Standard letter (written by martyn ?)

Berny60

Hi.This is my first contribution ! Where can I find a copy of a letter to send to the endowment mortgage misselling people when you have been told you do not qualify.Martyn has referred to it on TV and in the newspapers,but I cannot find any reference to it anywhere!I think it is a standard letter that you can edit for your requirements.Thanks for any help.Berny60.

dunstonh

Write it yourself. Your complaint will be taken far more seriously in your own words than if you use a template used by thousands of others.

It is generally considered that using a template could harm your chances of a successful complaint. Indeed at one point, and still possible, there were claims companies that were using templates that listed every conceivable area that could be a complaint even if it was not applicable to the policyholder.

With insurance companies starting to take a stand against what they see as opportunistic complaining, I wouldnt use a template.

defender_of_the_weak

Dunston, an individual complaint wil be taken no more seriously than any other and is more likely to ultimately fail because the author does not actually understand all the reasons behind the sale. As mentioned on another thread tho' some claims companies add nothing and from a complaint handlers point of view many of them love the which letter because it covers such a limited range of issues. Many of the people I have worked with in the past are now on the other end of the complaints pipe dealing with these and I receive regular feedback from them

dunstonh

Well, that is at odds with what is being said in the press.

YorkshireBoy

In my case, as the endowment was recommended by a building society mortgage consultant, a simple phone call sufficed.

I just called them and stated I was concerned that I had a rather large projected shortfall. They sent out a 2 page questionnaire, which I completed and returned.

I appreciate that this won't work if there are third parties involved, but if the OP's situation is the same as mine, then perhaps a letter might not be necessary?

defender_of_the_weak

I appreciate some of the press comments particularly the industry papers but I am afraid we are in the world of lies, damn lies and statistics. Let me shine a litlle light on here.

The average uphold rate for a complaint is approx 65-70% across the board, our rate is 95% plus (and no we don't only go after post 88 biggies). Every caim company, large or small says roughly the same, so why has nobody challenged these assertions via the advertising standards authority?

Bofore the FSA got involved the uphold rate for complaints to Abbey was 7-8% ours was and is 98%.

Many of the big financial institutions fob clients off with sales made before 1988 by telling them that the duty of care was less and therefore we met this reduced level, some of them, that ran direct salesforces even tell clients 'we did not give advice we only provided figures and you made the decision to take the endowment'.

In every single case this decision is overturned by the Ombudsman. But we also knw that of all the complaints rejected only 30% of them ever end up with FOS and only 20% of those get upheld on the client's behalf.

So if, 100,000 people have been told 'it was pre 88 no advice, only 6,000 of them would be overturned. Therefore 64,000 have wrongly been turned down.

I think the way the big co's are handling this is a total and utter disgrace. They also contract out the work to companies who pitch for it on the basis of minimising the number they uphold and pay out on.

If, as the FSA rather fancifully wishes they 'treated customers fairly' I would be out of business.

And don't forget, in a couple of years millions more people will be told you cant complain because we say so it is too late. Oh what joy the industry will bring to all those people approaching retirement who have seen pensions and savings disappear and now realise that they won't even be able to stay in their own home.

Battenburg667

I think the link you are looking for is :

http://www.which.net/endowmentaction/index.html

This was the letter writing tool I used to complain to Norwich Union and received an offer of £4900 compensation, so I think you'll be taken seriously!!! :j