I win £30k for grieving Irena

May 18 2008 Additional Reporting By Jane Barrie

IRENA CASSIDY was devastated when her husband of 36 years died from a heart attack.

She was comforted that her beloved Tony had taken out insurance to pay off their mortgage should the worst happen.

But five months down the line the grieving widow called me in as she had not received a penny of the £30,000 she was due from Co-operative Insurance.

Irena, 60, said: "The mortgage is increasing by the day. I'm not sleeping, I'm not eating and I'm on medication for stress as my nerves are shot to pieces.

"I have made hundreds of calls to the insurance firm and even gone to a lawyer but I am no nearer to sorting this out.

"I don't know what to do. Please help me."

Irena and Tony, 65, took out the joint life policy with CIS in 1983 paying £46.55 a month. The mortgage on their property in Tannochside, by Uddingston, Lanarkshire, is with Britannia Building Society.

Irena said: "Tony dealt with our finances.

He was good at that sort of thing."

When he died suddenly in December their son Nicholas, 33, contacted Britannia.

Retired cleaner Irena said: "I wanted to know how much was left to pay on the mortgage so I could get things finalised. I was finding it hard to cope."

She was given a redemption quote for the mortgage and was due to pay Britannia £20,646 on January 10.

If not, the loan would accumulate interest at a rate of £3.20 a day.

CIS wrote to her saying her claim for £29,812 would be assessed in 10-15 working days so she sat back and waited for the money to arrive.

When nothing came, she called and called trying to find out what was happening.

Irena said: "They were passing the buck, playing one off the other. CIS would tell me one thing and Britannia another."

She got a lawyer involved and finally CIS said the reason for the hold-up was they were waiting for documents from Britannia.

But Britannia denied all knowledge and claimed they had already sent the paperwork.

That's when Irena called me in. She said: "Both firms blame each other for the delay and it's five months since Tony died.

"The hourly rate for the lawyer is £150 plus VAT but I'm getting nowhere fast.

"I'm struggling to pay bills. You are my last hope."

She was right to turn to me because I got her even more than she hoped for.

Once I contacted CIS they quickly agreed to pay the full amount of £29,812 this week and sent Irena flowers to say sorry.

They said: "We needed an assignment deed from Britannia. To date we have not received this but we have agreed to accept a signed, witnessed letter so that payment can be made with immediate effect."

Next I got on to Britannia who said: "Our processes failed and the paperwork was not fully completed until April 21. Since then we've been waiting for CIS to complete their paperwork and honour the claim.

"In recognition of the delay and the anxietywe caused, we have credited an additional £2000 to the mortgage account."

Delighted Irena said: "This is great news. I can't thank you enough."

'Tony died 5 months ago, the mortgage keeps going up and I can't get my cash.

Please help'