How can I cancel my credit balance insurance? I didn't know any better when I applied for my credit card 2 years ago, and I agreed to having the insurance "protection." I have read enough of your information to convince me that the financial institutions are making a scam out of this so-called protection.

It surprises me how many people do not read their statement's each month. Read your statement's & if there is something on there that shouldn't be there or if you don't know what it is, call the customer service line asap. The sooner you call the easier it is to resolve. Also, credit insurance will only cover the balance up until the time you make the claim. TO my knowledge, any new charges made after the claim are not included in the minimum payments made to the card. Always read the application you are signing. If you have to sign for a credit card on more thatn one line, you more than likely are signing for a protection plan and ALWAYS read your bill.

I really enjoyed this program and found it extremely informative. However, my question is how can I as a consumer contact one of these watchdog groups in Ottawa?
I have this same issue and would like to cc my letters to one of them. I would appreciate any contact info.
Thank you
Linda

After watching this program, I checked my statements back to 2006. There is approximately $2800 in charges for a protection program that I know for a fact I did not give a verbal or sign up for.

When I called CIBC they transferred me to Canadian Premiere Insurance. The Insurance call-taker gave me nothing but lip service and lies. I wrote down all the excuses and reasons why they will not return my money. I did terminate the service and will also do this in writing as that is how I do business.

As far as I am concerned this is fraud. I don't understand how some insurance company or any corporation can just charged the credit card at a whim.

I actually thought that these premiums were the interest charges so I never thought nothing of it. Now I want my money back and I feel like I need an advocate.

Signed, "Screwed Again"

I had noticed balance protection charges on my PC Mastercard Statements back in March 2008.I called PC Financial and told them I never signed an agreement or gave verbal permission for this service.I was told that they would investigate and get back to me.They never did.I decided to contact them again and ask when I would be refunded I requested to speak to a supervisor. Well Jerimia took my call and basically told me that there was nothing he could or would do, it was his call to make the decision which was a firm "no".I asked him to provide proof of my signed consent or tape of my verbal consent. His reply, he doesn't have to prove anything to me and hung up his phone.Where does the law stand regarding banks putting things onto your credit cards without permission.This is fraudulent and the CIBC/PC Financial group should be ashamed of themselves. Where is our government watchdog?

i canceled the bal,protector on feb 25/09 and asked how it ended up on my RBC visa. after many calls from my local bank i received a letter from ASSURANT SOLUTIONS P.O BOX 7200 KINGSTON,ONT telling me i was enrolled nov 10 /02 and they sent me a certifcate of insurance which i was to look at in the required time frame and request a cancelltion if i required one.so they enroll me without asking.send me a letter asking if i want to cancel. if the envelope had RBC i may have read it,i don,t remeber'if the letter showed up in a envelope without the RBC LOGO i likely tossed it.it seems a good way not get a reply. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ,AND THANK YOU

Just had to activate my new RBC visa cards(they expire every 4 years) and luckily I was listening closely. She gave the talk about the protection while waiting for the card to be activated. She did not ask if I wanted it, just asked to confirm my address to send the package. I said I never said I wanted the protection-of course she wanted lots of excuses as to why I would not want it. I then asked who I could complain to over the high pressure sales tactics and was put through to a supervisor. He assured me more than once the protection would not be on my card. Will be checking my statement carefully to make sure.

I too just got caught by this insurance. I thought it would be OK as long as I paid my balance off which I have been doing. Little did I know that they put the fee on your Visa at the time of billing not when you pay your bill.
The whole thing in my opinion is a sleezy attempt by the banks to get more money out of its customers. They do not seem to care how they treat the customer, as long as they get the almighty dollar out of them.

I love the show! Very informative, however I feel you missed an opportunity to further educate consumers on credit card debt. I noticed one of your "victims" is paying 24.5% on her card. If you call your card company and demand a better rate you could save hundreds! I recently did this with my daughters VISA and went from 19.5% interest rate to 11%. A huge savings for a student. I also found it interesting that the morning after watching your program Canadian Tire emailed me with a new Home Protection Plan that costs only $1.33 a day or $480 per year plus taxes! I am amazed people fall for this crap!

Hi

After seeing the show I want to correct, The protection offered on some of the credit card like hbc does cover the entire balance up to 10 000 not the minimum payment like said in the show.

After seeing your program on the wknd of 07/25/09, I decided to cancel my acct bal insurance offered thru Capital One & which I did agree to. I called Capital One to cancel & after a less than sparkling conversation with a rep there (unusual for Capital One - usually get great service on the phone!), I was told to call Canadian Premier Life Insurance CPLI)at their toll free number to effect the cancellation. I called CPLI today (07/27/09) & spoke to someone named Navel (sic). When he asked why I was cancelling, I said, "In a nutshell, CBC Marketplace". He then informed me that the Marketplace "had been proven to be all lies". I told that I simply wanted to proceed with the cancellation, & amid protestations from him that it was an excellent product and that CBC had lied, I stuck to my guns and cancelled it. I asked what kind of confirmation I would receive - he said I would get a ltr.

ecellent program - an eye-opener to expose the fraudulent marketing practices of big business

i just checked my visa balance online, and noticed i was being charged for Balanceprotector (RBC)...

i called Visa and they transferred me to a special department where the operator was initially extra friendly (which made me suspicious)...

then the operator assured me that i had requested this service (which i had not) and made cheap excuses when i tried to force them to provide proof that i had requested this service...

and then continued the hard sell that 'i must be crazy to not want it'...

i'm sure that Visa hopes that people will just not bother to suspend the charges and make a mini-fortune...scumbags...

Hi:
Recently checked out my RBC Visa and...sure enough...we're paying for this insurance too...to the tune of $571.28 plus 11.5% interest of course.

