Reclaiming A&L Mortgage PPI - Help

[SeeingRed]

I know you have all probably read this predicament over and over, however, I require urgent advice if I may.

Five years ago when I re-mortgaged I took a mortgage with Alliance & Leicester and was told in no uncertain terms I had to take out a policy with another insurance company covering me for unemployment/illness etc to cover my monthly bills should I find myself unable to work. I feel this was very much mis-sold to me as I had no choice in the matter at the time and was advised that I would be not granted the mortgage if I refused this cover.

I have been paying just shy of £60 a month for the last 5 years and in April I found myself unemployed overnight having been unfairly dismissed. I phoned said insurance company, explained my situation and they said if you go to tribunal to argue your unfair dismissal and you win, by all means get back in touch and you will be entitled to the £800 per month cover for mortgage and bills.

To cut a long story short, my former employer settled out of court (which I preferred as the stress of losing my job was horrific and I am now pregnant so by losing my previous job which I held for many years I have now lost out on my maternity rights) and I rang the insurance company back to enquire whether this would still be acceptable ie me having it in writing my former employer settling out court rather than having to go through a full tribunal and they said yes this would be fine.

What I will say, the day before I was unfairly dismissed from my work I went to my doctor (as my dismissal resulted in a work colleague (with a history of bullying staff) starting an argument with me and claiming things were said, which were not and there were no witnesses to said argument) to which my doctor signed me off with stress.

I was then dismissed the day after this for my ‘gross misconduct’ and nothing to do with my sick line. My doctor gave me sick lines for 3 months as two months after I was dismissed I found employment after I was recommended to another firm so my doctor signed me off whereby I was in receipt of Employment Support Allowance. I have subsequently been refused the money I was told I was due by this insurance company due to me being signed off on the sick and they have claimed that now it is not an unemployment claim but a sickness claim which I disagree with as my dismissal was not as a direct result of me being signed off with stress. I was dismissed due to apparent ‘misconduct’. They claim that because I was on the sick for 3 months then I have to prove that I was under the care of a registered psychologist or psychiatrist which I find shocking and I can prove this then I get my money. Who wouldn’t be in a state of severe stress at losing their job overnight for no reason? I was not mentally ill as a result (which is what this insurance company are indicating I should have been to have been off on the sick) but I was in great stress. I was too stressed to start going for applying for jobs and going for interviews as a result of the predicament I was in and my doctor just continued my sick line once I found work to give me time to get over what happened in order for me to be back to my old self starting my new job.

I was between jobs for 3 months and you can’t claim for the first 30 days you are unemployed (another ludicrous rule) so I was merely claiming for 2 months benefit which I was originally told I was entitled to.

I have since written a letter to the insurance company arguing my case that it’s not a sickness claim it should still be an unemployment claim as I was unfairly dismissed and I was able to provide proof of this.

 

Help!! Are they right? Can they refuse my monthly benefit I have been paying for all these years? I had to borrow £2K off my dad to pay my bills as I was dismissed with no warning and had all my bills to pay.

 

I am so angry especially since I feel this policy was mis-sold. I have an appointment with CAB next week but my next monthly instalment to this outfit is due on 1st November and I just want to stop my direct debits. Will this affect my rights if I try and argue their decision further or should I continue to pay my monthly direct debit to them? Or should I approach a company that helps you if you have been mis-sold a policy to try and claw back some of the money they have taken from me over the last 5 years?

Any help would be gratefully received.

 

:-x:-x:-x:mad2::mad2:

Thanks

[SeeingRed]

In addition to my recent post entitled 'HELP', if I try to reclaim back my PPI should I continue to pay my monthly instalment or should I just cancel the direct debit immediately? Will it affect my claim if I cancel the direct debit immediately?

 

Also, would anyone care to recommend a good company who will help recoup any money due to me as there are so many companies out there that claim to be able to help. Any recommendations?

[SeeingRed]

Also, am I best appointing a company to do this for me or should I try claiming the money back myself by writing to the company directly?

[firstship]

This is a DIY claim do not pay anybody to do this,there is so much info on this site regarding PPI..........What reasons are you using to reclaim your PPI?????????????????There is no reason why you should not cancel your PPI now,it will reduce your payments dependant on the contract,who is the account with???????????????.............FS

[SeeingRed]

I am reclaiming as I was advised at the time of taking out my mortgage with Alliance & Leicester that I would not be granted the mortgage if I did not take this cover out. The PPI cover is with Cardif Pinnacle. If you read my post below (entitled Help) you will see that I have since tried claiming on my PPI when I was unfairly dismissed back in April from a job I held for 6 years, and I won my unfair dismissal claim (well it settled out of court). Cardif Pinnacle who are my PPI provider have just refused my letter of appeal ........ nightmare! So now I just want to claim all money paid to my PPI as this was falsely sold but I was desperate for my mortgage at the time.

