pinnacle insurance

[ian 500]

hi all
me and my wife took out a £10,000 loan through ocean finance last july,in december my wife got took into hospital and was off work for 16 weeks.two weeks ago ocean sent a letter about further borrowing and when we contacted them the woman was giving me loads of figures and then she mentioned insurance that we have,,my reply what insurance,, you and your wife have sickness,accident and death benefit.so we contacted pinnacle they sent out forms got them all filled in from doctor and employer,1 week later pinnacle refuses claim on grounds that wife has not got same level as cover as me (it is a joint loan) so i asked how much this insurance cost me £2000 i nearly fell off my chair i asked can i cancell this, only if i pay off the loan was there reply.

so i have a insurance policy thats not worth the paper its written on for 2 grand that i did not even know about could this be classed as missold.

thanks ian

[buzby]

It can't be mis sold if they told you about it in the documentation and you signed it without seeking clarification. As for the loan being conditional on insurance, I'm convinced this cannot be enforced these days, so write to the insurer saying that as the the insurance clearly isn't suitable, you are terminating cover immediately. This should bring down your payments.

[Bookworm]

Not quite.

If the PPI was added to the loan without the OP's knowledge, or lumped in without separate documentation regarding it being sent for OP's perusal and confirmation, there are very good grounds indeed to seek reimbursement.

I would first of all ask for a copy of the original agreement showing where the insurance has been offered and accepted. IF it turns out that the cover is indeed valid, then I would read the policy very carefully to ensure that they are not telling big porkies about different levels of insurance for you and wife (simply because it sounds very convenient ).

Then, and this is the part where I agree with Buzby, cancel the insurance. There are absolutely no grounds for forcing you to keep on paying for a product which is of no use to you, and which is only a side "benefit" to the main product.

Let us know you get on.

[buzby]

It's the 'without knowledge' bit is the problem. It may well be documented, but with only a tick box showing on the main form as 'Insurance applies/requested' or similar. It would therefore be up to the applicant to reject it - just like trying not to pay for 'priority boarding' on Ryanair flights. The issue is one of consent, not informed consent - and this is where they get you!

[ian 500]

hi all
the part i cant get my head around is that i was not aware that i had this insurance till only about 3 weeks at the most thats 1 year without knowing regarding the forms i cant ever recall signing insurance even if i have this cover they have gave me is not suitable as it does not cover both of us and they never explained that

thanx ian

[Bookworm]

Well, follow the steps I gave you in my previous post and take it from there.

[buzby]

If you sign up for it, the omission is yours if it forms part of the documentation - they don't HAVE to tell you anything (although it would be nice if they did). As Bookie points out, you need to start the ball rolling...