Annoying insurance niggle

[timwilky]

I have a critical illness policy with Scottish Provident for which I pay £55 a month. Until July when it went it went up to £116 a month. I have to admit I had not noticed until today and got on the phone to them.

Apparently they have had a mid term review of my policy and decided to double it.

Why did you not ask my consent?
We do not have your address

Well why did you ask for it as part of the "security" questions.
That is your old address, not your new one

I haven't moved
Yes you have

No I have lived here for 25 years, the policy is only 10 years old

Well why have you returned our mail
I haven't

Well someone has, can you please write to us with proof of your new address.
I haven't moved, there is no new address, your system is wrong.


Well we cannot tell you why we have doubled your premium until we have proof of your address.
Look, you have my address. I have never told you I have moved, so stop assuming I have moved and issue the letter now.

We cannot, we need your address.



Is this bloke dumb or what. I want to know why they have doubled my policy premium, taken it without my consent. He wants to write to me and wont accept the address they already have is correct.

Agghh!!!!

[Bri w]

er how will writing to him with your address help when you would be ... a bright spark is he?

Would he accept an email

[the_lone_wolf]

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/chillout-room/42550-microsoft-seeks-patent-shaming-fat-gamers-computer_says_no_7mvv.jpg

[Owenski]

one of those phone jockys following a script again me thinks.

[timwilky]

one of those phone jockys following a script again me thinks.


Co incidence I had that yesterday

My virgin media ultra reliable internet wasn't

when you reboot the modem it assigns the attached device an RFC 1918 class c (192.x.x.x) address and then when it has booted it clears the address and fails to assign a full internet ip address. My diagnosis is something wrong with their DHCP server.

first call, 3 for a fault, 2 for internet etc.

Hello sir this is fred with the Indian accent. after 20 minutes of script reading that I am not understanding, we cannot support unix system. IT ISN'T MY SYSTEM AT FAULT, IT IS YOUR NETWORK he decides that the problem is with my system and transfers me to their charge system to get help with my system.

Phone down and another indian voice. Can you please transfer me to a UK based call support centre please. No call back!

3rd attempt definately an English voice, at least this time I might be able to understand him. He at least listens before telling me to reboot. It does what I said it is doing, so at least he tells me to do something useful and disconnect from the cable network and reboot. This time I get the RFC 1918 address but it never clears as the modem has not connected to the VM system. Yes sir, that definitely confirms there is nothing wrong with your system and that the failure to assign an address is on our network. HALLY BLOODY LULIAH. I connect back to the cable network whilst he makes other calls.

5 minutes later, yes sir we have just been told there is a fault in your area. If it hasn't cleared in the next 4 hours please call us back.

Now if I could get an ISP other than virgin I would be off like a robbers dog. why o why do customer services get outsourced to people who provide such bad service that thier customers go elsewhere.


I feel like having a right good rant at someone this week.

[Owenski]

justifiably frustated stuff.

Now if I could get an ISP other than virgin I would be off like a robbers dog. why o why do customer services get outsourced to people who provide such bad service that thier customers go elsewhere.



I'd wager its because they're obliged to provide a customer service helpline department but in reality they dont have any interested in actually serving their customers any help. Make it head bangingly frustrating to call said CSHD and no one will bother.

my 2p worth.

[WeegieBlue]

I'll PM you timwilky - I can help you with this. I used to work for the Financial Ombudsman Service ;)

[Bluefish]

C'mon tim, you only had to phone three times and you have proved it's them at fault and not you, that's a bloody result is that.

[orose]

If you want a UK representative from VM, the only way to get it seems to be to call in office hours - everyone based in this country knocks off at 6 and the script monkeys pick it up after that.

[Specialone]

Also, having read up and watched an episode on watchdog on this subject i wouldnt trust critcal illness cover at all.
Very very over priced, wont pay out on as many things as you think, many policies mis sold, if you are self employed it complicates things.
It says cancer, but a woman with abbey nationals (on watchdog) policy had breast cancer and because she recovered, they didnt pay out.

Not worth the paper its written on imo

[WeegieBlue]

Also, having read up and watched an episode on watchdog on this subject i wouldnt trust critcal illness cover at all.
Very very over priced, wont pay out on as many things as you think, many policies mis sold, if you are self employed it complicates things.
It says cancer, but a woman with abbey nationals (on watchdog) policy had breast cancer and because she recovered, they didnt pay out.

Not worth the paper its written on imo

Not true. Nearly every company provides stats on payouts and rejections for you to review before buying. Also, each company specifies the grade of cancer it will pay out on. It didn't reject her claim because she got better, but more likely because the cancer did not meet the definition in the policy. Most people will assume a policy does certain things rather than reading the t&c's to see what it actually provides. Caveat emptor and all that. If you're spending £60 a month on a policy you really should be making sure it does what you want it to do, and not just assume it fits the bill.

I agree that advisers may well mis-sell the products but you should check what you sign and make sure for yourself that it fits the bill.

[Specialone]

Not true. Nearly every company provides stats on payouts and rejections for you to review before buying. Also, each company specifies the grade of cancer it will pay out on. It didn't reject her claim because she got better, but more likely because the cancer did not meet the definition in the policy. Most people will assume a policy does certain things rather than reading the t&c's to see what it actually provides. Caveat emptor and all that. If you're spending £60 a month on a policy you really should be making sure it does what you want it to do, and not just assume it fits the bill.

