Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

mayb_2

gloucesteroldspot

I had a mortgage with Countrywide Assured - taken out in late 1991 and I tackled them a few years ago now. I had had a letter from them saying that if I paid more monthly the projected shortfall would be overcome - first I knew there was a problem. I duly did this after phoning the company to discuss the letter. Imagine my disgust when the following year the mortgagae shortfall was even greater. I accused them of misselling it to me twice - once with the original sale and then again when they advised me to pay them more! I made my complaint to the company using the Which site letter template and I obtained a copy of the Fact Find taken at the time. The company paid up without a murmer and I was really shocked to read your post about the way you were treated by them - pre 1988 is really in the dark ages for making claims and that in itself is as unfair as the time bar rules. Either it was missold or it wasn't. For what it is worth you have my sympathy - I feel I have had a lucky escape although my Bank balance may argue with that.

mayb_2

Sounds like a plan Crazy Saver - one step at a time - I would stick to a cash ISA though if it was me.

mayb_2

gloucesteroldspot I have just thought - our mortgage was set to shortfall by £25000 plus (I think that was best case scenario too) on a mortgage of £60,000 - so maybe you are not as badly off as you might have been because you took this out earlier that we did. Just in case it makes you feel a little bit better. No? - no I can see why.

vinno65

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmtreasy/394/39406.htm

mayb wrote: »

Magic Vinno - but do you think they will read it?

Obviously too busy losing thousands of pounds but not worrying about it, or giving all his spare cash away to charity like the diamong geezer he is, or waiting for the universe to pay off his mortgage!

Vinno

Mr_helpful

mayb wrote: »

Shouldn't you have given that to charity?

Half of it £10 has been given to help clothe homeless children. lets see what that brings. Half of whatever comes will go to some charity or other.

vinno65

[QUOTE=Mr_helpful_There are loads of references to performance in all endowment documents. The only people who genuinely might not know it was an investment are people who couldnt be bothered to take any interest in what they bought and didnt read anything about what they bought.


Unfortunately Mr Notsohelpful this is utter tosh. There are not loads of references to perfomance in "all endowment documents" at least not in the ones I was given anyway, so once again you are using sweeping generalisations. Also it is not good enough to say that the information was contained in the documents, the information has to be given verbally for a sale to be compliant. No mention of shortfalls in the sales patter I recieved otherwise I wouldn't have accepted the sale. I think its a given that the "small print defence" is no longer valid so please don't keep telling the conned that it's their own fault that they were conned.

regards Vinno

Mr_helpful

vinno65 wrote: »

[quote=Mr_helpful_
Unfortunately Mr Notsohelpful this is utter tosh. There are not loads of references to perfomance in "all endowment documents" at least not in the ones I was given anyway, so once again you are using sweeping generalisations. Also it is not good enough to say that the information was contained in the documents, the information has to be given verbally for a sale to be compliant. No mention of shortfalls in the sales patter I recieved otherwise I wouldn't have accepted the sale. I think its a given that the "small print defence" is no longer valid so please don't keep telling the conned that it's their own fault that they were conned.

regards Vinno

And you can remember every word of the conversation from all those years ago can you? Possibly with selective memory. Its amazing the number of advisers who didnt seem to tell their clients anything about what they were selling and the number of clients who didnt seem to ask any questions or seem the least bit interested at the time. What did you do sit in silence?

vinno65

Mr_helpful wrote: »

vinno65 wrote: »

And you can remember every word of the conversation from all those years ago can you? Possibly with selective memory. Its amazing the number of advisers who didnt seem to tell their clients anything about what they were selling and the number of clients who didnt seem to ask any questions or seem the least bit interested at the time. What did you do sit in silence?

Hi Mr Notsohelpful, of course i do not remember everything that was said to me all those years ago but I did discuss the options on offer with the advisor and it seemed pointless taking out a repayment mortgage when she had just spent the previous 10 minutes or so describing to me what a repayment would do,just that repay the mortgage. I was told however that the endowment would not only pay off the mortgage but provide a tax free lump sum aswell.

But whats more important is not what I remember WAS said but what WASN'T. What I wasn't told was that the endowment might not actually pay off the mortgage let alone not pay a tax free lump sum. What I WAS NOT told was that my endowment might actually have a shortfall of £20,000 on a mortgage of £50,000. I wasn't told this until the year 2000 (mortgage was 1991) and only then because the FSA had forced the firm into telling me.

Do you really think that I and the millions of others who were miss-sold endowments wouldn't have noticed this enormous elephant in the room if we had been presented the facts properly. Or do you seriously believe that millions of people were prepared to gamble the biggest single purchase they will ever make in their life on the whims of the stock market. I'm sorry but you talk garbage!

regards Vinno

dunstonh

Or do you seriously believe that millions of people were prepared to gamble the biggest single purchase they will ever make in their life on the whims of the stock market

Yes I do. Cheaper monthly payments. Historically paid out large surpluses. Media and consumers association and other consumer bodies saying they were a good thing.

As I have said before. They were the buy to let of their time. Everyone thought they would always make money from them. Until it goes wrong.... Hindsight is wonderful.

Mr_helpful

vinno65 wrote: »

Mr_helpful wrote: »

Hi Mr Notsohelpful, of course i do not remember everything that was said to me all those years ago but I did discuss the options on offer with the advisor and it seemed pointless taking out a repayment mortgage when she had just spent the previous 10 minutes or so describing to me what a repayment would do,just that repay the mortgage. I was told however that the endowment would not only pay off the mortgage but provide a tax free lump sum aswell.

So you were sold on the greed factor/ Nothing to be ashamed of it happened rather a lot.

But whats more important is not what I remember WAS said but what WASN'T. What I wasn't told was that the endowment might not actually pay off the mortgage let alone not pay a tax free lump sum. What I WAS NOT told was that my endowment might actually have a shortfall of £20,000 on a mortgage of £50,000. I wasn't told this until the year 2000 (mortgage was 1991) and only then because the FSA had forced the firm into telling me.

Its always good when someone can remember exactly what wasn't said. You wern't expecting to hear anything bad so you didn't. Once again a normal human reaction. People have a much better remembering skill when someone is talking nice things that you want to hear and not so good skill when they say something you didn't want to hear.

Do you really think that I and the millions of others who were miss-sold endowments wouldn't have noticed this enormous elephant in the room if we had been presented the facts properly. Or do you seriously believe that millions of people were prepared to gamble the biggest single purchase they will ever make in their life on the whims of the stock market. I'm sorry but you talk garbage!

regards Vinno

The las bit Dunston answered but I wonder what percentage of all endowments sold have ended up as an upheld miss sale. I seem to remember it was actually a selling point that endowments had a link with the stockmarket as equities had more often than not beaten the other major forms of collective investment over 25 yr periods.