Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

anandp

dunstonh wrote: »

To be honest, it seems like you have picked a template letter and "had a go" with a number of options you hope may work. Their responses do have merit and remember a lot of the decisions where there is no proof one way or the other have to go with the balance of probabilities.

You didnt buy your first endowment through them and no indication you were buying the second one so why should they further question it?

Your comments aren't entirely inaccurate to be honest. I did read and re-read Martin's articles on this and the Which ones, and in the case of my main mortgage (+ endowment policy), for me it was an open and shut case - i.e. there were grounds for mis-selling.
On the further advance, the case to me was less clear. Some, for the reasons set out above in their response, but some (such as retirement being after term end date and the firm's responsibility to check if I have a repayment vehicle in place) I genuinely believed there may have been a case of at least partial fault on their part.

Not quite sure whether to refer to the Ombudsman or not now. Some of their reasons are valid, but some questionable at best IMHO.

dunstonh

Your comments aren't entirely inaccurate to be honest.

Part of the problem was that I could see that more or less. So, someone dealing with complaints as part of their job (whether its the insurance company or the FOS) are going to see it as well.

Some of these template letters do more damage than good. Especially if you start saying things that can easily be proven otherwise. If you raise 5 points and three of them can be countered with evidence, but two cannot but no evidence is available one way or the other, they may use the balance of probability that you were wrong on three points so were probably wrong on the others. Sometimes its best to keep the complaint short and sweet and not try to over complicate it.

Also, trying to dig holes in minor areas wont necessarily get the complaint upheld. Errors can be made by the adviser or insurer and still not be upheld if its not a material fact that alters the recommendation.

Tablet

Hi can anyone help. I am not a complainer but as my mortgage is nearly at an end and I am going to have a shortfall of about 5000 I thought that I would have a go. I had a letter back from Barclays saying that they had contacted me and that I was timed out. I have left it for a few months as I am a wimp at complaining but as the end draws ever nearer and I see the shortfall I get crosser and crosser. Is there any point in complaining to the ombudsman or have I left it too late and how do I go about it if there is

mayb_2

It all depends on whether you actually received your final warning letter (red letter as it is known). If you did, unfortunately, there is nothing you can do as you have left it too late to complain. I think that is apalling if you were actually missold your mortgage but that is the way it works now. If on the other hand Barclays are mistaken in this then they must investigate your claims and if you are not satisfied with their response you can complain to the Ombudsman.

dunstonh

I had a letter back from Barclays saying that they had contacted me and that I was timed out.

You have three years from first being notified of a high risk of a shortfall in your statement or a letter. As you get closer to the time bar they are required to remind you of the expiry date. Again, this typically appears in the statement but can be in a letter.

Once that time bar has passed, they no longer have to review a complaint from you unless there are good reasons for you taking over 3 years to decide why to make a complaint. Being abroad constantly or being in a coma tend to be acceptable.

Is there any point in complaining to the ombudsman or have I left it too late and how do I go about it if there is

The FOS will follow the time bar as well providing Barclays have executed it correctly. The majority of endowments were time barred last year and this issue is generally coming to an end now.

mayb_2

Well bully for the banks and finance companies - they had to win in the end didn't they. Now we are all losers in the face of one of their newer messes of the sub prime market. They knew about this problem years ago (after all they created it) and it didn't stop them, same as the misselling of endowments. Having found it was not going to work they redoubled their efforts in selling them before the penny dropped. The FOS should be ashamed of itself in allowing the time bar rule. There is no acceptable excuse for this type of behaviour from these huge companies.

Chamois

Hi,

I have recently been contacted by my lender who have upheld a complaint that we made about our endowment policy being mis-sold. However, in spite of a projected shortfall of up to £15,000 they have determined that we are not entitled to any compensation.

In your experience, is it worth pursuing this further or should I accept this outcome?

Many thanks to anyone who is able to advise.

Chamois

mayb_2

That doesn't make sense Chamois unless the projections, based on a range of possible returns required by the FSA, are way off base and actually there will be no shortfall. You have to remember that compensation (redress) is only to put you back in the situation you would have been in at this point in time with a repayment mortgage. What in effect the company is saying is that you are no worse off at this point in time. You may have many years to run on your mortgage so it would not be paying off the possible shortfall at the end of term - which may or may not be going to happen. It is very difficult to understand how this works and I would ask them to explain their thinking in plain terms that you can understand - why, as you have had your complaint upheld, are they not paying you redress should be the sort of question.

It may be worth you puting more details on here and those who know the current financial situation of the lender may be able to give you a steer on that - I would still write to them and ask them to explain.

turbobob

Whether you are due any compensation is not dependant on any projected final values. It is calculated up to this point in time, as Mayb has said. Essentially they are saying that the current value of the policy is more than what you would have paid off a repayment mortgage at this point in time.

Out of interest have you taken any steps to mitigate your losses? Like converted all or part of your mortgage to repayment, or made overpayments.

dunstonh

Chamois wrote: »

Hi,

I have recently been contacted by my lender who have upheld a complaint that we made about our endowment policy being mis-sold. However, in spite of a projected shortfall of up to £15,000 they have determined that we are not entitled to any compensation.

In your experience, is it worth pursuing this further or should I accept this outcome?

Many thanks to anyone who is able to advise.

Chamois

Not an uncommon situation. Your endowment may have an example shortfall if a certain rate of return was used but thats a shortfall at maturity only if that rate of return is achieved. Your endowment could be doing better than that (and almost certainly is if you are currently not in a loss position.

For example, your endowment may have a target growth rate of 7% and is achieving that so is on track. However, the example projections may use 6% so despite the endowment being on track, it shows a shortfall as a lower rate is used.