Norwich Union - Stalling Tactics?

Honest_Man

My 25yr endowment matured on 2nd Dec so I was looking forward to a nice cheque in time for Christmas.

Now every year, without fail, I've received a letter explaining why that year's bonus was so small. But, this year, no letter and, more importantly, no cheque - so I called them.

Ah, the maturity pack must have got lost in the post and I needed to complete this so they knew how to pay out. I said not to bother with the pack, they'd already noted the mortage had been paid off, and a cheque sent to the address on record would be fine.

Oh no - the pack had to be completed. Why? Because I might be money-laundering or impersonating myself. I pointed out that if any laundering had been done, it had been done by them over 25 years, and if I was impersonating myself, signing a form would prove little as my signature, like me, had aged.

No form, no payout, she said - and no speaking to my supervisor just now as she's in a meeting.

My question is this: Am I alone in being stalled by the Norwich Union come payout time or is this common practice?

dunstonh

I pointed out that if any laundering had been done, it had been done by them over 25 years

No it wouldnt. When it started, there was no requirement to check for identification. That didnt come in until 1984 and even then it was very light. Maturities have a requirement to be checked as does new money.

if I was impersonating myself, signing a form would prove little as my signature, like me, had aged.

It does give them an audit trail of information they can use. NU also use the electronic verification system. IIRC, the declaration covers the use of that.

My question is this: Am I alone in being stalled by the Norwich Union come payout time or is this common practice?

Quite normal. The maturity packs go out 1-6 months before maturity normally. So, it is usually fairly straight forward as they can deal with these in advance. In your case, you maturity pack went missing so you are having to play catch up. NU's post is quite quick on matters like this so you shouldnt have to wait long if they choose not to find an alternative to completing the form.

Honest_Man

Thanks for the reply from someone who's more familiar with this than me.

You've confirmed my thoughts that stalling is probably a common tactic. Must admit, I still don't get the money-laundering bit. Clearly NU were happy to take the money direct from my bank without query for 25 years.

Thanks again.

opinions4u

Honest_Man wrote: »

Thanks for the reply from someone who's more familiar with this than me.
It's good practice to click on the little <thanks> button to say so!

You've confirmed my thoughts that stalling is probably a common tactic.
Are you both freemasons communicating in some invisible code, because I missed that bit?

Must admit, I still don't get the money-laundering bit. Clearly NU were happy to take the money direct from my bank without query for 25 years.
Well, they could skip it all just for your benefit, but if the big nasty regulator found out they would probably get fined an awful lot of money (£1m+), or potentially closed down.

The most common reasons for letters going missing are:

(1) Client moved house and forgot to tell them.
(2) Client thought it was junk mail and binned it.
(3) Post office actually lost it.

It is also possible that it was never sent. Personally I think this is the least likely cause.

Get over your conspiracy theory, go with the flow and you'll see you money sooner rather than later.

Honest_Man

Quote:
Originally Posted by Honest Man
Thanks for the reply from someone who's more familiar with this than me.
It's good practice to click on the little <thanks> button to say so!

Is there a difference?

You've confirmed my thoughts that stalling is probably a common tactic.
Are you both freemasons communicating in some invisible code, because I missed that bit?

??

Must admit, I still don't get the money-laundering bit. Clearly NU were happy to take the money direct from my bank without query for 25 years.
Well, they could skip it all just for your benefit, but if the big nasty regulator found out they would probably get fined an awful lot of money (£1m+), or potentially closed down.

It remains that NU were not concerned about the cleanliness of my money for 25 years. If any checking needs to be done now, shouldn't I be the one doing it?

opinions4u wrote: »

The most common reasons for letters going missing are:

(1) Client moved house and forgot to tell them.
(2) Client thought it was junk mail and binned it.
(3) Post office actually lost it.

I would have noticed if I'd moved house. :rolleyes:

opinions4u wrote: »

Get over your conspiracy theory, go with the flow and you'll see you money sooner rather than later.

Do you work for NU?

dunstonh

Dont knock the Royal Mail losing it. I get around 4 letters a week delivered to me with the wrong address on them. I put them back in the post but you can bet your life not everyone does that.

It remains that NU were not concerned about the cleanliness of my money for 25 years. If any checking needs to be done now, shouldn't I be the one doing it?

25 years ago there were no money laundering rules. They came in the year later. They have then been progressively updated and changed over the years and one of the last changes applied the rules to surrenders and maturities. So, they cannot avoid doing this. It applies to all providers.

In the last 2 months, I have had three clients who have not received statements from NU despite being told they have gone out. There could be an issue at their end.

There is no attempt to stall. Its just a sequence of events that hasnt gone as planned.

YorkshireBoy

Honest_Man wrote: »

Do you work for NU?

I think he's just a level-headed realist.

Have you got the issue resolved now? If not, what have you done about it? For instance...

I've had maturity problems with all 3 of my NU endowment policies. I let the first one go, but complained (formally...have you?) with the second one. I 'split the difference' with them on that one. By that, I mean I agreed not to take my complaint to the FOS if the 'goodwill' was reasonable. They paid me £200, ie half the FOS case fee.

My 3rd policy has recently matured (again with problems) and I've had to make yet another formal complaint. When asked what I was 'looking for', I referred them to my previous complaint (and it's resolution, which they obviously have on file). I've just received a cheque for £225 (which is half the current £450 FOS case fee).

So, what are you doing about your problem?

Honest_Man

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

So, what are you doing about your problem?

I complained. This resulted in:

1. A speedy acknowledgement of my complaint requesting time to investigate - fair enough. Followed a week later by:

2. A letter telling me the policy had matured, the money was in a suspense account and if I didn't reply within 28 days it would be moved to a non-interest account - presumably an incentive for me to reply.

So, I've returned their forms with no idea of what the pay-out is going to be!

Hopefully, the person responsible for (1) will incentivise the person responsible for (2).