I have contacted the balance protector people @ (888)896-2766 and they are supposedly going to "research their phone records" to see if we were verbally contacted about this insurance. If we were contacted...we are liable for all costs incurred...ummmmmmm...yeah...good luck with that!!!

Thanks for the heads up at any rate...wish me luck!!!

Regards
Ian McColl

hi i just tryed to get insuravce money back from pc .will itwas a waste of time i talked to one person they told me to call the insurnce place i did all they do is make claims if your sick or lost job called back topc talked to head person told me i should read my statement better i had 30 day or 60 days been told both to call if i did they would of fixed it ,,,so they say 30 days they would of helped not now ,plus they can only go back as far as dec08 i got mailing address to snail mail a letter no email address ..but the kicker was i sayed no to it and they pc still put it on i told the girl that is fraud i sayed no and u stil put it on now want gave it back because of the 30 or 60 days crappy ????how far is that i will be calling a lawyer they sayed go ahead ....they dont care anyone with same problems got any infor please let me know thanks for the great heads up markerplace .

I am going to be applying for the benefits now . My brother died this week and had insurance on the line of credit which we were talked into buyiing. My brother actually never had gone to a doctor in five years ioro prior to getting this insurance and he died of a heart attCK .yet i DOUBLT they will pay .

I thank Market place for such a good story . Its the kind of story they are best at I want them to do a follow up story . Its so important to homeowners . and anyone buying a car .

His policy had a condition that he needed to see a doctor 30 days prior to death. Thats like a lottery . What if he died 28 days after seeing a doctor or six days.

.

Some of the clauses are more than preexisting complications.

I am going to the bank tommorow I will post the bank answer

I have had to cancel this protection on my rbc visa 7 times over 5 years. this protection is not for me because i refuse to carry a balance on my card (however that doesn't stop them from charging me a fee ). This protection is not for everyone but i can understand how it would help bring a little peace of mind in certain situations. One thing i don't understand is how all these peaple are commenting on looking at their statments after the show to find out they are being charged these fees. Everybody is griping about how big companies(auto) waste money and look after their finances poorly. Maybe people would have more disposable cash if they paid more or, closer attention to their own finances.

Had similar experience with RBC. I had to replace a lost card. Activated and declined the insurance. A few days later discovered I was signed up anyway. Wrote to RBC threatening to transfer my balance elsewhere if any charges appeared. Was told I had to call the insurer, so I did and had to put up with the hard sell again. Finally got the thing cancelled (I think). The insurer gave me the impression that they send out these insurance pkgs automatically and the customer has 30 days to cancel. That's negative option billing! I wrote to RBC again expressing my opinion on this practice.

I decided if this is how RBC does business, they don't need MY business. I am going to transfer my balance as soon as I can find a bank who doesn't push insurance, or practice negative option billing. Does such a bank exist? If so, where do I sign?

Yesterday I received a new American Express card. I phoned the 1-800 number to activate the card. We went through the activation process and while waiting for the process to complete the representative said he was going to tell me about another feature for the card. He talked for about a minute outlining all the features. It was like listening to an auctioneer tell you important facts. The information came so fast that it was impossible to process all that was being said. In the end I asked him if what he said was free? No it is insurance on your card account. My reaction was that I had heard about it on CIBC Marketplace and no thank you. Yes he gave all the details, but I would like to meet any person who could have understood what it actually meant. Thank you Marketplace.

Further to the March 27 post, PC Financial did a rapid and complete U-turn following an email to their ombudsman. Full refund plus interest plus 25,000 PC points for the anguish. Impressed with their speed and happy to be able to shed indignation and general ill-will towards all things PCF. Good example of bad customer service fixed with solid customer care.

Wrote to PC Financial in March 2008 asking them to cancel the BPP on my MasterCard. Then forgot about it. While reviewing statements a few weeks ago, I noticed I'd been charged about $350 over the year. Asked for a refund. No dice. Two conversations later all I know is that they don't know why they didn't respond to my written request in 2008, that they don't accept written instruction for BPP cancellation (only verbal instructions are accepted), and that they won't refund my money. They promised to look into the matter to figure out why they failed to tell me to call in my cancellation instructions BUT said they won't refund my money whatever the result of their investigation.

Nice! From favoured card vendor to despised ... for $350. That's the price of PC Financial's reputation.

I know this might be a bit ignorant a comment, but i'm saying it anyway...
We should all just CASH OUT!
Leave the banks HIGH AND DRY...
DO NOT LEAVE ANY MONEY FOR THEM TO MAKE ANY INTEREST ON.
EVERY LITTLE CHARGE>>>EVERY LITTLE BILL PAYMENT>>>
START SENDING CHEQUES OUT>>>THE OLD WAY OF DOING THINGS>
THERE WERE NO CHARGES FOR THAT>>>
JUST LEAVE ENOUGH BALANCE TO COVER THE CHARGES AND CHEQUES>
TAKE ALL YOUR SAVINGS OUT!!!
I also had to cancel this BPINSURANCE which I NEVER agreed to...I ALWAYS SAY "NO" to every SALES PERSON...and they STILL END UP SIGNING ME IN>>>
I AM ROYALLY UPSET! They also REFUSED to refund me...but I will keep fighting...
SO, to those who believe in this! I say they are ignorant!

I was surprised and happy to view this episode. It was such a coincidence as I was going through bills , especially my Credit Union Mastercard (now owned by Bank Of America). When I closed out my account and upgraded to the Gold Mastercard for the benefits and larger credit limit as it was useful in my work in clinical research, I was automatically charged balance protection insurance when I remember clearly I denied it over the phone. The reason I denied it was due to the fact that I am an independent research coordinator (self-employed) and it would not apply to me. I started to believe that this was a mandatory charge and was to inquire. I watched the show and contacted the bank which is still trying to avoid a resolution. They keep explaining that they have to pull the call and research. While they are researching, I will let everyone know it is Meridian Credit Union M/C.

