Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Trapped by the knights who say ni!
Telegraph: Jobless in Henley: My mortgage lender won't let us move house
"Recession diarist Julie Salt says we are being trapped in our own homes by the ‘Black Knights’ of the financial services sector. Our mortgage protection insurance exposed the first chink in our personal armour after my husband’s secure job disappeared in redundancy. As extra fortification for just this eventuality – for twelve years we paid £40/month into a mortgage protection policy. When we needed to activate the payments the company required us to ‘sign on’ for Jobseekers Allowance, enabling us to receive mortgage payments after sixty days of unemployment had elapsed. Although it is standard for insurance companies to set deferment periods, it is hard to predict before you are actually ‘under siege’ what this will mean for you in practise."
12 Comments
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1. Maihem said...
She says she's virtually paid the mortgage! So she can sell and pay off the debt, and move! What's wrong?
2. Danny said...
Once he has gone through the 'shame' of signing on. He will have to wait for up to 8 weeks before they process his claim.
He will be given three months to find work he is trained in. During that time will have to accept ANY JOB that the Job Centre push onto him.
Same thing happened to my brother. He was an engineer, but he could not find anything. So the Job Centre MADE him, under threat of cutting off his allowance, take a job, standing in front of a milling drill for 8 hours a day in poor breathing equipment.
He said it was like being in a Siberian Mine.
The dust mask, and cheap respirators didnt work properly. He was constantly soaking in sweat all day. And it was monotomous, and potentially dangerous work, for minimum wage.
After ten weeks he had to pack it in. He then spent 3 weeks in bed sick as a dog.
Apparetnly this company were always advertising, and never got any reponses.
The ONLY way they could get their people was through the Job Centre, who supply them with a fresh batch, of applicants, who are under threat, of having their allowances cut of, and therefore, as in the case above, losing their home. [If the Job Centre cuts you off, your mortgage repayment insurance ends.] You have NO CHOICE. [and the people in the Job Centre are truly little hitlers]
My Brother had to leave this company, and was in bed, sick as a dog for 3 weeks, because of this job. [And hes a 33 year old tough guy]
The company have never employed anyone for more than 3-6 months. They had a constant stream of people from the Job Centre
After that, the Job Centre will push another Evil Gordon Brown scheme onto him.
'New Deal'
I do not exagerate.
The Job Centre, also 'outsource' training. On how to find work. To 'companies' that in Yorkshire have been under investigation, by the local newspapers. On a number of occasions. Theres nothing they can do to HELP you find work, but they only get paid, if the people stay there all day every day, until they find work.
Aftr the induction, they basically leave you alone in a room all day, with immigrants who can hardly speak any english, writing CV's.
Thing is, you HAVE to attend all day everyday. Aftr this first couple of days there is NOTHING for you to do. But sit there.
Looking through papers for the latest job.
Whilst being treated as though you are a complete moron. And you HAVE to just sit their ALL DAY.
If you leave. They cut you off.
If you have an important appointment to go to. You will be stopped. If you go anyway. The Job Centre cut you off.
It is truly a nightmare to find yourself in.
And most people come out of it, feeling a LOT LOT more worthless than when they went it.
Truly a nightmare.
Its truly a completely awful system that is not designed to help you get back into work.
It is a sytem designed to be brutal, to anyone who does not do EXACTLY what they are told to do.
And is open to massive abuse.
Well Done Again Labour........................
3. little professor said...
Hubby can't claim on his mortgage protection insurance because he keeps taking odd-jobs which reset the 60-day unemployment period waiting time. Why doesn't he stop taking on the odd-jobs then?
4. debtfree said...
littleprofessor,
exactly, what a dougnut. surely the temp work for 5 days isn't going to pay as much as the payment protection plan for the mortgage ?
they are also complaining because they can't move....when he's only just started a self employed business.
The Telegraph must be desperate to print this rubbish.
5. paul said...
This is a bit of a non-story, and I can only assume its in the paper because the writer is well connected with the Telegraph. He can't stop taking odd jobs because they pay lots of money.
6. crunchy said...
Insurance has one main purpose to secure the insurer.
Don't ask for your money back as a smack in the mouth often offends!
‘Black Knights’... "personal armour".. "extra fortification"....‘under siege’?
They dont need insurance anyway, sounds like they need a Damn Fortress.
7. crunchy said...
Throwing Boiling Oil. lol
8. d'oh said...
They get into bed with a nest of vipers like insurers and they are surprised when they are bitten? People really do live in a fairy land of knights and castles etc. I suppose I did when I was young and naive, but these people must be well into their 30s. Unemployment and loan insurance are just not applicable for most people.
9. it_is_going_with_a_bang said...
I guess the lesson here is read the small print before you take out insurance and build up your expectations.
It is merely the ignorance of how the system works and what can be expected of it that is being shown here.
Then to be fair when they sell the insurance they don't exactly point these issues out either.
Also I am a little bemused about the "virtually paying off our mortgage" bit. If that is the case then surely just sell up and buy somewhere a little cheaper and have no mortgage? Or is it a half truth?
10. last_days_of_disco said...
I think they have a case to get their premiums back because of miss-selling. The fact is they sell this insurance as a guarantee of cash if you lose your job till you get a new one. If it isn't that, it has been miss-sold. The onus is on the insurer to make the terms and conditions really clear. However if they did that, they wouldn't sell any, so they lie. I think they could get their premiums back.
11. Karellen said...
"Why doesn't he stop taking on the odd-jobs then?"
I think if he does that then he becomes ineligible for JSA. And if he's ineligible for JSA, he also might not be eligible for the insurance payouts. I mean, do you really think that an insurance company will keep paying out unemployment insurance to someone who could get a job but chooses not to, or who has actively turned down work?
I don't think so. If anything, this story is just more confirmation of how insurance companies are nothing but thieving bastards who will do all they possibly can to not provide the service that you pay them for.
12. ketha said...
The trouble is that insurance advice is bundled in with mortgage advice to make it easier to sell products. The products are then very generic. The banks make MOST of their money off insurance. But surely personal responsibilty has come into it. I know it's easy to say but if you haven't got 60 days worth of pay in your bank as emergency you're living beyond your means. And this idea that banks have some moral obligation to lend you money is very troubling. He's self employed... therefore his income is far from guaranteed.
But generally insurance should be cleaned up... to be fair governments are trying but until they stop being in awe of the moneymen, and start treating like the economic pariah's they are, we won't get anywhere.