When I purchased my house I used the services of a financial advisor who also sold me health insurance policy to cover the mortgage at that time.

Recently on speaking to a colleague at work, she has the same cover for a quarter of the price I am currently paying. I feel like Ive been pressured by the FA to take out a policy that was far more expensive than I needed to be paying.

Is it possible to get my premiums refunded for this, or do I have to forfeit them if I cancel it and move to a cheaper product?

Feeling really let down by someone I thought was giving me sound advice.

treat as a PPI

yes you can reclaim it!

Thank you for the reply DX.

Please can you point me in the best direction to do this.

I did try to recliam my PPI (using a company) but all came back with no PPI paid.

Would I only be able to claim back for 6years of the premium paid or will I be able to get all my payments back?

Heartened at the prospect of being able to reclaim, but still feel let down by trusting someones advice I paid for.

treat as a PPI

yes you can reclaim it!

On what basis?

How/why was it mis-sold on the limited information we have?

It is a different process for such complaints. You have to complain to the company the financial advisor worked for and it can't just be that the premium was more expensive. When you use a financial advisor they have to go through a process of explaining their service, what commissions they charge etc etc. When they run through details of Insurance products it depends in whether they offer one Insurers products or whether they have access to whole market. They will provide you with details of the product that suits your needs and it is then up to you to shop around to see whether it is competitive for the type of cover.

It is no the same as PPI and you are very unlikely to gain any refund. However, what you can do is send the company a Data Protection Subject Access Request asking for a full copy of the records related to you being registered with them as a client and Insurances being sold. You don't have to explain reasons for asking for this info. When you get it back, ask for advice. But it needs to go into anlot more detail, that you would not need to for PPI claims.

The FA knew my whole circumstances at the time as I had recently taken out a mortgage with him. He continued to phone me to tell me how important it was that I took out this policy now that I was on my own and what would the kids do if I took ill - despite me not having a job!!

As soon as I managed to find a temp job I made this policy a priority which now seems so stupid, but Id been scared into it. He had told me that this was more expensive because it didnt decrease over the term and my kids would need £ as well as somewhere to live if I was no longer here.

Ive recently found that Im paying through the nose for something I could get at a quarter of the cost.

I trusted him to give me good advice esp in my circumstances at the time. On reflection it seems that he took advantage of the situation I found myself in.

But they quoted you a price for a product and you accepted. It is the same as buying anything else. If you don't check by shopping around then you might end up paying a higher premium. The Moneysavingexpert site has had details about these products and costs for about the last 12 years. It goes into details about different products and has details of approximate costs.

All Insurances are different and you can't just compare based on price. It is important to look at the cover when comparing. You can't just presume that the only reason for the price difference is the commission received by the financial advisor.

Sorry to sound harsh, but if you want to succeed with a complaint in these situations, you have to prove that the financial advisor made a mistake in how they handled your business. The starting point us a subject access request. Just sending a complaint will lead to you being fobbed off.

On what basis?

 

How/why was it mis-sold on the limited information we have?

Thanks for your reply Unclebulgaria67. my last post was filling in the blanks for the above question.

My FA is no longer trading under his own name. He has gone to work for a company.

Where would I sent the SAR request to?

Thanks for your reply Unclebulgaria67. my last post was filling in the blanks for the above question.

 

My FA is no longer trading under his own name. He has gone to work for a company.

Where would I sent the SAR request to?

Presume they must file their client paperwork somewhere, so it can be accessed. If they were registered as an IFA, you might have to contact the FCA or other body that deals with IFA's to ask where the client data was sent. Perhaps it was sent off to the actual Insurers you had the policy with ?

I would say that if this IFA was working on their own and this is no longer the case, that you have almost no chance getting any refund by making a complaint. Put it down to experience, arrange a more competitive policy elsewhere and cancel the current policy.

The fact that the policy was dearer than others on the market does not make it mis-sold on it's own IMO.