I worked at a call centre selling this type of payment protection to credit card holders in the US. We were supposed to be there to help customers, but the only thing anybody cared about was how much payment protection we sold. We couldn't take no for an answer. Instead we had to make the pitch twice, and get a second negative response before letting it go. In a couple states, this is illegal so we couldn't do it for those states. As long as it's legal, credit card companies will do anything, they don't care about morals at all.

what's in my wallet? I will tell you. Over $500.00 worth of paying into protection coverage that i had never agreed to and got full refund back after numerous lengthy phone calls. if you are the type of person that looks at amount due and the due date, you better pay closer attention! there is a very good chance you may have been paying for something you didn't know you had for the past few years that could end up being hundreds, even thousands of dollars. We need government protection here for these type of credit card scams.

I caught this episode by accident, and had no clue about the true purpose of "Balance Protection" as TD calls it. I called them up, armed with what I learned and the guy told me I had verbally agreed to the protection over the phone when I activated my card. That was total BS! I requested the records and they gave me the run around. In the end, They took off the Balance Protection and credited $100 to my card. Everyone, check your statements and ask questions!

President Choice PC Master credit card applied this protection without asking me. I discovered it after 8 months. By that time it was two late as bank said you can only cancel it with in first three months. So I end up in paying more than hundred dollars. Be careful PC Master credit card is in you pocket.

Ok I have an interesting fact about Capital One..I just paid off my card, and because it was a "large amount" my credit card is on hold for 10 days..in case of Money Laundering?? Paid in full..Secondly I asked to get my interest rate lowered, and the supervisor said ohh I'm sorry we can't do that right now due to the economy..Really? Fascinating so I have lodged a complaint with there Ombudsman and The Federal Commercial
Banking practices..Hmmm lets see what happens with this..I did expect this and wasn't surprised..

I want to thank you for this broadcast of the credit card insurance protection. I too was given the same sales pitch. I can't believe they get away with this. Well the following Monday morning I phoned & cancelled it on my card. And again I was given every excuse not to cancel, everytime I said no just cancel it the person tried everything to get me to stay even offering to lower it for me. So happy to say its cancelled, thank you again from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful information & I hope this show remains on the air for years to come. Canadians need to know when & how they are being ripped off. Thank you for exposing the truth. At least this show has the guts to expose the lies & the misleadings to us. Thank you.

Sincerely
Nova Parent

The banks do same tricks on Life Insurance while you take a home mortgage from them. The document that you sign says Home Protector Plan and you are told that it is for your home insurance and make you sign the documents with fine print. And, insist that if you don't want it you can reject it within 30 days and they keep charging you till you notice and object strongly. The way the monthly premium is deducted from your checking account is incorporated in the monthly mortgage installment and you can never make out how much is the principal, interest and insurance premium. Royal Bank has done this to me and I am debating for a full refund as I never wanted life insurance or a disability insurance on my home mortgage. I have sufficient documentary proof to show, if needed.

Mine experience. At soome point I have realized I pay for my Personal Line of Credit protection. I didn't remember ever signing for it and since I did not use my line of credit for years, it did not show on my statment. Until I did use it and then I discovered it was very high. Once I asked why,I found out it was because I am protected up to $150,000.00. It looks very nice, but mine Personal Line of Credit was only $12,000.00. Why did I need so much of insurance since the maximum I could ever be able to use was $12,000.00? The Bank teller could not explaine it to me as well. Additionally to cancel this service I had to arrange time to visit the Bank, can not be done over the phone. One extra step of difficulty for a client to eliminate unwanted product.Ursula

I've read most of the comments and did watch the program. Marketplace lately seems to be one sided to find the slant that portrays the company as the bad guy as it's good for a story. It is an easy thing to label everything "the Big Bad Banks" but the people who work in those institutions for the most part are honest individuals who do their best for their clients. When I sign any legal papers, it is my responsibility to read the disclosures before signing. Society these days take the easy way out and blame others for their misfortune. Take some responsibility for your own actions. Some of the people who are commenting probably don't complain when they hand over a couple of bucks for a coffee at Tim's, nor do they complain when they spend $30 on a Saturday night on drinks. Look at your own job and what you do and see if you want Marketplace to do a negative piece on you.

it goes without sayin, buyer beware! any purchase of services must require it's participants some causative plan and action... always proof read information and recognize the product for its worth! we sign for items without recognition of what exactly we leave our mark upon! stay informed! ask questions! investigate!

Great topic and very timely.

What a coincidence that I contacted MBNA about this same issue a few hours prior to the program being aired. Approx. 2 weeks prior, I received a phone call from a very loud and busy call centre. I was told that this insurance product was complimentary and being added on to all MBNA cardholder accounts. As I have previous knowledge of this product, I asked if there is a charge when you carry a balance. I was told absolutely not. When the documentation arrived - I examined it, discovered that there is in fact a charge and had the insurance immediately removed.

Just got off the phone with Vancity Visa who have been stealing from me for 5 years. They have only agreed to reimburse me for 2 1/2 years, after much anger on my part. My mistake was assuming this was for accident ins. as we do not carry a balance and would not have agreed to balance protection insurance. They of course say I agreed to this over the phone after I said no on the application. No physical proof, but they feel it is legal to negative bill. Scam artists!

For any contract to be legal and binding, there has to be
a meeting of the minds - i.e. no confusion or misunderstanding.

