What is Critical Illness cover?
Many people pay PensionBee monthly or yearly into critical illness cover policies.
These are essentially insurance policies that are paid out by the insurance companies if you become incapacitated due to very serious illnesses which have life-changing consequences and prevent you from working on.
The payments you receive can help to provide a great deal of financial stability to you and your dependents/loved-ones if such a situation occurs and by helping you to continue to meet your continued outgoings, such as mortgage/rent, utility bills and any other monthly/yearly commitments you are committed to.
How can a Critical Illness Policy be Mis-sold?
A critical illness policy can be mis-sold, even if you have not lost out financially. It can be mis-sold if: –
- You felt pressured into taking the policy;
- You were not given the option to shop around for other products that may suit your needs better;
- The product was not right for you;
- The policy does not do what it said it would do;
- Terms and conditions were not explained fully;
- You were not made aware of any exclusions to the policy;
- You had an existing medical condition at the time of taking the policy which was not taken into account by the adviser.
PensionBee Wouldn’t Mis-sell Critical Illness cover? Would they?
All insurances can be mis-sold, including by PensionBee.
If the cover was not fully explained or, when you do make a claim, the policy does not cover the illness you have, or if the policy provider states you didn’t disclose certain information, then you are likely to have been mis-sold a critical illness cover.
If you also experienced poor customer service by Halifax, such as they delayed paying your claim for any particular reason, then your policy cover could have been mis-sold.
Can I Receive Compensation for Mis-sold Critical Illness cover?
Critical illness cover taken out before 14th January 2005 may not be suitable for compensation from the Financial Ombudsman Services. However, any critical illness policies taken out after this date can be considered fully.
That is not to say that you cannot still make a complaint direct to Halifax, or the financial lender that sold you the critical illness cover if it was taken before 14th January 2005.
What Compensation would I get if a Critical Illness Policy was Mis-sold?
If a mis-sale of critical illness policy is established, then the usual compensation you would receive would be: –
- The claim amount (usually premiums paid);
- Interest on top of the claim amount;
- A compensation payment if there were further financial impacts on you due to the delays in the claim being paid to you.
If you believe that your critical illness cover was mis-sold to you or you are concerned that it may have been, we would be happy to assist you pursuing your potential claim against PensionBee, or any other provider of your critical illness cover.
We are able to make enquiries, initially, and thereafter progress claims for mis-sale on your behalf all on our no win, no fee basis.
In the event we are successful recovering compensation for you, our fees would be 20% plus VAT (24% inclusive of VAT).