Mis sold MPPI in 2001 by Bradford and Bingley- help

A question about : Mis sold MPPI in 2001 by Bradford and Bingley- help

Hi
When we took out our first mortgage in March/April 2001 we went to a financial adviser at Bradford and Bingley who settled us with Santander. We discussed PPI but as we were both self-employed we refused it. I have a copy of the letter we received from the FI stating he discussed it with us but that we “ did not wish to take it further”.
I have only just realised we have been paying PPI to St Andrew's Group because the amount is almost exactly the same as the amount for our Critical Illness insurance we pay and I confused the two. It was only when going over paperwork I realised we also had been paying PPI all this time too. Having hunted up the most recent paperwork I could find I also see they have my husband down as employed which he has never been. So we have been paying for something we refused and would not have been covered anyway, presumably. Does that sound like a case and who do I approach about it? Thanks

Best answers:

• St Andrews group is part of Lloyds Banking Group and from memory were the insurer for Halifax, so nothing to do with Santander. Which makes sense you said you refused the PPI anyway.
  It's also not the banks fault you got your insurance premiums muddled up. What type of insurance does your paperwork refer to? PPI is usually a lot cheaper than Critical Illness insurance.
• True, not banks fault I muddled up the premiums but that only goes to how long it has taken me to notice it.
  The Brad and Bing adviser was meant to be an independent working within their branch as I recall so might that have meant he set up the PPI with St Andrews? Will they have paperwork as to the origin of the policy with them?
• I do not remember having any dealings with the Halifax for anything. In all my paperwork I cannot see any reference to it.
• B & B did have a small IFA salesforce. I can't remember who they were tied to for financial products beyond the basics of deposits and mortgages but they did have a referral process for people who genuinely wanted independent advice or the product was not available to the tied advisers (it was a very small salesforce). It may explain the confusion in this case.
• Santander was not really active in the UK market in 2001. It was not until 2004, when it took over Abbey National PLC that it was.
  So it seems that the OP is saying he had a Bradford & Bingley mortgage (because Bradford & Bingley also later became part of Santander).
  Bradford & Bingley, unlike most other mortgage lenders, continued to offer independent financial advice in respect of investments to the very end.
  However, as others have said, St Andrews is part of Lloyds Banking Group. It is, historically, part of Bank of Scotland, rather than Halifax (St Andrew, you may recall, is the patron saint of Scotland).
  In theory a Bradford & Bingley adviser could have arranged a St Andrews policy but it seems unlikely that they would sell something for a subsidiary of a competitor bank unless it was better than anything else which, for the reasons dunstonh has given, seems unlikely.
  It would also have been necessary to sign a separate application and direct debit (which had to actually be a signed hard copy in 2001).
  So the idea that it was arranged by somebody from Bradford & Bingley without the knowledge or consent of the OP seems to lack plausibility.
• To answer the OP's original point I would suggest that any complaint is directed first at Santander as they are now responsible for B & B historical sales. If they have a copy of the letter as mentioned in the original post there should be an address on that as well