The banking officer who was selling the balance protection on the card did not actually fulfill his obligations of ensuring that the consumer understood and agreed.

Yes, he mentioned it and yes, he got the client to sign.

He did not ask "Do you understand?" nor did he ask "Is that clear?"

Given the situation, you could called this 'Consent' - not 'Informed Consent'.

Besides Seniors and those who have difficulty with English, I do not have much sympathy for those who feel victimized by this insurance product after they've been billed for it for months. It is up to us as the cardholder to verify our credit card statements on a monthly basis. If they notice a discrepancy, then they should have called in immediately. Also, if the cardholder did agree to this insurance and didnt know what they got themselves into, why didn't they read the certificate? I worked for a call centre for these insurances, and i can tell you the unbelieveable excuses that are given. I am not defending it in any way and i know there are cases where innocent people may have been taken advantage of, but its that common knowledge we need to apply to every aspect of life : you can only trust yourself and never sign a contract before reading it thoroughly!

Most of the people in your story did not take the insurance. I actually did approve it because I was working at Nortel in 2001 and there were waves of people being laid off. MBNA told me the balance would be paid off if I were laid off. Sure enough I was. Not only do they not pay off the balance, the amount they do pay, and always pay late, is low enough that the balance actually went UP every month. It was nuts and certainly not anything close to what they claim you are paying for. It is a lose, lose, lose, lose situation for you the customer. I do not insure anything anymore... the government should be protecting us.

If it isn't in writing with a signature on it, it doesn't exist and a checkbox can be checked after a signature is obtained, if it isn't initialed it isn't agreed to. And agreements by phone are a joke and that's why people are getting their money back. Thanks CBC.....BD

This just confirms that it's useless and that I will need to cancel it. I willingly signed up for it, and it was great when i was able to pay off my balances right away since it would cost me $0. But now when money is tight it is proving to cost too much. Furthermore, I knew that it only covered the minimum balances. I double checked the agreement to see if it was worthwhile for me to keep it. I personally always check my statements and perhaps people should start doing that. That's how so many companies make money. If I were them I'd do it too. If I could put charges on someone's statement and they'll pay for it why not? And credit card companies aren't alone.

I have an extensive banking background, and took a call centre job at CIBC Visa. I ended up leaving as I was uncomfortable with the focus on pushing Payment Protector. It didn't matter what the customer's inquiry was about, the goal was to immediately transition to selling this service. It's not that the product is useless, as some people will end up benefiting(see comment by Emma), but the price is extremely high for the potential benefit.
A good portion of incentive compensation is based on sales of Payment Protector. The agents with the highest sales are often the worst at customer service, because whenever they realize they've got someone who isn't going to buy, they will rudely end the call as quickly as possible without properly resolving the customer's inquiry. That's okay--the call centre goal is produce as much revenue per customer as possible.

I previously worked for a credit card company and it was the same deal. The unfortunate part is, when people call to activate their new cards, employees like myself HAVE to sell this type of "protection" and meet specific goals/quotas or else we lose our jobs. Going off script so the customer ACTUALLY understands what is being offered also threatens your employment. However, it is astonishing how many people will verbally agree to it without asking any questions - as if the companies have your best interest in mind, what with those 20% annual rates!

It is about time somebody noticed this. However there is one aspect of this problem that you did not broadcast.

There is usually an age restriction on disbility or life insurance. In fact it is apparently illegal in some jurisdictions to offer life insurance to any person over 75 years of age.

In the case that I am aware of the application clerk entered the age as "dd/mm/yy" - only two digits each. Which didn't make much difference since all digits were less than 12 - the person was over 65. Yet there was no computer program(?) to detect this.

The cardholder was charged insurance and taxes for at least ten years on balances before it was discovered. When asked to correct this, it was like pulling teeth.

Even though some money was returned it was only a fraction of what ought to have been paid at the retailers own interest rate (24% compounded monthly - 26.8%).

The people who have left their comments that have referred to themselves as "victims" truly make me laugh. They are only a victim if they do not read their statement every month. How long does it seriously take to sit down and read the statement???

One of the comments says that she noticed it and was busy and didn't have time to call for MONTHS....MONTHS!!!!!.....I am sure that in those "months" when she was too busy to call she would have found time to sit down and watch a half hour TV program or go to the movies, or out for dinner yet somehow she was too busy to call and inquire....to me that is sheer laziness and proves that she didn't care that badly!

Thank You Wendy! A year ago I purchased a TV from Leons on the pay in 6 months plan and discovered I was paying various monthly insurance amounts on this plan. When the 6 months was up I sent a cheque for the amount owing for the TV minus the insurance $63.49. I received phone calls from Citizens Financial that I owed this money. I called Leons and was Told I would have to deal with Citizen Financial as my account had been transfered over to them. It seems the two companies have transactions in motion. I very seldom buy on credit but being in a new city I wanted to re-establish my credit rating from one city to another. I am 66 years old. Apparently if I hadn't paid this insurance I could have screwed up the good rating I have.

Let's keep an open mind. If Balance Protection Insurance has helped a few, then it clearly represents a feature that people can choose to obtain with their credit card.
Insurance is for the worst case scenario. No one wants to cash out from any insurance policy but it doesnt mean it is necessarily a bad thing to have. Like medication, how many of us has thrown away expired non-prescription medication? Is that a waste of money? But we like to keep a few in the house just in case, right? For those who are thinking of cancelling it.... if you are eligible to file a claim today, would you cancel or file a claim? How would you know you won't tomorrow?

I have lost so much money through this. Primarily because I am fairly young and probably an easy target, I assumed everyone paid those fees.

I'm going to go cry.

