Dual insurance nightmare

[rowan600]

Two yrs ago I took out a new mortgage with a company called The mortgage works.
The broker that I used also got quotes for life / buildings & contents insurance for my new house, which frankly i didnt need as i was able to increase the ones that i already had running. I contacted the mortgage lender and told them this, they were quite happy but explained that they would need to be a named interest on the policies. I contacted the insureres and had their interst added & faxed the mortgage works this proof and thought that was an end to it!!

Wrong...in the first year of this new mortage the company failed to send us an end of year statement, i contacted them only to be told that they had sent one, which i clearly had not received. They would charge me £25 for the previdge of sendin another so i told them not to bother!

The next year I did receive the end of yr statement and low and behold they had been taking £35.00 per month included in the mortgage payment for buildings & contents insurance.
I contacted them straight away and told them that this had been cancelled two yrs before. They said that it had not and if i wanted it cancelled...yes you've guessed it they would charge me a £25 admin fee!
I refused to pay so they refused to cancel the policy, of course i had to back down.
Then came the problem of trying to claim back the premiums that they had been taking from me, in excess of £800. Apparently this problem falls under 'dual insurance law', and my god have they run rings around me since November.

We have had every stalling question in the book, what was the sum assured with the other company (Abbey) had we had any claims etc etc each one of these by letter, and no two people in the whole company bothered to avail themselves of the problem.
This has meant me having to explain every time i ring them.
It is now April & I have still not received as much as an apology from them. Apparently dual insurance law means that both insurers involved have to cough up 50% of any refund due. This seems very odd to me as Abbey had done nothing wrong.
However I have learned today from Abbey that because we had a 'claim' on a garden wall back last June, which in fact was not covered by the policy and we could not claim. They still classify this as a claim, despite the fact that they did nothing except send out an assesor who said it wasnt covered!
This means that they do not have to give us back 50% of the total that we have dually paid, so instead of receiving 50% of 24 months worth of premiums we are now only entitled to 50% of 4 months!! Whats the betting that the mortage works will say the same??
So I am £800 out of pocket through no fault of my own, and i still have a broken garden wall that cannot be claimed for on either policy!!
How in gods name can these companys get away with treating people like this, any ideas...I'm open to anything!

[comanche]

Don't know the answer to this I'm afraid but the Insurance Ombudsman has teeth and isn't afraid to use them.

[Loula]

Hi Rowan600,

Have you spoken to someone in authority at the mortgage works?

Do you have the original fax or letter stillon your PC, names of the people you have spoken to, the dates, advise given and all written correspondence?

If you have most of this, you should contact the CEO and demand the refund as it is their mistake.

If you are unsure how to word such a letter, I caould help you and get the names of people in the mortgage works to write to.

LOULA

[rowan600]

Thanks for the advice.
I will attempt to draft a letter to Mortgage works MD & CEO and will cc it to the insurance obudsman.
Do you have a correspondence address for this dept (Insurance Ob)?

[Loula]

Hi!

More to follow after the kids bath, but you may want to quote this in your letter from TMW's website...

Commitment to Service
We are strongly committed to the highest quality customer service. As part of this commitment we have established strict standards of service aimed at providing you with:-

1 Excellent service;

2 Efficient administration of your account;

3 A personal and courteous response to your enquiries;

4 Absolute confidentiality.

Be back on line about 8 with your info

LOULA

[Loula]

Evening,

Write to Matthew Wyles (have met him a couple of times and always found to be quite straight forward). He is the Group Development Officer at Portman Building Society and one of the Directors of the whole Group so covers the Mortgage Works as well. He is an ex Insurance person so knows the lie of the land.

As regards the Insurance Ombudsman, I suggest you write to Matthew first then if nothing satisfactory happens, follow this link, fill out the form and send it off.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...mplaints.htm#3

Good luck, if you need any further help you know where to find me

LOULA

[rowan600]

Thankyou for such excellent advice, I will let you know how it goes!

[rowan600]

Yes result!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!
I did as you suggested and constructed a very long and detailed account of this nightmare!

I have today received a cheque for total settlement of all the premiums that Mortgage Works have taken in error, they are not admitting that they are at fault of course but who cares, they couhged up, all i ever wanted was my money back, thank you heeps to all the moderators that advised me

[rowan600]

Have just made a donation to this fab website, thanks guys

[douglaslloydadams]

I too have a dual insurance nightmare... two years ago this month (November 2005) I took out a small mortgage with the Halifax, they offered me insurance, and I said no, I was happy with my insurer (Zurich).
Unbeknownst to me, they took out insurance anyway on my behalf, for buildings and contents with accidental damage, about which I knew nothing until I received a renewal notice this month for the first time - I received no renewal last November, whether through Halifax error or PO mess up, I can't say.
I sent the Halifax copies of my insurance with Zurich for 2005-2007, and have today received a letter which states that , as is 'normal practice' with such cases, they are providing me with a 50% refund which they will not credit to my bank account, but to my mortgage account.
I explained to the man that I spoke to that I fail to see why the Zurich should have to reimburse me, as their insurance was what I had chosen, and I had in any case now switched my insurance to Cornhill, so why should the Zurich reimburse me for a Halifax error? In any case, the Halifax insurance was more expensive, so I was not getting a full refund ... all I got was a lot of flannel from the smooth operator in Dual Insurance at the Halifax, at which I said that I would put my complaints in writing to the management of the Halifax.
I don't see why I should only get half and no interest refunded for what is neither my error nor the Zurich's ...
Is the Halifax actually allowed to rip me off this way?