such applies)?
ReplyDeleteSounds like it to me. If the cooling-off doesn't save her, I'd ask to see a copy of their assessment of why her situation warranted that policy and a copy of their complaints procedure.
ReplyDeleteI have advised her that in her circumstances she has a 14 day cooling of period. I used to participate in a web forum that dealt with monetary matters. I was just wondering about your opinion on such tactics.
ReplyDeleteAll such "Advisor's" (even "Independent" ones) are on commission, so they have a vested personal interest in selling as much as possible. That's why they usually turn up in swank new cars....
ReplyDeleteSome of the elements you mentioned might be worth considering, but need to be looked at on an individual basis. If that's not an option look elsewhere for specific policies.
I would tell her to GET OUT OF IT ASAP, regardless of the details of the mortgage - this "coverage" is crap.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought that the only Insurance she really needs would be a mortgage protection policy which would ensure that the mortgage repayments were made for a six month period in the event that she falls ill or is made redundant.
ReplyDeleteI think you summed it up quite well when you mentioned sharks, except in this case the shark was in fact the mortgage advisor.
These mortgage 'advisors' are totally dependent upon the commission they receive from Insurance companies and are for the most part no more trustworthy than a double glazing salesman...
I'd be inclined to seek advice from the Finacial Services Agency.
Mmmm, so they're still trying that 30 years later.
ReplyDeleteA similar selling technique was tried with me when I first purchased a mortgage. My father insisted all I needed was either an endowment policy (no longer good these days), building insurance and contents insurance. He suggested life insurance to cover the mortgage, but I see whitenoiz suggests a mortgage protection policy.
Tell her to get alternative 'independence' advice - although that seems to be scarce these days as any independent will be pushing the policies with the highest commission.
I find most insurance is a con that you'll never need - and when you do there's something in the small print that says you're not entitled to claim.
ReplyDeleteBetter if that £170 is put into a direct savings account so if anything awful happens, the money is there for your relative should she need it on that rainy day.
She will need building and contents insurance and nothing more, to be on the safe side.
ReplyDelete