Give me a break. People should be reading the disclosures provided. It is free for a month which gives you enough time to READ the conditions. If the bank outlines every single thing about a product you would be sittin there all day. Its like buying a car, does the salesperson tell you every single fine detail about the car.

Something needs to be cleared up here. A bank is a place that stores your money, but a bank is also a BUSINESS.
What do banks make money on, you ask? Two things: Interest (credit card and Line of Credit products) and Fees/Insurance.

People here seem to forget that. YOU KNOW THERE IS INTEREST ON YOUR CREDIT CARDS. If you dont pay your bills in full, expect interest. How else would a bank make money? To all consumers, when you go to a store, do you really think the sweater you are buying cost the merchant 39.99$. No, it probably cost them 10$, not even. They are making money, and its acceptable, why, all of a sudden, is it inacceptable for a bank to make money?

Credit cards belong to the bank they comes from. Its credit they are lending you, as a client, in good faith. If they are lending you money that might not be paying back right away, why aren't they entitled to make money?

i watched the show last night and right away cancelled my balance protection this morning after talking to a supervisor and telling her i never agreed to this she offered me the last year of balance protection back wich totaled $297.00 i said that wasn't good enough and unless she could prove i authorized it i wanted the last 5 years back she said they would have to do an investigation through the phone records to see if i did say i wanted it and that it will take 6-8 weeks
i am confident i will see a full refund because i did not authorize it and seens how i did not apply over the phone i do not think they will find it in there phone records

After watching Marketplace the other night, we checked our credit card statements. The only credit card that has insurance on it is our Options Mastercard (Canadian Tire). This charge started showing up in July 2008, after activating our new card. We did wonder why we were getting a replacement card when the old one had not yet expired. We called and activated the new card, assuming there were no changes to the original contract. My mistake. I am wondering how many other people have been caught up in this. I spoke with an insurance representative this morning. He advises me that they will cancel the insurance immediately, but that as I had agreed to the terms, they could not refund me the $181.00 paid since July of 2008.

Thank you Marketplace. We always make a point of watching this informative show.

Although we should always read any contract that we sign, it doesn't surprise me that people "trust" an institution such as a bank when faced with having to read a lengthy contract/document written in small characters. What does surprise me is that people don't even check their monthly credit card statements for incorrect charges.

Here's another interesting banking practice: In December 2007 I wanted to open a trading account with my bank. After carefully reading through a 5-page contract, the last clause stated that by signing the contract I would agree to any future changes the bank would make to the contract. I asked my account manager how I could agree to changes I didn't know about ... he said this was the standard contract (in other words, they weren't going to make an exception for me no matter how illogical their clause was). My query to the bank ombudsman went unanswered.

Hi,

Thank you for this show.
I held an account with The Bay here in Windsor, Ontario.

I will admit Im not very good with my bill reading.
One day about a year ago sat down to read the bill and found this charge for insurance I never agreed to, just like you reported.
I called the Bay and was told I had agreed to this..years ago..(so who knows how much I paid?) and I could cancell it now but they would only credit my account ..I think it was only about $90.00. Not a full refund? I paid off my account..and they have lost a very good customer..lol.

If there is anything being done further on gthis ...if there is anything further being done to get our money back...I would like very much to be involved.

I also had the same experience with BELL CANADA. They were charging me for 3 extra things on my phone I had never ordered? and told me I could not get a refund .

The Marketplace show: "First, what it costs, about $1 a month for every $100 you spend." "If you loose your job, here's what it covers. Well, not the $2500 on your balance! All the insurance covers is the minimum monthly payment; in this case 75-bucks."

Simple math:
-Cost of the coverage is $1 per $100 per month or $12 per $100 per year, or 12% (that's without even factoring interest into the equation)
-Coverage if you loose your job $75/$2500=3%

Bottom line: The consumer is charged 12% to insure 3%.

Conclusion: The only event in which this "insurance" would make sense would be for a person who habitually gets and involuntarily loses their permanent, full-time year-round job each and every year, and for at least 3 months per year...

Loved the story about the credit card protection. Few things have made me more mad. It ticks me off that in order to activate a new credit card you first have to listen to the 'assume the sale' speech for credit card protection. I did not want a sales pitch, I just wanted to activate my credit card. Funny how the activation itself takes 20 second but I am on the phone for 15 minutes listening to their pitch. It is horrible how they sell it. If you want to research another cash grab check out the bank fees if a person doesn't have one of the packages for bank fees. I was closing out my royal bank account, cancelled my 'certified service' an agreed to a $200 overdraft on the off-chance on extra payment slipped through... they didn't tell me that there is a fee to have the overdraft service even though I did not go into the overdraft. They charge $1 for a debit transaction too. Thx

I 'discovered' this scam about 10 years ago and got wise quick! When I called to cancel this coverage, FOUR out of 6 credit card companies said I had "agreed to the 'balance protection' by NOT sending back my signed balance protection agreement with the 'decline' option selected".

What really ticked me off was when I cancelled the protection on my Citi MC only to have them automatically add it back to my account when my card had expired and they sent my new card. Make certain to call your card companies at least once per year to verify that you DO NOT have the coverage activated on your account! !

I now make sure to only use my cards if I have the available cash in my bank account and make sure I pay the balance when I get home from shopping that very same day.

My revenge? If any card company tries to convince me to add this protectioen, I ask them to close my account!

Great content but bad camera! Can you please stop with the shaky camera? It's making me dizzy!

Thank you for bringing another scam to light. I was paying on average $20.00 per month for past 5 years that is approx Paid $ 1200.00 to Canadian Tire for nothing. Today I called to cancel my so called insurance, their argument was that in event of death they will take care of entire balance on the credit card. For the limit I have on my card the insurance premium of $ 240.00 annual is beyond my imagination. When is government going to step in and stop the insurance scam. Next focus should be on auto & house insurance. Appreciate your investigation and bring it to viewers.

