Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

dunstonh

Has anyone had any experience of the agruement that if your endowment mortgage was taken out with a Scottish company you have 5 years to complain about mis-selling rather than 3 years under English law.

FSA rules are not specific to Scotland. Law society rules are different. However, law society rules would only apply to those which were sold by solicitors. Not those sold under FSA (or PIA regulated individual.

Have you got links to anything that would suggest there is a difference for FSA regulated companies as I have never heard of such a thing?

moira62

we claimed when we were first told to and got around £2000 for three policies. These are all paying out way less than this, the first is due now and is £4000 below expected. Can I claim again for the incresed loss

dunstonh

moira62 wrote: »

we claimed when we were first told to and got around £2000 for three policies. These are all paying out way less than this, the first is due now and is £4000 below expected. Can I claim again for the incresed loss

No. When the redress payment was made it was based on you paying that redress amount and the surrender value of the endowments into the mortgage and converting to repayment mortgage.

That would have put you in the position you would have been had you been on a repayment mortgage from the start (which is what virtually every complaint about endowments was asking).

If you didnt do that and chose to continue the endowment then you take on the responsibility for that decision. You cant complain again.

durbans

Hi there, I was wondering if somebody on here would be able to offer some advice...

My parents were mis-sold an endowment mortgage. They were promised at least the value of the mortgage + whatever bonus the bank earnt from their investment (ends in 2018). They recieved their first red letter in Sept 2007 so the 3 years have already passed, however they did send a letter of complaint to the bank (Norwich Union) in 2009. They recieved a typical fob off letter saying that the bank had investigated and would not compensate.

I have now directed them to this site, they have called the Financial Ombudsman and are being sent the relevant forms. However as they have already sent & recieved a complaint letter then we are worried that they will not have a case anymore. The Ombudsman has told them that they will have to explain why they didn't take furthur action when they first made a complaint and that the bank will simply be able to reject their explaination and it will all be over.

The mortgage is in shortfall by £35k at the moment and this is literally going to ruin their retirement. Has anybody else been in this situation and is there any advice anyone can offer? I thought that they could say that the bank lied to them by saying they did not have a claim and that is the reason for not pursuing furthur but I don't know if that reasoning would work...they have masses of paperwork and documents regarding the mortgage, if that helps.

Any advice would be much appreciated...

Thanks,
David

dunstonh

They recieved their first red letter in Sept 2007 so the 3 years have already passed, however they did send a letter of complaint to the bank (Norwich Union) in 2009. They recieved a typical fob off letter saying that the bank had investigated and would not compensate.

Most endowments were not mis-sold. So, its not a fob off letter. It was a formal rejection of their complaint. They would have stated why it was rejected and in many cases provided the evidence necessary to counter the accusations. The ability to go to the FOS within 6 months exists for those that do feel they are not having their complaint viewed correctly.

I have now directed them to this site, they have called the Financial Ombudsman and are being sent the relevant forms. However as they have already sent & recieved a complaint letter then we are worried that they will not have a case anymore. The Ombudsman has told them that they will have to explain why they didn't take furthur action when they first made a complaint and that the bank will simply be able to reject their explaination and it will all be over.

Aviva will refuse to look at it again and the FOS will not review the complaint as it is time barred from FOS referral due to 6 months being passed. The FOS only overrule the time bar very rarely. Typically in cases where the person has been incapacitated in some way for the whole period since the complaint was rejected.

I thought that they could say that the bank lied to them by saying they did not have a claim and that is the reason for not pursuing furthur but I don't know if that reasoning would work...they have masses of paperwork and documents regarding the mortgage, if that helps.

The bank hasnt lied though. It gave its formal response to them in writing and the option for them to take it to the FOS within 6 months if they disagree with the response.

The bank will supply the FOS with a copy of that letter and your parents attempts to re-open the complaint will be blown out of the water as they would be shown to be unreliable and inaccurate at best or liars at worst. (that comes across blunt but its more about making the point that it is looked at as a black and white situation where if you claim one thing the other party provides the evidence to the contrary, you cease to be considered reliable in areas that cannot be proven).

They were promised at least the value of the mortgage + whatever bonus the bank earnt from their investment (ends in 2018).

All they had to do was provide evidence to support their accusation and the complaint would be upheld. What evidence did they have to support that claim? If there was no evidence then the documents are looked at and if the documentary audit trail is correct, then without any evidence to the contrary, the documents win the case of the bank.

I know its not what you want to hear but the FOS allow the re-opening of cases rarely and it really is only serious medical issues or similar justifiable reasons that they do this on.

magpiecottage

Aviva will have been very clear about the time limit for going to FOS in its final response.

It is possible that the policy was sold by an IFA (many did) in which case you could complain to them, if they still exist.

However, they will obtain the timebar letters from Aviva and reject it - unless you can show that Aviva sent the original complaint on to them and they failed to address it.

janz70

Hi all, Im probabley much too late with this but I bought an endowment morgage back in 1993 as was the done thing, " it will cover your mortgage and give you 10k" I was told, I also had life insurannse built into my pension scheme so didnt need it all.

A fair few years ago I complained to my bank that I was missold - only to recieve a "we have concidered your complaint and have rejected it ", foolishly thought that was that - end of story, but I have seen this is the standard brush off they give everyone!

Have I missed the boat as they have been sending me "my fund wont cover" red letters for years

PS I still have the endowment

magpiecottage

The response will have given you the opportunity to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (or possibly the Banking Ombudsman if it was that long ago) and a time limit of six months.

If you did not avail yourself of that opportunity at the time then the bank can simply timebar the complaint irrespective of subsequent red letters.

dunstonh

I also had life insurannse built into my pension scheme so didnt need it all.

Which doesnt have to be included as the purpose of that it to replace lost income and lower pension for your dependants.

A fair few years ago I complained to my bank that I was missold - only to recieve a "we have concidered your complaint and have rejected it ", foolishly thought that was that - end of story, but I have seen this is the standard brush off they give everyone!

Where have you seen these standard brush offs? There has been nothing in the press to suggest any. Indeed, if anything, endowment complaints were actually reviewed on a more consumer friendly basis than they should have been.

As it happens, you complained, you had your response and you chose not to argue it within the 6 month period, as mentioned above. So, its game over.

LynK_3

I bought an endowment poilicy of Scottish Mutual (now Phoenix) in Jan 1988. It was sold to us by a financial advisor. The amount the policy was to make was £20,000 it finishes Oct 2013. In the last statement it is only worth £9,000 so I am looking at £11k shortfall. The boker/advisor when selling told us it was a bit like a savings policy and I would certainly have enough to cover the 20k plus prob in the region of around 16k to spend as we saw fit, was very young and niave and took what he said as gospel.
Am I too late to complain, I have been receiving letters for sometime warning about a shortfall from the company but have done nothing.
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.