[SeeingRed]

Is the following letter appropriate to send to the PPI provider?

 

I believe I have been mis-sold a payment protection insurance policy and would like to request a full refund of my premiums, plus interest paid.

I took out a £***** loan for a mortgage with ****** branch on ******* and was made to purchase a payment protection policy which would cost me an extra £***** monthly over the life of the loan. When I took out the loan, I was told by the Mortgage Advisor at Alliance & Leicester that my application would be refused if I did not also buy a PPI policy. The Financial Services Authority’s advice to consumers is that, while it does not breach FSA guidelines, a borrower should not be refused a loan if they choose not to buy an insurance policy.

I do not believe being forced to buy this policy as part of the loan was a fair and reasonable obligation as I did not need this insurance and said at the time of taking the loan that I did not want it but felt pressurised to take it in order to have the mortgage application granted.

 

I am requesting a full refund of all my insurance payments, plus interest, which total £*******.

If I do not receive a favourable response from you I will pursue this claim through the Financial Ombudsman.

If this is not appropriate, could someone advise?

[dx100uk]

pers i'd keep payments up

 

cancel the ppi by letter now

 

draw up a spreadsheet of what they have charged etc etc and get that in under a separate cover with your letter.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

no do it yourself.

 

dead easy & clearly a mis-sold PPI case.

you'll get everything back + interest they charged you.

 

write them tomorrow cancelling the policy.

cancel the DD now.

knock up a spreadsheet and put that in with a covering letter when ready.

 

dx

[SeeingRed]

Thank you very much for your advice. I will undertake to do same. Will the fact I have just tried to claim for unemployment benefit from it (and subsequently been refused it twice with them wangling their way out of it) have any bearing on me getting my money back do you think?

 

Thanks again, your response greatly appreciated

[SeeingRed]

P.S. What rate of interest am I likely to get back on top of what I've paid in already? Is it 8%? [sorry I don't have much clue, it was just what I picked up on reading through various posts last night]

[SeeingRed]

Also, if I send this letter off to them, what do I do if they send me one back refusing my money?

[craigers]

i would keep up the payments just now. why have they not paid out on you losing your job? i'd take it to the authorities if you feel you have a good case for them to pay out. saying that, you might get more money reclaiming your premiums, i don't know.

 

edit: just saw your other post. presumably they have a clause stating they don't pay out if you're sick through stress.'ll do anything to not pay out. i'd go to the regulator to complain about the situation.

Edited October 27, 2010 by craigers

[SeeingRed]

Yes they claim that because my unemployed was due to sickness. They would have paid out if I was under a consultant psychologist/psychiatrist so I wrote back to them disagreeing with their statement as I was dismissed due to an apparent misconduct which was subsequently settled out of court in my favour, details of which were orginally passed to Cardif Pinnacle. I argued I was signed off with stress a day before being dismissed due to misconduct, therefore I don't agree their viewpoint on it was fair. Becuase I was signed off with stress thereafter they are saying that because I was claiming Employment Support Allowance and not Jobseekers Allowance I am not entitled to my mortgage and associated bills being paid for me.

 

When you say take it to the authorities, do you mean the Financial Ombudsman? I've read they don't really resolve issues and are slow on the uptake. I now have 8 weeks from when I first appealed Cardif's decision to get back to them.

[craigers]

are your mortgage payments up to date? you're working again, aren't you?

[SeeingRed]

Yes, my mortgage payments are up to date, never bene defaulted, mortgage with Alliance & Leciester (although will be Santander now) and I am working again although I am pregnant so will have to leave my work in February when I go off on maternity leave. Getting dismissed from previous job through no fault of my own has left a lot to be desired!!!

[SeeingRed]

When I wrote to Cardif Pinnacle I told them that I was aware I can't claim for the first 30 days and that all I am claiming is the 2 months I found myself unemployed for with no money to pay my mortgage/bills. I had to borrow £2K off my father for this and was assured at the time by Cardif Pinnacle (back in April when dismissed from previous job) that I would get my money as long as I provided them with proof I won my tribunal or it settled out of court. Just after being paid off my doctor signed me off as I was unfit to start applying for jobs straight away (even although a month later I did start applying for jobs before I was offered the one I have now) as I was too upset about matters as my dismissal wasn't my doing, it was some bully at my prevoius work who got me the sack. So they are saying that because I was signed off sick the whole 3 months I'm not entitled to anything. My doctor knew how upset I was and because I obtained my job 2 months after being dismissed just kept signing me off so I could get myself together before starting afresh here at my new job. I thought this was fine and because Cardif told me as long as I could prove my unemployment was not my fault I'd be sorted! I am so angry. They've had nearly £4K out of me over the last 4.5 years and all I am asking for is 2 months cover which I whole heartedly believe I am entitled to.