The funniest part of this was the lady who was the head of the "watch dog" group overseeing the banks. Do you think anything meaningful will be done? Is there anything more useless than a government regulator which doesn't regulate? It's a Canadian tradition.

February 2009 -- Yes, well these extra fees are also happening to the bank accounts!!!! I've been at the Royal Bank all my life and suddenly I noticed a little monthly fee of $3.50. At first I didn't notice it. But when I finally did, I thought, well, okay, I guess it's supposed to be there, I mean, I trust my bank, right? WRONG! Not anymore. So $3.50 a month doesn't sound like much but why should they be allowed to get away with charging you something that you never signed up for?

When I went in to my bank and talked with one of the managers, I was told that I must have signed up for it. I said I DID NOT, and wouldn't want it anyway! He made a phone call and they couldn't figure out why the fee suddnely appeared. But instead of giving me back all the $3.50 fees, they only took off this months. Their reason? I didn't come in sooner.

I have a Canadian Tire Options card, and actually think their Protection Plan is a useful addition to the card. I pay off my balance each month, and for the small amount charged, have actually benefitted as it extended the warranty on a fridge purchased elsewhere. I ended up saving on repair costs, or even a ton of money on a new refrigerator! Plus I get Canadian Tire money on my card.

After watching this episode I called RBC and asked them to cancel the Balance Protector Insurance, which I gave my verbal consent to 8 months ago. They had misled me on several points when I agreed to it. It turns out I had been signed up for it since 2006, long before I gave my consent.

The woman I spoke to tried very hard to dissuade me from canceling the Insurance and while she agreed with what Marketplace exposed, she wanted to point out the other seven benefits of having the Insurance.

She continued talking without listening to me, so at one point I said loudly, "So are YOU telling me that you REFUSE to cancel this on my request??" She said quietly that it would be canceled immediately.

An effective watchdog over the banks is badly needed in this country.

Thank you for this story...I work for CIBC and let me tell you the pressure is unbelievable to sell this to every client that applies for a card. Yes staff are automatically ticking that "box" and then either telling the client it's free for the 30 days or hoping they don't notice.

We are constantly being monitored for sales of this as well as visa cards..the latest tactic is encourage clients to get a "backup" visa card or "for internet purchases"

This is insurance tactic is also the same for lines of credit and the holy grail ...."mortgage insurance"

I have friends at other banks and the micromanaging and bullying is just as strong there too.

Keep up the great work!!

Was just wondering if Marketplace was not guilty of misrepresentation in your credit balance story.The gentleman said he did not give consent on his Canadian Tire application, then Marketplace showed part of the form and circled a little tick mark to suggest this was how he had supposedly given consent.Surely the tick mark is irrelevant, as toward the bottom of the screen you could just see a signature. Surely this was the consent, not the little tick. Marketplace is a fine show, let's be honest in our criticism.

The charges were described on your show as "sneaky" and there is no doubt they are. They are sneaky in many other ways. Let me give you two examples. I have had Balance Protector Insurance for over 15 years. On February 12, 2009, I called the Royal Bank for the purpose of making a claim. I was told that the policy had expired when I reached 65 and that I did not have coverage - imagine that, they were collecting premiums on a policy that had expired!! I figure that the RBC owes me approximately $5,700 since the time I reached 65 and I have written to them demanding a full refund.

The other sneaky incident is that another bank sold me balance protector insurance that only applies to salaried employees. The bank knew that I was the owner of a small business but sold me the insurance regardless.

You have opened a can of worms. Well done.

Your story on credit card balance insurance is misleading, lacking in fact and borders on sensationalism.

Firstly. Why did you not explain that of the "hundreds of complaints" to the FCAC there were only 259 complaints since 2001 and of these 4 were legitimate. (see the FCAC website) If there are millions of card holders out there then this makes for a percentage of complaint that is infinitesimally small and would not statistically be within an error or margin.

Secondly. You did not reveal that your insurance expert is President of the Independent Life Insurance Brokers of Canada. I goggled him and found that he has a vested interest in attacking banks and the insurance they offer.

Perhaps we need a Bill of Rights protecting us from shoddy journalism.

I think there were some crucial points conveniently missed during this piece on Credit Insurance. First of all while it does cover minimums during TEMPORARY absence from a job (health wise or layoff) it absolutely covers the full balance under major circumstances such as perm disability, terminal illness, and of course Death. The min balance payment is just an added feature to what is truly a LIFE INSURANCE on the card. Doesn’t leave your debt to your family or spouse, I'd say that is fairly valuable protection. Second of all, the proof comes in a letter the moment the card is applied for CONFIRMING that said customer has the insurance, that is optional and if they feel the need to cancel they may do so at anytime. Funny how CBC Marketplace didn’t mention the total of payouts for claims in a one year from any of those financial institutions. But, I guess that’s not relevant to Ms. Mesley

I also was a victim of this theft!! About 2 years ago I notice $95.00 being charged to my Mastercard ea. month, I was busy at the time and took a few months to call and find out what it was for. I was told that when my husband activated his M/C over the phone, he gave permission for this charge. Well, let me tell you no such conversation transpired! I was livid and told them so! If they did not credit back (approx. $650.00) immediately to my account I would be contacting a lawyer, the media and anyone else who would listen. I called them thieves, etc. After speaking to a supervisor, within a month, this amount was credited in full to my account.

I take care of all the finances in our household, we carry no balances, they are paid off each month, we don't buy extended warranties on anything and we certainly would never buy any type of insurance on our credit cards.

