Back in 2000 I took out an Insurance policy with an established Insurance broker, who I new very well, because my French was not very good, and he spoke English very well, I explained that I required a Life Insurance Cover so that if either my husband or I passed away, we would receive money for funeral expenses etc., Recently the insurance stopped taking the direct debits from our account for my husband, so I contacted them to ask why, and they said because he was too old, (73) I could not understand this, so I spoke with a friend of mine who read through the policy to discover that the policy was for a' Death in Accident', and Not Life Insurance Cover. I was absolutely shocked, frightens and angry, there is NO WAY that I would have taken out a policy on' Death in an Accident.' as I am already covered for that.. I trusted the Insurance Brokers
So I have paid into this policy at a cost of nearly 100 euros, which I could hardly afford, for 13 years for absolutely nothing, and at the end of the day will receive no money should either of us pass away,, I am so angry about this, and when I discussed it with them,they didn't even offer some refund or compensation.. This is definitely of a case of Miss- sold Insurance..Policy.
Hello, Laraine.
I'm so sorry to hear that you've been mis-led in this way.
Early this year, we decided to get cover for just the same reason as you did (funeral expenses) and I contacted a company called Re-assured in UK. I'd looked at lots of other brokers/insurers and they all seemed to carry a 'weighting' for British-born living abroad. Re-assured got me in touch with Prudential who had no such weighting. It was all done over the 'phone with a policy document to sign after acceptance - quick and painless.
Not sure how your ages would affect an application (I'm 60 and my wife a few years younger), but I dealt with Dawn Wilkins at www.re-assured.co.uk. Telephone 0808 168 2025.
All the best.
Ian
PS please mention my name, I may get a M&S Voucher for a recommendation lol :-)
"he spoke English very well" unfortunately doesn't necessarily mean that he understood exactly what you wanted, perhaps he thought he knew what you wanted bearing in mind that policies aren't exactly the same from one country to another and there are sooo many insurances out there! the people we bought our business from (French) had missed a clause in their insurance contract that was obvious to me and which meant they couldn't get their hands on the money saved to re-invest in their next venture - insurance policies are a mine field not made easier by language problems!
Bonne chance comme même ;-)
Hello Chris,
I would be so grateful for help, it seems that I have paid so much money over the years and then suddenly it has stopped with any return. God forbid if anything happened to my husband or me at this precise moment, what would I do??
Hi Loraine,
Just saw your post today. You are absolutely right. You have been missold. A friend of mine -ex-Executive of a major Insurance company -also bilingual and bicultural - helps solve these kind of cases for a living. If you wish, I can put you in contact with him so that you may enquire about what can be done.
Hope this helps.
I suggest that you do write to the actual insurance company just to record it. If they don't respond the Mediateur may be useful! Good luck!
Hello David,
I have already been intouch with them, and all they say is they are really sorry, but they cannot do anything about it,
The Guy who acturally was the broker and a friend of mine, has since retired, and so a new Insurance broker has taken over, Someone on the Anglo info suggest that I go to the Maison de Droits in Bordeaux. You see, I don't have the money to take them to court, but I know that I would not have taken a Death on Acciden policy out, I particularly asked
for a Life Insurance. Thanks for your suggestion.
I suggest that you write to the agent/broker/ salesman to confirm that you have a complaint. I am not in the industry but most insurance companies in Europe are required to have compalints procedures. They should not sell policies to people who don't understand them (at least in general terms).
Hi Dave,
You said, I could try writing to him .... Who do you mean?
You could try writing to him, pointing out your disatisfaction. Not on life assurance but on PPI insurance in the UK looks like I am getting some compensation for wrongful selling. Here in France there is somebody called Mediateur de la France in all departments, usually at the prefecture but independent of them. I have a claim against a local authority which they are avoiding and ignoring which I have just started to take proccedings via my mediateur. No doubt it will be long and hard but.... You may well find that your insurance company is more responsive than your commission crazy broker or agent.