Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

mayb_2

lizclassic54 I think you will find that the question relating to risks that are part of the questionnaire are rather loaded. If you have shares bought in the past then it is assumed that you are not risk averse. However, owning shares in the past does not necessarily mean that your policy was missold and it would not have excluded you from pursuing your claim through the Ombudsman. Unfortunately it would appear that you have lost your opportunity to do this but maybe making your policy paid up at least saved you from throwing good money after bad.

lizclassic54

Thanks for your responses. I have timed out anyway! I should have dealt with this sooner but life got in the way. Six months is a relatively short time, for me at any rate.
I am SO GLAD that I made my policy paid up as NU or AVIVA are pants!

silkwormkids

I am a new user of this site so please be kind.

I was sold an endowment mortgate by a independent financial advisor who has since 'gone out of business' and disappeared. I was approached by companies claiming they could get me compensation but after looking at all my documentation told me that they couldnt as the IFA had stopped working. Is this the end for me? I have 2 endowments currently under achieving!

dunstonh

silkwormkids wrote: »

I am a new user of this site so please be kind.

I was sold an endowment mortgate by a independent financial advisor who has since 'gone out of business' and disappeared. I was approached by companies claiming they could get me compensation but after looking at all my documentation told me that they couldnt as the IFA had stopped working. Is this the end for me? I have 2 endowments currently under achieving!

If it was sold before 29th April 1988 then you cannot claim (pre regulation)
If it was sold before 29th August 1988 then you cannot claim (pre FSCS protection
If the adviser was LAUTRO authorised and not PIA/FSA and didnt go on to get FSA/PIA authorisation and stopped trading before a date in 1994 then you cannot claim.
If the adviser ceased trading after 1994 or was PIA/FSA authorised from 29th August onwards then you can make a claim to the FSCS.

You also have a potential time bar issue as well. 3/4 of endomwents are now timebarred from complaint. No point starting a process if you are timebarred.

mayb_2

If you are time barred it would have to be because you had ignored the letter from the company you have your endowment with, telling you you have six months left in which to claim and informing you of the last date to do this.

The other issues raised by dunstonh - perhaps he would let you know how to check about the authorisation of the IFA if he is no longer in business.

I would be tempted to put a claim in with the Ombudsman if you don't know the answers and you haven't been time barred, providing you feel that you were missold this in the first place. This means that you were not given the sort of information that would have made it clear that this may not reach its target and pay off your mortgage at the point of sale.

dunstonh

The other issues raised by dunstonh - perhaps he would let you know how to check about the authorisation of the IFA if he is no longer in business.

www.fsa.gov.uk/register - you can look up by firm name or adviser name and you will see if they are still authorised.

I would be tempted to put a claim in with the Ombudsman

If the advising firm is no longer trading the FOS will just return the complaint and tell you to go to the FSCS if the adviser was PIA/FSA authorised.

clithes

lizclassic54 wrote: »

I am SO GLAD that I made my policy paid up as NU or AVIVA are pants!

Why do you state the product provider are pants. Surely your complaint was against the IFA?

Also, your policy is still invested with NU if made paid up, so you better hope they're not pants and continue to make a return on your investment.

mayb_2

Clithes if the NU or AVIVA are 'pants' it is because they are not making good returns on the investment - if any. So whilst one might hope they are making a good return, if there is any doubt, it is about as valuable to you as puting your money in the dustbin. Cashing in at the wrong time can also be a bad move. Perhaps there is an argument for leaving it where it is, but personally I think I would have salvaged what I could before now.

That is one of the problems when the product fails to do what was promised for it. Not only may you not have understood what you bought, you probably wont have any idea why it has failed or what your best move ought to be, or who if anyone to trust to tell you.

nicjh

Hi, I'm new to this forum and am hoping for a helpful hint. I was sold an endowment in '91 and redeemed it in '99, when I found out it wasn't going to do anything (had already sold the house and was a full-time mature student then so hadn't bought anything else, but had kept up the policy assuming that it would be there for me for the next one).

I've just been contacted by EMC offering to claim money back for me, no-compensation-no-fee style, and they seem to think I still have a case. I've never been contacted by anyone at the company re mis-selling so I don't know if the time bar applies to me (the company being Albany Life, now part of someone else) and I was told about the early redemption fee when I cashed it in. I lost about a grand in all (what I paid out vs. what I got back) but if I'd kept it up I would have lost a lot more. Are EMC right and if so, is it something I can do myself and not pay their 42% (inc. VAT) fee.

montymoo_3

We purchased an endowment from GA in '89 against £33k, the monthly premium starting at £25pm, rising £5 per year to £50 after 5 years. (GA then became CGU then Norwich Union). In '99 we questioned the projected return and were advised (verbally) by the sales rep that 'if we wanted to double our return to say £60-£70k, then we would need to triple our premium'. We did that however they left our target at £33k, which I presume we should have noticed and questioned but did not.
We have now paid £150pm since. When we complained about our recent forecasted return and asked why NU had not advised us in writing of any concern, they replied that as our policy was 'on track' to meet £33k, there was no concern. On writing to remind them that if we had only been paying the original agreed £50pm over the years, then the policy would obviously not be on track, and that they should not consider the extra payments for their benefit, they then agreed that the policy had been mis-sold etc and came back with an offer of £13.2k, with a current value on the policy of £20k (which has dropped over £1k in the last 2 months!!!). We have actually paid £21.2k into the policy and will pay another £9k until it matures in 2014, total paid over £30k. The Dec 2008 projected final policy payment (@4%) is £37.9k. I am of mind to refuse the £13k in view of the extra payments that we have made. Does anyone have an opinion or advice as to what they think we should do. Thank you in anticipation.