Can someone help re Endowment shortfall letter?

leona71

We took out an Endowment with Friends Provident in October 1994 and was promised it would make £50k in 2019. Just last week we received a letter in the post in big red writing saying that it was a red alert - high risk of a shortfall. Our endowment might only reach £29k by 2019.

We have paid £80 every month for it only to amount to just 10k.

I'm puzzled and want to do the right thing here? What's the best way forward? We were promised it would make 50k!

Thanks for any advice...

Leona

silvercar

Follow the links on here:

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

it will generate a letter for you.

dunstonh

I'm puzzled and want to do the right thing here? What's the best way forward? We were promised it would make 50k!

It still might. We are not in 2019 yet and nobody knows what the final payout will be. Projections issued do not reflect the performance of the funds you are invested in. They could be better or worse. For example, if they used 2%, 3% and 4% for your projections you would show a shortfall. However, your investment funds could be averaging 7%. Equally, things could be a lot worse and it could be less than that. Projections are just examples. They are not what you are likely to get.

leona71

albertross wrote:

If you are wondering where all the money went:

Commission payed to the IFA/agent. (if you used one).
Costs of running Friends provident.
Possibly, bad investment decisions.
Fall of stock market
Costs of the life assurance built into your policy.

Better act quickly if you want to claim miss-selling.

Everyone else is in the same boat!

So i am best to write to Friends Provident about the shortfall? Or is it the agent that sold me the Endowment? If so the agent no longer has a business, what happens then??

Sorry if i sound thick! I am not in this field of business at all, I work in finance but have no idea about endowments etc. Thanks for the advice.

dunstonh

So i am best to write to Friends Provident about the shortfall? Or is it the agent that sold me the Endowment? If so the agent no longer has a business, what happens then??

Friends Provident sold their products through IFAs and a tied salesforce. If you bought it through an IFA, you complain direct to that IFA. If you bought it through a FP salesman, you complain to FP. Look at your documents, it should give you details of the advising company if its not an FP salesman that did it.

You cannot complain about a potential shortfall. Your complaint would be rejected on that basis as investment returns (or lack of) are not grounds for complaint.

tw0906blue

We too have an endowment with FP. It is a top up endowment taken out 17 years ago. So it is due to pay out soon. We had a letter from FP 6 months or so ago, saying our policy was at amber - a few thousand short. OK we thought, you promised it would cover the mortgage, but we were stupid and didn't complain. Now we have a letter saying Red Alert. Our policy will be seriously short. :eek:

How can this be? The market has been going up in the past 12 months. Bad investments by FP? We are going to be in serious trouble if they don't deliver on their promise.

They have sent us a letter with a form saying fill in pages of info from years ago. You know the sort, what colour was the sales reps tie? etc! Do I really have to fill this long form in...isn't it up to FP to look at their records and deliver their promise? :mad:

Has anyone got any advice?

silvercar

My advice would be to follow this link and generate a letter of complaint. It doesn't cost you, as a consumer, anything.


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

Don't think of yourself as stupid, if the advisor had made things clear you would have understood; hence your complaint.

dunstonh

How can this be? The market has been going up in the past 12 months. Bad investments by FP?

Are you invested in the stockmarket then?

They have sent us a letter with a form saying fill in pages of info from years ago. You know the sort, what colour was the sales reps tie? etc! Do I really have to fill this long form in...isn't it up to FP to look at their records and deliver their promise?

You cant just expect to accuse someone of telling lies and have them payout without checking the facts first. There are plenty of false endowment claims going in as well as valid ones.

defender_of_the_weak

Provide the minimum of information. Do not write screeds of information
Were you warned

---

No

Did you discuss shortfall ----Not discussed

Do not give them any additional information which they may use to reject the complaint. Let them go back to the record of the sale and defend it from there.

leona71

dunstonh wrote:

Friends Provident sold their products through IFAs and a tied salesforce. If you bought it through an IFA, you complain direct to that IFA. If you bought it through a FP salesman, you complain to FP. Look at your documents, it should give you details of the advising company if its not an FP salesman that did it.

You cannot complain about a potential shortfall. Your complaint would be rejected on that basis as investment returns (or lack of) are not grounds for complaint.

I bought it through a salesman Mr Graham Robb on Albert Terrace in Aberdeen - he no longer has a business. So who do i write to?

big_t_8

can anyone give me advice on how to begin to make a claim as my endowment was wrongly sold.I do not know where to begin very confussed HELP !