Hi, I am hoping that someone will be able to advise me on problems I am having with Liverpool Victoria.

I signed a 15 year insurance deal with them which matured in May 2005.  The amount was just over £5000, not a lot to them, but it has caused major problems for me. 

Everything wento okay untill I changed my bank account, filled in a DD form and passed it to Liverpool Victoria.  They set it up but neglected to action it.  I wasn't aware of this untill I received a letter from them telling me that I owed them a large sum of money on your policy.  I payed as much as I could, and set up an increased DD for the remainder; no mention was made of the policy being near its end.  When I discovered this I wrote and complained (ordinary post) and followed it up with a phone call; I was promised a phone call from a manager which never happened.

One thing that doesn't help is that they only seem to receive mail which either has payments in, or is sent by trackable means.  Any other mail seems to mysteriously not arrive; my guess is that it is lost in action in a shredder.

Any way the policy matured and I tried several times to claim it through phone-calls, (to obtain the relevant paper-work), and letters.  I finally got the policy repaid after about 15 months. After a letter sent to their CEO stating that if they didn't pay it I would contact BBC's Watchdog.

Since then I have been trying to get compensation from them (the words blood & stone come to mind).  First they offered £25 which has now been increased to £50.  Personally I think they should refund the charges that were inflicted on my accounts as a (3 credit cards, and my buildin society) plus charges they have made on me for late repayments on a personal loan with them.

I have found them to be very evasive (they refuse to identify themselves when either they phone me or I phone them).  Their excuse is along the lines of "well you should know who we are as you are phoning us".  Up to now I have not spoken to anyone whose, IQ exceeds their shoe size; they seem unable to understand that the reason I have no money available is that they owe me.  

To worsen the problem the only way of contacting them is through "free" numbers (0800), although they aren't free if the only phone you have access to is a mobile.  I have pointed this out to them and their CEO regularly without any feedback.  I have a long-standing policy of not phoning people who can't be bothered to identify themselves, being on a low paid job I can't afford to waste money like that. 

They are currently persuing me for last months payment, which I phoned up and paid on Wednesday; apparently though I was talking to someone who can't input approximately 20 figures in the right order as it wasnt paid.  Yesterday I got a letter from them demanding 2 months payment by next weekend or they will be taking me to court.  What planet do these people live on?  How am I supposed to find 2 payments when I am struggling to pay one?

Every month I am getting more charges on my accounts and no help from Nationwide, or LV. 

I have followed through on my threat of Watchdog - they did't want to know.

Can anyone help please? 

 

 

Basically, if I read this right, you want compensation for what? They repaid your policy and offered something for the inconvenience, but you don't want this - what EXACTLY do you want?

The compensation culture in the UK has gotten ridiculous and I cannot see why an issue with you not checking your accounts properly should result in the company concerned making large 'compensation' payments to you. The issue is as much your fault as it is theirs and yet you can only see it as their problem. Sorry - unless I have completely misunderstood the essence of your posting here I cannto see what Watchdog (or anyone else for that matter) can do for you beyond that which has already been done.

SHARK!

---

For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

I probably didn't explain it very well, they delayed payment of my policy by 15 months which caused massive problems as in un-paid bills.  This is what I trying to claim for; the way I see it they have admitted liability by offering compensation.  Would you accept £50 when you a load of debt inflicted on you by someone else's incompetence. 

In what way is it my fault that they didn't settle the policy in a timely fashion?

 

This is one of my bug bears & I work with an insurance company. The amount of people who ring up & say "I have recieved an arrears letter but I'm paying the premiums through my bank". When asked when the last payment went out of their account, the reply is "well I don't know because I don't check my bank account". AAAGGGHHH!!. This really does make my blood boil, check your account, because if money is being taken without your knowledge, how are you to know.

I had 2 payments of £30 go out of my account that I didn't know about & because I religiously check my statements as soon as I get them, I rang the bank asap & raised it with them. The money was put back into my account as Visa couldn't confirm or prove that the payments had been made by me (which they hadn't).

6 of one half a dozen of the other. They should have informed you earlier admittedly, but you should keep an eye on your account to make sure all of your payments are made.

Good on you though for taking up the delay in recieving the maturity cq.

Surely though if the DD has been set up and not used, it down to the incompetants at the company taking the money. IT IS NOT THE CUSTOMER'S FAULT IF THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THEIR JOB.

I would suggest you re-read the original posting then you may understand what is going on.

why are you not checking your account?? No offence but this is your fault. Why have a bank account - an account which has YOUR money in it - and not know what is happening with it??? Its like when people say "I went on holiday and therefore missed a mortgage payment"...the individual goes on holiday but the direct debit remains in place. I check my bank everyday and never have these problems and to say you couldnt phone there free number because you only had access to a mobile says a lot more about you then LV.

---

LukeT