Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

dunstonh

also in the letter they said it would be a waste of time for me to contact the obudsman because they would look at the timebar and uphold their decision?

At this time, the ombudsman will not review any time barred complaints unless the time bar has been imposed incorrectly. Even then you would have to prove it.

wept

We took out an endowment in 1983 for a mortgage with the Woolwich with Scottish Widows and have been told its on red alert. We have been trying to save additionally to cover the shortfall.
Anyway last night I received a call from a company called Solar Financial Services who apparently deal with endowment shortfalls - they get details from banks/building societies of people that have endowments apparently. The lady told me they deal with endowments placed after 1978 in response to my question about the 1988 deadline.
If you lose you get nothing and nor do they...if we win they take 25%+vat which I agree seems high but if they can get something surely its worth it ason my own I don't think I stand a chance.
Has anyone heard of this company...Google brings up very little.....is this a con I am a bit guarded to say the least.

defender_of_the_weak

If you are going to use a claims company, shop around there are plenty who will beat the price quoted, which is way too high. You can find details on the Guardian website who ran some comparisons last year and also thisismoney which is the Daily Mail. I don't know if the Which site has been updated yet. I have never heard of solar but they are probably a company going back through old client files looking for possible claims

bigmex

I have about 3 years ago had a claim rejected by the PIA - does this mean the end - or can I apply again

dunstonh

bigmex wrote:

I have about 3 years ago had a claim rejected by the PIA - does this mean the end - or can I apply again

The PIA do not review complaints. The advising firm reviewed complaints and if you didnt like the outcome, you could appeal to the FOS. If the FOS said no, then you are out of options seeing as you didnt appeal then. I am going to assume you are getting your initials mixed up and meant FOS.

Tina_Ul

Two years ago we made a complaint about our mis-sold endowment policy through the Leeds Permanent (now Halifax). We used one of these no win no fee companies. After several months received a letter back from them saying our claim had been turned down - so we forgot all about it and last year after an inheritance paid off our mortgage.

Today we received a letter from the Halifax saying they had re-assessed our case and had decided they were wrong to deny our claim! They are not guaranteeing any compensation, because they have a complicated way of deciding whether or not you have lost out financially - however if any of you out there have an your claim re-jected by the Halifax may you should explore further and maybe even try again! Wishing you luck Tina:beer:

Wintergirl_2

When in the Army my other half was sold an endowment that at the time was not linked to a mortgage but purely used as a savings tool. He subsequently used the endowment policy for the mortgage on our house. We took out part repayment and part endowment. It will not now pay off that portion of the mortgage. Does he still have grounds for compensation as at the time of taking it out he was told it would produce a certain sum, which he still believed would happen when we took out our mortgage.

Thanks:

dunstonh

Wintergirl wrote:

When in the Army my other half was sold an endowment that at the time was not linked to a mortgage but purely used as a savings tool. He subsequently used the endowment policy for the mortgage on our house. We took out part repayment and part endowment. It will not now pay off that portion of the mortgage. Does he still have grounds for compensation as at the time of taking it out he was told it would produce a certain sum, which he still believed would happen when we took out our mortgage.

Thanks:

these pre-sold endowments generally result in the complaint being upheld. However, you do need to be careful as the redress method is to refund premiums plus interest. This can potentially be lower than the current value of the endowment.

dreamylittledream

Stumpy wrote:

We've had two endowments that we have complained about - one was sold for our first house in 1989 and, unfortunately, the company that sold it no longer exists. We've sent a letter to the FSCS and (hopefully) are in the process of getting some sort of agent reference number as they couldn't trace the agents - it was a Scottish Provident endowment, but sold through an "agent" - black horse agencies (and what a joke they turned out to be). I rang Scottish Provident up but they're apparently having some computer problems and couldn't find it while I was on the phone, however, promised to send me a letter with it on.

Anyway, the other was one sold by Guardian - we sent them a letter of complaint ages and ages ago, and eventually got a letter back saying that we weren't due any compensation. We just shrugged our shoulders and decided it had been worth a try - resigned to having to get some sort of loan or something at the end of the term to finish paying off the mortgage.

However - a few months ago we got another letter from them asking for more details and RESULT - they've offered us £2,300 compensation. We're probably going to stick that in an ISA or something for a while, but I've noticed that others have mentioned cashing in their endowment policies as well - should we or shouldn't we?

We've got 3 endowments in total - the first one (1989) was only a very small one - maybe £15k ish, the second one was a bit larger at about £30k and the last was about £40k. What we did was, whenever we changed house, we kept the length of the mortgage roughly the same rather than making it another 25 years each time, and just added an extra endowment on top. With the last one, I'm not sure of the exact details, but I believe we did a bit of jiggery-pokery last time we remortgaged so that it's now split between the original endowments, plus a bit of repayment to cover the (then) shortfall. I'm of the opinion that it's easier to just leave it all alone - it's confusing enough as it is!! Any other opinions?! :rolleyes:

Edit: Just rung Scottish Provident again to chase up this reference number they couldn't get me before - their computer system is down again!! Sheesh.

Edit (again!): I've rung Scottish Provident again - apparently they don't have the SIB number. They're sending me a copy of some paperwork with the agents name and address on it, but we've already passed that onto FSCS previously who said it wasn't enough to track them down. Is that it? Is there any other way of tracking them?

Black Horse Agencies were sold to Bradford and Bingley and BBG accepted their liabilities for past sales.

If you policy was sold by Black Horse you should direct your complaint to Bradford and Bingley

kingl_2

I would welcome some advice re the following:

1. 1989 we were first time buyers in our 20’s. We went to BS my future wife had been with since she was 4 for a mortgage. We didn’t shop around.
2. Told by BS we should have an endowment mortgage with Standard Life. No other products or companies were suggested. A meeting with SL rep was arranged a few days later.
3. Met with SL rep in an office at the BS. It appeared that the rep even had a dedicated office at the BS.
4. As in common with most the risks were never explained and we were told we would have a nest egg etc etc

We have no doubt that we were mis-sold and have made a claim. But we are being fobbed off as follows and wonder if any others have found themselves in a similar situation or have any advice.

1. Complained to Std Life first, but they said that our complaint was with the BS since they were the initial advisor.
2. Complained to the BS, but they produce files notes which they claim show our first meeting with them was after we met with the SL rep.
3. Complained to Std Life again, but they produce file notes which they claim the BS sold us the endowment plan.
4. Again and again, backwards and forwards. Each claiming it is the other.

We cannot face writing anymore, in the meantime our daughter has been treated for cancer, and we are ready to throw in the towel.

But perhaps just one more attempt? Any advice anyone?