I recently remortgaged with the Alliance & Leicester.I was surprised to receive a subsequent invitation from them to effect ASU cover (or mortgage protection cover, as they termed it).
This was sent despite my signing a declaration acknowledging that it had been offered but that I wished to decline.
I rang the general manager of Insurance Services whose name appeared on the letter and protested that “no means no”. He justified it by saying that people very often did not understand what they were saying no to.
He also went on to say that very often IFAs persuaded their clients to tick the box declining the option because they wanted the form completed as quickly as possible.
It is gratifying to know that our profession is held in such high esteem by lenders.
The more alarming aspect of this case is that A&L feel it is morally right to take income protection and ASU business from their introducers.
This totally undermines the widely accepted concept that introduced clients belong to the intermediary.
He finished by saying that he would see if the computer could be flagged not to mail my clients in the future. In a subsequent call from Michael Wright of A&L I was informed that he cannot give any guarantees that my clients will not be cross-sold.
Perhaps A&L need more letters from the rest of the IFA community to accept that this needs widespread observance and not just for those IFAs who rightly complain.
G O'Boyle
Anstey Financial Planning, South Molton, Devon
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