I agree that advisers may well mis-sell the products but you should check what you sign and make sure for yourself that it fits the bill.

Well mate, i have to disagree there, it was such a problem that watchdog almost dedicated a whole show to it at the time because of the number of complaints it received.
You can even walk away from certain personal loans now because the payment protection was mis sold.
The average person would not understand the average insurance policy because they delibrately make them that way.

When i read a policy offered to me 10 or so years ago, the advisor basically claimed i could be paid out on loads of different illnesses, but in reality you basically had to die in most cases, which becomes an expensive lif insurance policy instead.

Not a fan, but thats my opinion and i aint gonna change it.

[WeegieBlue]

I think you're mixing up your insurances. Critical illness cover pays a lump sum upon diagnosis of one of a number of specified illnesses regardless of whether it kills you or not. Payment Protection Insurance is a joke of a product designed to make money off those who can least afford it. I've just done 9 months on a project working with PPI and I can't believe it was ever even legal.

So, CIC is generally good, PPI is generally horrific!

[Specialone]

I think you're mixing up your insurances. Critical illness cover pays a lump sum upon diagnosis of one of a number of specified illnesses regardless of whether it kills you or not. Payment Protection Insurance is a joke of a product designed to make money off those who can least afford it. I've just done 9 months on a project working with PPI and I can't believe it was ever even legal.

So, CIC is generally good, PPI is generally horrific!

Im not mixing them mate, i know the difference, i was giving a mis sold example

[WeegieBlue]

Fair enough. I guess anything that is mis-sold can seem bad. If it's sold properly and all t&c's are explained I think it's a good product. The reason I say that is I used to sell it and a friend bought a policy and later had to claim when he became ill. He met the criteria and got a decent payout. I think if you're sold something and told it will do one thing but it turns out it does another then the person who sold it to you needs a shoeing - be it insurance or anything else!

[punyXpress]

Back to your Scottish Provident problem, Tim . . .
In post #5 you say " then when it has booted it clears the address "
Perhaps Scottish Provident & Virgin Media are ganging up on you?
10 weeks ago my internet was ' upgraded ' & I was warned there might be disruption of service of " up to 20 minutes "
50 DAYS LATER it was put back on! Count yourself lucky.

[Viney]

Tim. The 1st one, ask to speak to a manager, but then i dont need to tell you this. Your probably already have.

The second one. Well, i reckon its because you dont have something thats normal. i'e Windows or Mac. Therfore they have no idea what is going on. I have been with Virgin 4 years now, and other than a few issues with billing etc. I catn fault them. I have had to call them a couple of times and yes thier customer service is ropey, but i get there in the end.

[timwilky]

Is critical illness necessary, No. But I saw my brother in law going though cancer and ultimately dying. Initially he could get nothing from the benefit system as he was self employed, even though incapable of doing his job. Once he had been diagnosed as terminal he got a princely £109/week hardly enough to make him comfortable in his last months.

OK, my employer will pay me my salary for 12 months if I am ill. But what happens if I have a slow lingering death etc. Fine after death other policies and my pension pay out but my concern when taking out the policy was pre death.

The idea of the critical illness policy was to make my final days should they come early comfortable. To be able to fund the move into a house suitable for the wife after my death, to have those last couple of holidays together and to be able to say goodbye and leave memories. All things I saw my father do.

As for looking for excuses not to pay. When I took my policy out there was an exclusion that would not pay out in the event of a disability etc due to my spine as I declared previous inuries. When I asked for clarification, they confirmed they would pay in the event of a non pre existing condition of the spine such as a spinal tumour or injury resulting from a violent or external source such as a car accident. (kept the letter) so in my opinion so long as you are fully honest with them and do not give them the excuse to renege. They wont.

[Drew Carey]

On the customer services issue. At a previous company I worked for, a number of outsourcing companies in Mumbai were used.

When training them, on the first 3 days, new employees were sat in a dark room watching British movies. This included Harry Potter, various James Bond, Pride & Prejudice......and my favourite film I was told.......The Full Monty!!!!!

[WeegieBlue]

Is critical illness necessary, No. But I saw my brother in law going though cancer and ultimately dying. Initially he could get nothing from the benefit system as he was self employed, even though incapable of doing his job. Once he had been diagnosed as terminal he got a princely £109/week hardly enough to make him comfortable in his last months.

OK, my employer will pay me my salary for 12 months if I am ill. But what happens if I have a slow lingering death etc. Fine after death other policies and my pension pay out but my concern when taking out the policy was pre death.

The idea of the critical illness policy was to make my final days should they come early comfortable. To be able to fund the move into a house suitable for the wife after my death, to have those last couple of holidays together and to be able to say goodbye and leave memories. All things I saw my father do.

As for looking for excuses not to pay. When I took my policy out there was an exclusion that would not pay out in the event of a disability etc due to my spine as I declared previous inuries. When I asked for clarification, they confirmed they would pay in the event of a non pre existing condition of the spine such as a spinal tumour or injury resulting from a violent or external source such as a car accident. (kept the letter) so in my opinion so long as you are fully honest with them and do not give them the excuse to renege. They wont.
This is exactly what CIC is for. I agree with all of this post

[454697819]

and which is why if you buy from a decent IFA, they have a reputation to maintain they wont sell you a stupid policy. I am with bright grey as they are the only ones my IFA advises, although he sells lots of others.

Again the onus is on the purchaser reading the policy too.

Regards

Alex