A word of warning about Credit card repayment protection schemes

The people who sell you the policy and who take out your monthly payment for 'card protection' are not always (in fact, often aren't) the people who you will be dealing with in the event of a claim.

So be careful.

I took out my credit card protection cover last November (2004). I merrily watched the monthly payments being taken up to date. I recently made a claim. ) I had a heart attack and had to be off work for 8 weeks) I sent off for the claim forms, I sent them back, together with doctor's certificate; and waited. I eventually got a request from the insurance company asking me to prove that I was in work for the 6 months prior to taking out the insurance. What??? You may ask! Why? Well I called them and asked them ? Why? The answer was that it was a 'condition of the policy' that I had to have been in employment for the six months up to the time I took out the policy. 'Why was ~I not asked for this information when I took out the policy? I asked. The answer: 'You will have to ask your credit card company that, we just handle the claims. No amount of indignance of questioning got me a sensible response. I put the phone down in disgust. After all, My monthly payments were accepted with no quibble at all. Nobody asked me if I was in employment for the preceding six months when I signed on the dotted line for 'payment protection'.

I decided to call the credit card company and all I got was an automated machine asking me for my sixteen-digit account number ? ho hum. Been here before when I was trying to get them to send me out the claim form. I put the phone down.

Be warned. All is not what it seems to be. These guys will fall over themselves to sell you the payment protection. But you wait until you need to claim on it. It's a different story then.

Don't say I didn't tell you ?

Steve Kaye is a freelance Writer living in Torquay Devon. You can contact him on kaye.steve@gmail.com