Insurers run jobs blacklist

Unemployment protection insurers are blacklisting bank and car industry workers and estate agents according to the Telegraph.

It says RBS, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Citibank are on “watch lists” run by insurers who provide cover against losing a job, such as mortgage payment protection insurance.

It said companies were reporting an average 300% rise in requests in the past six months. Claims have increased fourfold.

The Telegraph said many insurance firms have withdrawn unemployment insurance plans from the market altogether. Where cover is still available, customers must tag it on to another product, such as accident and sickness insurance, or buy it alongside a mortgage or credit card. Price rises of up to 35% are becoming common.

It quotes Matt Morris, senior policy adviser at LifeSearch, as saying: “When times have been good, companies who have been flogging unemployment cover in big numbers have made billions - especially when it's part of a payment protection package - in the knowledge that the risk of claim is low. Now that risk has increased substantially, they are not willing to offer some kinds of protection and it's unfair on consumers. There's plenty of take but very little give.”