Love you Wendy! Thank you for airing this. I just checked my on-line visa statement, and yep, the b p insurance has been removed. I too was annoyed to find this on my statement and was further irritated by the process of having it removed from my account (not just a simple phone call). I did not ask for this service on my visa but did recall a phone call from a visa representative pushing this service on me. My response has always been, "I'm not interested, and please remove my name from the calling list". So, to say the least, was not happy when I realized it was in fact added to my visa. Thanks!

I was a victim of the credit card insurance scam. I was given the distinct impression that it was free by the telephone salesman from mastercard and that charges would only apply if I carried a balance. It was several months before I noticed it as my usage was quite low. When I paid for a funeral with the card this large amount brought it to my attention. Even though I did not carry a debit balance at any time I was being charged a percentage of the amount I had spent using the card. I demanded a refund but could only get 3 months payments back. I closed all mt accounts with BMO who insisted on telling me they could do nothing about it. This happened 4 years ago. CIBC offered it to me when I took their VISA I made it very clear what I thought. I am constantly bombarded with insurance offers by them which I rarely read. I am now going to check the account very closely.

For years I dutifully paid for Balance Protector insurance on my RBC Visa card, thinking I was covered. We moved last April and I was collecting EI. I made a claim to at least have my minimum payments covered.

I had been teaching at community college where 15 hours per week in the classroom is full time. A multiplication factor is applied by EI in calculating hours worked.

After jumping through all the hoops in the claim paperwork, including signed statements from my former employers (my records of employment were not good enough for Canada Life, the company that underwrites RBC's Balance Protector insurance) my claim was rejected. They said that I was not working at least 20 hours per week and was not eligible.

I canceled my coverage and will attempt to obtain at least a partial refund.

PLEASE, PLEASE can you cut out the noise.....I just love Wendy Mesley but I can't hear what she has to say, the 'music' is oh! so loud.
PLEASE

I checked my Bank of Montreal Master Card statements back from 1997 till now..the only "fee" I was charged is the "annual fee" which was added on "once" per year.
So where is this "hidden fee" on my statement??

Shame on the banks ... once again. It sickens me to think of how many people have this product because they couldn't say no to the aggresive telemarketer who mcalled them or just didn't get a proper explanation as to the workings and costs of it.

Shame on the client as well though. How does a person continue to allow "unknown" charges on the credit card for so long - $1,800? That would be the day I would go on CBC and tell the country that I got taken for $1,800 because I never took the time to find out what this charge was...

Is there anyway to cancel this type of insurance if you don't want it. I see by my statement that I pay for this, and I don't recall ever signing up. How do I get out of it now?

After watching the show, I was well reviewed my statement form rbc rewards credit card, and I was being charged the balance protector as well without my knowledge!!!!

went to cancel and try to get my funds back and they told me that i had to wait untill monday,

I agree. No loud music background. I have turned off more shows, not only yours because you can not hear the dialog. Must be people doing the music part that have long lost their hearing from playing music too too loud. Thanks Della

If you have to carry a balance with your credit card you shouldn't be using one.

Another Bank ripoff. Even though I cancelled my coverage on my card 2 years ago, they issued a new type of card to me and there it is again without me signing anything. I dont use the card often so only had just noticed it, so watched the program to see what they had to say. How can they do this to us. I am also a pensioner and could never ever collect on this type of insurance. Did you check into that Wendy? I am calling on Monday about this and they are going to get an earful believe me. Its also on my line of credit and that also will be looked into. How can we ever protect ourselves from these greedy banks. Any good suggestions out there? This isnt the first time the bank has ripped my off, but I am watching them now for sure.

i just got my 1st cr card @54yr old
to activate i must caLL#
was offered this? coverage said no againoffererd .moreinsitantly I said send me info by mail
was told cannot till i agree to coverage
did not think it applied to me as I am self employed
said no again .again was told forcibly that I needed this ins to activte my card
I insisted activate then send info ; 3 bills still no
info???? ;;great program didn,ntrealise till the show
GOOD WORK

Re: Your piece on Credit Card Insurance
Another great piece of work. What really upsets me is that the government watchdog agency has to be told about this stuff. How are they spending the tax dollars we're paying them if they're not tracking scams like this down. We all know the credit card companies let's say "need to be watched". Why aren't they doing that?

In early 2000, I received a phone solicitation from MNBA regarding this type of balance insurance and requested the particulars be mailed to me. When a charge appeared on my
statement I queried MNBA as I had not given any approval for
this insurance. Their response was by having them mail the information to me, I was in effect giving my approval.
I immediately cancelled my MNBA credit card and will no longer
do business with them.

I agree that credit balance insurance might not be worth what a customer might pay. However, I do think that consumers need to take more responsibility for the agreements they sign. How often do people really take the time to read those contracts? And if they hesitate about information that's been given to them, they should stop and ask questions before agreeing to anything that's put in front of them.

Credit card insurance may not take care of a person's entire credit card balance, but - why should it? As long as the minimum monthly payments are made, that person's credit rating is being maintained and that's what the insurance is supposed to do.

Yes, it is the bank's responsibility to ensure the customer has all the information. But I think people need to take more responsibility for themselves too.

MBNA also pulled this one on me, I requested them to stop and when they did I was charged twice last month for the insurance I never ever recalled signing up for last month
I seen on my 107.00 for Jan 19 to the 24th then again for Jan 25 to Jan 31. No answer back as to why I am still being charged and why twice in one month?

