Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

mayb_2

Montymoo is this an endowment mortgage? Did you get the £33,000 to be paid at end of term in writing?

If this is a mortgage endowment the 'target' would be the amount needed to cover the mortgage it was taken out to cover. If that is the case you would receive redress on that which, would put you back in the position you would have been in if you had been paying a repayment mortgage over the years to date.

If this is an endowment policy of another kind and you have nothing in writing to confirm that you were told it was going to pay you x amount at term, it becomes much more muddy. In a similar case we actually managed to get paid the equivalent of redress on our endowment, but it was never accepted by the Ombudsman that we were missold although he accepted it would have been worth about £30,000 if the markets had continued in line with likely predictions at point of sale - so we got back our premiums plus a bit for interest. As you have their confirmation that this was a missale your task should be a bit easier if you wanted to take this to the Ombudsman, as you are entitled to do. If you carry on paying into this you could well just be losing more money so should take advice before continuing with the policy. You can continue to argue the case even if you stop paying into it now.

I do so sympathise with your position and know how difficult fighting this sort of case can be. In your position I would write back to the company telling them what you have said here that you are not happy with their figures and asking them to reconsider before you take this to the Ombudsman. If no joy from that, then you may as well complain to the Ombudsman service but this could take a great deal of time to reach a conclusion. That is why you need advice about whether or not it is worth continuing your payments into this - you may well be throwing good money after bad and it is not necessary to continue payments if that is the case.

mayb_2

nichj - if you feel the policy was missold to you then I assume you can make the claim yourself - you cannot be time barred if the company have not told you that there is a chance the policy would not reach its target and giving you three years from that warning to complain. There are template letters available through the main site which are free to use and will do as much as any company can do on your behalf. The important point being that you can only claim a missale if you were unaware that the product you purchased had a risk attached that it may not pay the mortgage amount at the end of term.

jacobjohn7

Hi, I recently sent the initial letter claiming being mis-sold to the financial company who dealt with our endowment approx. 8-9 years ago. It wasn't until recently that the former CGU fund (now part of NU) started looking like short fall territory... so thought it prudent to take action. Well I posted my letter to the finance co. dated 30th Jan 09, and havent heard a sniff back, i sent it expecting honesty, with just a stamp on, not registered, does anyone have any stories advice on this, as I wondered would they/could they just destroy these kind of letters to avoid the initial hassle? My next step is prob to send one registered, or a series of letters with (FREE) certificate of posting from the P.O.
Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

coolchris

Hi there. My mum and dad got an endowment mortgage back in November 1983 over 15 years. Obviously finished paying in 1998. Now my Dad has subsequently died and he used to handle all the finance for us, however I just came across the original mortgage documents and was wondering if I should try and see if there was any misselling.

I am pretty sure that they did not get good advice on this and to the best of my knowledge received no letters regarding this policy...only to let them know that the mortgage had been settled. The reason I say this is that my Dad was not exactly the most educated person and was VERY gullable...a salesmans dream if you will.

So, just to make a case..would it be worth sending in a Subject Access Order for any correspondence that I cannot find for this particular mortgage account?

Thanks.

dunstonh

was wondering if I should try and see if there was any misselling.

5 years before regulation and endowments had tax relief in 1983 so its unlikely.

I am pretty sure that they did not get good advice on this

And what grounds do you have for thinking that? In other words, on what basis would the complaint be?

In 1983, I would think that would have been the correct advice for most people and complaints are reviewed on the basis of the rules in place at that time. Not now.

to the best of my knowledge received no letters regarding this policy

It may well have been an industrial branch policy from that era and not ordinary branch. IB policies didnt get statements.

So, just to make a case..would it be worth sending in a Subject Access Order for any correspondence that I cannot find for this particular mortgage account?

Given the length of time since it matured, the fact it was pre-regulation and got tax relief and it probably matured with a healthy profit, I think you would be wasting your time and money.

mayb_2

John Haigh personally I always go for registered post - expensive but secure. A certificate of posting only proves that you posted it and you cannot track where it got to and who signed for it. I have found it useful to be able to track letters on line and to quote the name of the person signing when phoning about letters that have not been responded to. Also once you get into the count down for the time bar you would not like to be left in the position of them claiming not to have received your claim letter.

