Someone else is insuring my home and contents
Discussion
Bear with me here, lengthy tale.
TL:DR – someone else is insuring my house and contents. Will that affect me in any way and is there any possible fraud at play?
I’ve lived in my house since 2010. I know the name of the previous owner, who was there for several years prior, and also of a tenant who he put in for a short time when he moved out and before he sold to me.
About 4 years ago, a letter from the Woolwich turned up addressed to two people I’d never heard of. It was A4 format and through the window I could just about make out the word “mortgage”. Assuming it was a clerical error, notwithstanding that I don’t have any accounts or policies with the Woolwich, I RTS.
Almost exactly a year later, another arrived which I also RTS.
Almost exactly a year later, another arrived. Peeved, and wanting something done, I opened it (let’s not concern ourselves with the ins and outs of that action here). I called the Woolwich and they quite rightly refused to discuss any aspects with me due to Data Protection, but asked me to return it with a covering letter, which I did.
Almost exactly a year later…it’s the present day. And guess what. Yes, another letter.
So I’ve opened it again. It’s addressed to a Dr X ****** and a Dr Y ******, and provides the happy information that their homes and contents policy will automatically renew next month at a cost of £400 (nearly double what I’m paying, but that’s another story).
I called the Woolwich again and got a little grumpy with them. There’s the outside possibility that someone is doing something fraudulent with my address, and I’m also concerned, perhaps unnecessarily, that were something to happen where I had to claim on MY policy, the insurance company check across the industry and claim double indemnity, and decline my claim.
I spent half an hour on the phone to the Woolwich, and also asked to speak to their fraud department. They were utterly unhelpful, and essentially said that in the absence of an instruction from the policy holder, they would continue renewing the policy ad infinitum. They actually said this has been auto-renewing for "many years", and indicated that it pre-dated me and the former owner, although I've only been receiving letters for about 4 years. Clearly two doctors’ salaries are sufficient that an annual £400 gap doesn’t draw attention, but we could be talking 20 years here and that's £8k of anyone's money.
I then called the bank noted on the Direct Debit mandate. Clearly it’s not their concern, but I thought they might like to look after their customer; however, apparently they are only fluent in their own finance, not that of their customers, as they declined even to take the details from me.
Two doctors you say? What’s on the GMC website? Well, I checked that and I haven’t been able to find anything conclusive, although the surname is not exactly common. They may not be doctors of medicine of course. Google doesn't really turn up anything.
So, what to do next? Ignore? Go to the Ombudsman? Go to Action Fraud? Or just bin any future letters? Practically, the fact that someone else is being ripped off doesn’t affect me. Morally, I’d like them to know. And I am concerned as to whether there is anything sinister underlying this, and/or whether it might affect me in future.
TL:DR – someone else is insuring my house and contents. Will that affect me in any way and is there any possible fraud at play?
I’ve lived in my house since 2010. I know the name of the previous owner, who was there for several years prior, and also of a tenant who he put in for a short time when he moved out and before he sold to me.
About 4 years ago, a letter from the Woolwich turned up addressed to two people I’d never heard of. It was A4 format and through the window I could just about make out the word “mortgage”. Assuming it was a clerical error, notwithstanding that I don’t have any accounts or policies with the Woolwich, I RTS.
Almost exactly a year later, another arrived which I also RTS.
Almost exactly a year later, another arrived. Peeved, and wanting something done, I opened it (let’s not concern ourselves with the ins and outs of that action here). I called the Woolwich and they quite rightly refused to discuss any aspects with me due to Data Protection, but asked me to return it with a covering letter, which I did.
Almost exactly a year later…it’s the present day. And guess what. Yes, another letter.
So I’ve opened it again. It’s addressed to a Dr X ****** and a Dr Y ******, and provides the happy information that their homes and contents policy will automatically renew next month at a cost of £400 (nearly double what I’m paying, but that’s another story).
I called the Woolwich again and got a little grumpy with them. There’s the outside possibility that someone is doing something fraudulent with my address, and I’m also concerned, perhaps unnecessarily, that were something to happen where I had to claim on MY policy, the insurance company check across the industry and claim double indemnity, and decline my claim.
I spent half an hour on the phone to the Woolwich, and also asked to speak to their fraud department. They were utterly unhelpful, and essentially said that in the absence of an instruction from the policy holder, they would continue renewing the policy ad infinitum. They actually said this has been auto-renewing for "many years", and indicated that it pre-dated me and the former owner, although I've only been receiving letters for about 4 years. Clearly two doctors’ salaries are sufficient that an annual £400 gap doesn’t draw attention, but we could be talking 20 years here and that's £8k of anyone's money.
I then called the bank noted on the Direct Debit mandate. Clearly it’s not their concern, but I thought they might like to look after their customer; however, apparently they are only fluent in their own finance, not that of their customers, as they declined even to take the details from me.
Two doctors you say? What’s on the GMC website? Well, I checked that and I haven’t been able to find anything conclusive, although the surname is not exactly common. They may not be doctors of medicine of course. Google doesn't really turn up anything.
So, what to do next? Ignore? Go to the Ombudsman? Go to Action Fraud? Or just bin any future letters? Practically, the fact that someone else is being ripped off doesn’t affect me. Morally, I’d like them to know. And I am concerned as to whether there is anything sinister underlying this, and/or whether it might affect me in future.
silentbrown said:
The bank must have current address details, because a: you're not getting mail from them, and b: there's still money in the account to pay the DD.
All the bank needs to do is phone or write a letter (you know, a proper individual one, not some pre-prepared form - assuming they have someone capable of that feat) to the account holders.
Persuading the bank to do this is obviously tricky - but I'd go for customer services via social media pointing out the potential of some good PR for them.
That's precisely what I asked them to do, but they weren't helpful at all. Maybe the social media angle would work.All the bank needs to do is phone or write a letter (you know, a proper individual one, not some pre-prepared form - assuming they have someone capable of that feat) to the account holders.
Persuading the bank to do this is obviously tricky - but I'd go for customer services via social media pointing out the potential of some good PR for them.
TooLateForAName said:
rgf100 said:
" A sort code will give you a branch address, which may help narrow down the Google searches. Or send them £1, with the reference "You're insuring the wrong house!"
I like that idea - Will show up on a statement whereas if they have complicated affairs an annual £400 'woolwich financial services' might well slip under the radar. esp if they have regular savings things or other policies with the same firm.In fact how about 3 or 4 10p xfrs and post a banner type message?
............................................
... Y U PAY MY HOUSE INSURANCE
... pls call me xxx xxxx xxxx
...
..........................................
Chrisgr31 said:
If they are doctors have you tried googlng their names. or the BMA website?
Yes, pretty inconclusive though. Since I tried that, and since my original post, I have just found out from some OAPs living locally that they do recognise the name, but they think they emigrated many years ago, so I've little chance of actually locating the doctors. I only have first name initials, not names.It just seems immoral of the insurance company to keep relieving them of money every year when they have been told they don't live here or own the house.
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