My experience with RBC is that you have to call in to activate a renewal card. In the process they refer you to an operator, whom, while "activating" your card sells you this insurance feature. Not only do they force you to phone in, you wait in a queue to be sold the insurance. That being said, I do believe consumers have a responsibility to ask questions. In the CIBC investigation the reporter played a passive role - the CIBC did a fast sell and was by no means thorough, but, we as consumers have to advocate for ourselves.

The other catch is if you are self employed. They will only cover you if you are diagnosed with cancer. I got sucked into CIBC insurance. I told them I was self employed and they said it didn't matter. It was just .88 on the balance. I asked them a year later and they said I could just pay .55 on each remaining $100.00. I have since canceled it.

Thanks Marketplace. I just got a new credit card from the TD and they tried to sell me credit insurance. I said that you were doing a show and I wanted to wait and see what you had to say. I am glad I declined their offer. I do recognize that TD explained fully over the phone what the coverage was.

I enjoy your program buit have one complaint. Why do you play the music so darn loud it is very offencive and very hard to hear the program. Please turn your volume down and make it easier for the public that are trying to listen to hear what you are saying. Thank You

I have to use the word "NOOOOOOOOOO" 10 Times for this Useless protection when I was activating my CITIBANK CREDIT CARD. 5 Years Ago it was 69c for every $100 now it is 99c for every $100 and still applies even if your paying full balance. 1% every month means 12% every year even if you are paying full balance.

Watching this show made my husband and I get out our statements to see if we are being charged. We are not being charged the insurance, but I was shocked to see that they had almost doubled our interest rate for over a year now!!! We bank online so when the statements come in the mail we don't look at them, just file them away. We have the ScotiaBank no fee Value Visa which we went with for the low rate of 13.90%. But now they are charging us 21.99%!!! We are making a phonecall in the morning. We do all of our banking with Scotia including our mortgage we may have to threaten to pull everything out of there!!!

I agree with some of the previous writers. Your show is great and very informative. However, if I want to hear music, I'll turn on MTV.

Darn, I got caught in the credit balance protection lack-of-consent-promotional ripoff!...to the tune of $498. Any bets how many calls the companies get on Monday morning, 8:30 a.m. sharp? Love the show.

I watched your segment on credit balance insurance and was really upset about the information you portrayed about it. You only took the time to speak to TWO canadians who had a bad experience when accepting this insurance. I work for a bank here in Canada, I know of many people who called and thanked us for this insurance. One case comes to mind, where a woman lost her husband and didn't have enough funds to pay for her husband's funeral let alone take care of his credit card bill that was over 9000$. Thanks to this insurance, she was able to BENEFIT from this insurance and did not have to worry about paying this extra bill to go along with the funeral costs.
You should have represented both sides,not just two people who had a bad experience.
And also consumer beware:
WHEN SIGNING A CONTRACT, ALWAYS READ IT FIRST!
(that should be a no-brainer...)

I have balance protection on my credit card through TD...they took the time when I activated my card to explain exactly how the coverage works .A year ago I lost my job and because of the lack of jobs in this country right now I was unable to find new employment right away and money was tight, TD make my payments for me so I could continue to use my visa and worry about other more important details in my life then worrying about my credit being ruined too. I can't speak for other banks but I'm very please with how helpful TD insurance was. Maybe a lot of people would be better off if they researched a product and how it could benefit them individually first before bad mouthing a product. Grouping all credit protections together and labelling them as scams is incredibly ignorant. Do you go and see a movie and hate it and then assume that all movies are bad?

Hi. I understand that you are advising us not to take the insurance. I was wondering, when I lost my job in October was I supposed to go to CBC to ask for the minimum payments to be made on my Mastercard or go to my credit company and make a clame?
The clame was approved and it is making payments on the credit card... what do you think would have been the outcome of a request to CBC?

I had this added automatically when my previous card expired and I activated the new one. It wasn't on my bill before then showed up right after activating the new one. Another thing I noticed in looking closer at my monthly bills is the banks jumped their rates without any notification. I have never missed a payment in at least 20 years, never carried a balance yet in September my interest rate jumped 5%. Got to love how the banks are sticking their hands in our wallets their then want the government to give them money as well!!

back in december i noticed that i was being charged for protection insurance on my BMO Mastercard. some months where $1.50 others where upwards of $70. i got tired of paying for something that i have never signed up for so i contacted BMO by email and after a few emails back and forth i was credited $1264.68 on my credit card. not only was i amazed that i had gotten anything from them but i was blown away that they reimbursed me the whole amount. if anyone is being charged for this and they have not signed up for it get after the credit card companies. i told them that i was going to cancel mine if they didn't do anything about this matter.

this insurance was offered to me on my leons account after i made a purchase.it was a dont pay till 2010.this offer came over phone.i declined.second time i received a phone call from rbc rep.trying to sell me insurance on my credit card incase of job loss .i declined.

MBNA Mastercard pulled this on me. I was charged about $2 and complained. They were insistent that I had signed up for this. I decided that $2 was NOT worth my trouble. I made certain that they have removed this option. The MBNA card now sits UNUSED and the bank mails me a monthly statement. I have warned all my friends of this scam and MBNA mailings now go into the trash.

Another thing the banks dont tell you is that you cannot use this insurance until 30 days have gone by, thats why the first 30 days are free. So if you lose you sign up today and lose your job tommorow it will be no good to you.

PLEASE, PLEASE can you cut out the noise.....I just love Wendy Mesley but I can't hear what she has to say, the 'music' is oh! so loud.
If I wanted to listen to music, I would tune in on a music channel. This is information we getting....or trying to grasp.
Hope you will listen to this viewer
Thanks for your time
Renee from Montreal

Normally, I love this show, but the background music was so loud I couldn't hear Wendy speaking on the evils of credit card insurance. In the future, please keep the background music (horrid jazz) off!