It is expensive but if you are positive about the missale of your policy it should be money well spent. You do have to get a final response from the Company before you can take your case to the Ombudsman. This is a long process at the moment so the sooner you get talking to the company concerned the better for you. Sometimes good to send a private and confidential letter to the Chief Exec of the company if you feel you are being given the run around. They wont deal with it but they will pass it on to be dealt with so you know it has received attention and so does the department who deals with it.

Good luck with that.

Crazy_Saver

mayb wrote: »

John Haigh personally I always go for registered post - expensive but secure. A certificate of posting only proves that you posted it and you cannot track where it got to and who signed for it. I have found it useful to be able to track letters on line and to quote the name of the person signing when phoning about letters that have not been responded to. Also once you get into the count down for the time bar you would not like to be left in the position of them claiming not to have received your claim letter.

It is expensive but if you are positive about the missale of your policy it should be money well spent. You do have to get a final response from the Company before you can take your case to the Ombudsman. This is a long process at the moment so the sooner you get talking to the company concerned the better for you. Sometimes good to send a private and confidential letter to the Chief Exec of the company if you feel you are being given the run around. They wont deal with it but they will pass it on to be dealt with so you know it has received attention and so does the department who deals with it.

Good luck with that.

One of the best pieces of advice you will receive John Haigh;)

I personally have also done all of the above.

treliac

john_haigh wrote: »

Hi, I recently sent the initial letter claiming being mis-sold to the financial company who dealt with our endowment approx. 8-9 years ago. It wasn't until recently that the former CGU fund (now part of NU) started looking like short fall territory... so thought it prudent to take action. Well I posted my letter to the finance co. dated 30th Jan 09, and havent heard a sniff back, i sent it expecting honesty, with just a stamp on, not registered, does anyone have any stories advice on this, as I wondered would they/could they just destroy these kind of letters to avoid the initial hassle? My next step is prob to send one registered, or a series of letters with (FREE) certificate of posting from the P.O.
Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Personally, I sent everything recorded delivery and only ever sent photocopies, never original documents!!

turbobob

john_haigh wrote: »

Hi, I recently sent the initial letter claiming being mis-sold to the financial company who dealt with our endowment approx. 8-9 years ago.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Are you sure this company is still there at the same address? Are they on the FSA Register?

cherie_s_d

Hi ,I wonder if i can have your views on my mis-sold endowment policy. I complained to Legal & General (L&G) about the way it was sold to me. I was 20 years old, first time buyer, single with no previous investment experience, or dependants. The 'with profits' policy was taken out in Aug 1988 with initial payments of £96.20 a month increasing by £10.00 a year up to 1998 then staying at £192.40 for the rest of the term. The target amount being £87,000 , with a basic sum assured of £40,803 (Term 25 years).

I cashed in the policy in Dec 2008 as I no longer had a mortgage. The surrender value was £67,647. L&G say I have not made any loss in comparison with a repayment mortgage and that I'm approximately £3,000 up.

L&G wrote to me and have upheld part of my claim and they have made their calculations, however 'life cover' was not included in the redress. Would this make a big difference?
They state;
'They are satisfied that the policy invested in the With Profits Fund was suitable.
However on the next page they state I was in a relatively stable and secure job and I chose this fund because of the better returns and my ability to deal with any shortfall at maturity.
They are not satisfied that I was made aware of an alternative repayment mortgage.
They are not satisfied that I was made aware of the associated risks, but
satisfied that the life cover was suitable for me.
They state that I my investment in this policy was fair based on their assessment of my 'attitude to risk'.
I maintain that I was not advised about the 'risk' and was never given an alternative to this policy. Therefore how can L&G possibly make so many contradictory statements, or assess my attitude, when they have never met me. I am not the sort of person who takes undue risks. Additionally the purchase of this policy informed all the other financial decisions I've made since (regarding mortgages etc). This was my first mortgage and I was badly advised.
Should I take this complaint further i.e. to the FOS? or do I reply to L&G explaining my dissatisfaction with their stance.