In an exclusive interview with Time magazine, the fifth wife of Osama Bin Laden, Amal, has complained that she was missold Private Protection Insurance when she reportedly took out a mortgage with Northern Rock in 2006.
“We chose Northern Rock because we liked the name and thought they would have good deals on cave dwellings and other kinds of rock houses. So when I took out the loan for the compound and was offered payment protection insurance, I trusted them. They said they would cover repayments for a year in the event of an accident, sickness or unemployment. I’ve now found out in the small print that it didn’t cover specifics like a bullet to the head by American Navy Seals. It's a complete scam.”
The Bin Laden’s took out a £50,000 loan and an additional £7500 was added for insurance.
Amal suspects that they were ‘fooled’ by a member of the Northern Rock sales team who dressed up as an adviser and was incentivised to push the product. “He was completely indoctrinated. His demeanour and expression was like that of a suicide bomber on a Jihad mission.”
Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert.com said, “I completely sympathise with Mrs Bin Laden. The misselling of expensive Payment Protection Insurance has been rife with lenders like A&L and HFC Bank being given huge fines. Northern Rock is no different. I’ve sent her my step-by-step guide, including free templates, to reclaiming loan insurance.”
Amal continued 'I’m particularly angry about this because when the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan started, we moved to a mountainous area with the children and lived in a cave for two months. I assumed we’d get a mortgage payment holiday but this wasn’t covered either.”
She also reported to Time magazine that a big fight between Bin Laden and his first wife had occurred, which she put down to the on-going PPI problems the family were experiencing. “Osama was literally in the dog house because she was furious that she married the son of a billionaire who preferred to live in a hut in Afghanistan rather than a palace. But can you imagine the cost of PPI on something like that?”
