Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

dunstonh

Question is can I now go to the Ombudsman to claim mis-selling?

No. The FOS has no jurisdiction over FSCS. Your complaint has been upheld and the shortfall calculated. If the amount is small, then that suggests that the endowment is not far off where it needs to be to be beating a repayment mortgage.

defender_of_the_weak

the endowment could of course be complete crap. The reason most FSCS payouts are quite small (average £1500) is because they deduct any savings you have made over the years. Big banks and building societies ignore these in most cases.

floogy_2

A few months ago my partner cashed in his endowment due to the fact he had been told there would be a shortfall at the end of the term and then remortgaged his property with a larger repayment mortgage. As he has now cashed the endowment policy can he still make a claim on the grounds that it was mis-sold?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

bryn

Thanks for your end of the road comment to Fuming Gal. I am in a similar position to FG with Standard Life. The point is these big companies used little men to sell their policies and provided glossy brochures. Of course you went along with it. I was promised a new car at the end as well as the mortgage paid off! Laugh you have to cry! So pre 1988 and nowhere to go and the little man long since disappeared. If someone had the financial muscle I reckon there is a duty of care argument to run against them. Trouble is it would cost too much. Yeah end of the road but I always fume against Standard Life!

dunstonh wrote:

The two calculations that can be used (3 if you include a voided policy) are defined by the FSA so unless they have put the figures in the software wrong, its unlikely to be incorrect. Many will show you how they came by that figure.



Some will cover the cost of conversion, and cost of advice when taken, but they will usually want a receipt.



Correct for 1988. Remember no regulation back then.



If it truely isn't a Halifax case, then it is end of the road.

Spikes05

As with other contributors, we were financially naive in the 1980s when we took out 2 endowments with Standard Life through an IFA. We have been trying to gain redress for the lies he told, complete with handwritten promises, diagrammes and statements that we couldn't lose, since we got shortfall warnings a few years ago. All to no avail as the IFA has retired, the company he worked for sold out to another (without anyone apparently being responsible for previous liabilities), Standard Life say they weren't responsible for the conduct of either the firms or IFAs and both the FSA and ombudsman say they have no jurisdiction in our case; even the 'no win no fee' agencies are not interested. Additionally we were sold these policies when we were not looking to buy a house, being told they were the 'ideal long-term and high profit savings vehicle'; the IFA also knew that the policies would mature after we both retired. Apologies for the rant, just good to get it off your chest with others in the same situation!

Tomboler

I was about to post a question about who / where can I go to as the IFA in my case has also gone awol and the Ombudsman doesn't appear to have any jurisdiction on this matter either.
More than disappointed as having been 'badgered' by Martin's constant reminders to do something it all appears to no avail!

dreamylittledream

dunstonh wrote:

Yes. The FOS have no jurisdiction over solicitors for policies sold then.

*sigh*

Yes but The Law Society does.

However the Law Societies power to award compensation for financial services complaints only applies to policies sold after April 1991, so in the OP's case he would not be able to apply.

However if your policy was sold by an ENGLISH solicitor after April 1991 and your complaint is rejected by the solicitor you can take your case to the Law Society who treat cases in a very similar fashion to the FOS.

dunstonh

*sigh*

Yes but The Law Society does.

Please do not take my responses out of context. The poster requested if they could take the complaint to the ombudsman and I reponded correctly in that respect. The policies were sold before April 1991 and before the Law Societies power so they cannot to to the law society.

johnnycab

johnnycab wrote:

I have had a Barclays Life endowment policy since 1993, for the sum of £42,000 - paying £62 per month. The policy has 12 years left before it matures, and I have been informed of the shortfall by Barclays Life. I have started reading all the threads and looking to send the lettter from Which Endowment Action, as I was most definitely mis-sold. I have also enquired about the surrender value of my policy - which was valued at £10,500 couple of days ago.

However, I am not sure of a few things, and have a few questions. I hope someone might be able to answer them for me.

1. I changed my mortgage from Barclays to RBS in 2002 - but continued to pay the premium on the endowment policy - do I still have a chance to appeal for compensation? If so, does the above affect my chances of getting any compensation?

2. I have looked at the FSA website on how to calculate the compensation i.e. Endowment vs Repayment. Although, I do not fully understand it, how does this work in my situation - where the mortgage is no longer with the original provider?

3. At the current rate there will still be a shortfall. However, is the current surrender value a good/reasonable offer?

I would be extremely grateful for any advice or pointers, on putting this claim together.

Thanks

I sent the complaint letter and received a reply today which states that FSA rules stipulate, Barclays can exclude a complaint where:

The policy holder was informed, at least 3 years ago, that there was a high risk their policy will not repay their mortgage; and

The policyholder was given at least 6 months notice that a complaint about the sale of their policy can be excluded

They have enclosed copies of these letters, and according to them the deadline expired on 19th May 2006. They also state that if I want a copy of my Endowment file - I have to make a request under the Data Protection Act and forward a cheque for £10.

What is the next course of action, if any? i.e Do I have grounds for an appeal to the Financial Ombudsman?

Please help.

dreamylittledream

dunstonh wrote:

Please do not take my responses out of context. The poster requested if they could take the complaint to the ombudsman and I reponded correctly in that respect. The policies were sold before April 1991 and before the Law Societies power so they cannot to to the law society.

I'm not taking your response out of context - you made no reference to the Law Society in your reply and the implication could easily be drawn that there is no further point of call in cases involving solicitors. Therefore I corrected that.

Actually they can go to the Law Society on grounds of negliagance...the chances of success however are unlikely. Equally you made no reference to April 1991 or any other point of call - in short your approach was inappropriate answer to the OP and anyone else who sort information from this thread - not the first time you have replied to posts in such a fashion either.