about this issue

We begin this issue with a round-up of recent insurance cases involving alleged non-disclosure (the situation where a customer fails to reveal relevant facts when applying for – or renewing – an insurance policy). Our cases include that of a policyholder who developed lung cancer but was told by the firm that it would not pay out for this under his critical illness policy as he had understated the extent of his alcohol consumption when he applied for his policy.

We look, too, at what banks should and should not do if they decide to tell a customer to close their account and make alternative banking arrangements. Among our case studies is that of a woman who asked for a £500 increase in her overdraft limit and was told by the firm that she should, instead, repay all her borrowing and close her account within seven days.

Finally, in our article - what makes an investor ‘experienced’? we examine how some investment firms try to defend their inappropriate sale of an investment product by saying that the customer was ‘experienced’. Our wide range of case studies show firms citing – for example – a client’s possession of windfall shares or an inherited portfolio as ‘proof’ that the client required a high-risk or sophisticated product.