[craigers]

with those figures i would definately reclaim your premiums plus interest- very handy to help when you're on maternity. cancel your ppi immediately. write to them requesting a refund on the grounds you were told you had to take the policy otherwise your mortgage application would've been refused.

 

did your doctor sign you off with stress or depression?

[SeeingRed]

The doctor signed me off with 'acute severe stress'.

 

I should have been entitled to £800 per month mortgage cover benefit with that policy.

 

So best plan then to cancel my direct debit straight away and send letter saying it was mis-sold, which it undoubtedly was. I can remember the Alliance & Leciester person saying I had to take it or no mortgage and me thinking it very strange but thought I'm not arguing, it's maybe a new policy banks are adopting and I really wanted the mortgage they were offering at the time. This won't have a bearing on my claim though if I do send a letter claiming the policy was mis-sold, the fact that I have just tried to claim legitamately for unemployment?

 

Also, if they refuse me, which I suspect they will, what do I do then? Any ideas?

 

Thanks for being so helpful by the way, this advice is much appreciated.

[SeeingRed]

By refuse I mean refuse to refund my premiums paid plus interest ......

 

Is interest generally 8%?

[craigers]

if they refuse then go to the fos. interest is at 8%.

[SeeingRed]

Okay. Thanks again. Is my letter sufficient in post #5 of this thread, is it competent enough to expect a hopefully postive result from it or do I need to go into more detail?

[SeeingRed]

Having just spoken to the FOS, they say I need to send my complaint to the Alliance & Leicester (as that's who my mortgage is with who sold me my PPI policy) and not Cardif Pinnacle, who is my PPI provider (who has just refused to pay out for my unemployment situation). On the FOS website there is a Payment Protection Insurance: Consumer Questionnaire form that you can fill in to send along with your complaint letter requesting monies back. Would you advise me to send that at this point or merely send my letter in requesting all payments back. If I hadn't of phoned the FOS there, I would have sent my letter of complaint to Cardif Pinnacle as they are the ones my PPI policy is with and to whom my monthly direct debits have been being paid to for the last 4 years.

 

So is it Alliance & Leicester I send my letter to and do I send it with the FOS questionnaire?

[dx100uk]

three threads merged and tidied session

 

dx

siteteam

[dx100uk]

will not hurt.

but be prepared for a long wriggle.

 

pers i'd include a spreadsheet of how & what you require refunding.

and again i'd stop payments now.

 

you also need to send a letter to cancel the PPI forthwith

 

as i said before

i'd do that now

 

and get your other stuff ready to go with our help

 

dx

[SeeingRed]

Hi again

 

Three things.

 

1 Well I cancelled my direct debit to Cardif Pinnacle (who my PPI is with via A+L) and sent my letter to Alliance & Leceister saying I believe I had been missold PPI along with detailed breakdown of each monthly payment since the policy started. I received a letter yesterday saying sorry for fact that they felt the need that I complain and that they are looking into my complaint by initiating an investigation. Surely if I have sent a short and sweet letter asking for my payments back, what's the need for their investigation? Should I bide my time and wait to hear back from them or send a further letter saying an investigation is not necessary and I want my money back as they will probably come back a load of tosh anyway resulting in an excuse for me not to get my money ................. can I have your feedback please?

 

2 Also, remember I did try to claim on my PPI when I was unfairly dismissed and provided Cardif Pinnacle with all the relevant paperwork surrounding the dismissal and the fact my former employer settled out of court without going to tirbunal, but because I was signed off by my doctor with stress immediately before my dismissal and for 3 months afterwards until I started new job Cardif are refusing to pay out. I sent them a letter (before I cancelled my policy) disagreeing with their decision as they had turned it from an unemployment claim to a sickness claim (and because I wasn't under a psychiatrist during that 3 months period, this is the reason for their non payment to me) - they still said that they refused to change their decision - they said I had 8 weeks to get back to them or they were considering my case closed. Should I still refute their decision?

 

3 Now that A+L are making an investigation into the false selling of the PPI to me, do you reckon they will see that I have tried to make a claim prior to me cancelling my direct debits then think that I am just making up the fact that the policy was missold to me, even although I was told at the time i took out the mortgage with A+L that this insurance was a necessity or else I wouldn't be granted the mortgage?

 

Your advice would be greatly received.

 

Thank you very much in advance.