Serious Endowment Problem

Night_Owl_2

I need urgent help on this one please peeps.

Endowment policy matured on 13/03/09

05/03/09 received letter from the company to say
"We will credit the bank account we have been taking the premiums from."
Thats ok thats a safe active account.

On 14/03/09 we received a leter from the company (dated 10/03/09) to say
"We have much pleasure in advising you that in accordance with instructions received we have remitted the proceeds in respect of the above policy to Lloyds TSB" EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK KKK
"The proceeds should reach your account within 5 working days from the date of this letter" EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK K + AAAAAARRRRRGGG

Questions
1. Lloyds is closed and in dispute over bank charges and has a large overdraft which is being reduced through payplan.
We have NOT given instructions for the funds to be paid into this account.......and never will.
So who has given them the instructions????????
Checked online banking and its in the account and has cleared the overdraft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

2. The funds should have been paid to the account where the direct debits are taken from, which is the safe bank account we have had for a year and have been making the payments from.

3. Which part of the law has this spectacularly broken and how can I recover this?????

Phoned the Company on Monday16/03/09.
The company has the correct banking details but the person responsible for the transfer of our funds took the the name of the bank account at the top of the list of changes throughout the 25 years of the policy without checking!!!!!!!!!!

I kept my ultimate coolness as "Richard" went positively pale on the other end of the phone as he was telling me of the error..........THEIR ERROR.

Then he wanted me to phone Lloyds and tell them of the error!!!!!
Like I'm going to phone a bank that I am taking to court to ask for a large sum of money to be returned (plus our overdraft has been cleared with it!) because it was an error.............WRONG THATS THEIR PROBLEM.

I also asked for a letter outlining our conversation and a copy of their complaints procedure. "Richard" started the complaints procedure on the phone. I have sent them a letter outlining the conversation.

Please can someone tell me if they have broken any Law over this? Withholding payments due or something?
Can I claim interest on our funds as they move around?
Compensation for distress caused?
Should the company pay up the funds owed straight away and recover their mistake as a seperate issue?

Sorry it's so long but big thanks for reading it.:o
Night Owl

Trying_to_be_good

They've messed up royally, but not sure they've actually broken the law.

They should be able to recover the payment from Lloyds and send it to where they should have sent it. They should pay any (reasonable) costs you've incurred due to their error - e.g. additional mortgage interest, or lack of savings interest. I would expect them to round this up as a gesture of goodwill//compensation for distress caused.

If it's going to cost them more in the long-run/they are feeling obliged, they may pay out a second time to you whilst they recover the money from Lloyds - it's worth asking them to.

ILW

So the endowment has been used to pay off some of your outstanding debts. Whats the issue with that?

Night_Owl_2

Big thank you Trying to be good.

I am very careful to only write to companies because things are miss interpreted during a phone call.......... I have had a few with my bank claims!
I decided to phone them on Monday because I thought I could get the transaction stopped or reversed at least.............answer was NO TOO LATE!
How long should I wait to hear from them before I start going red with rage?

Night Owl

Night_Owl_2

Thank you ILW.

We don't have access to the Lloyds account to recover the rest.

AND WHY should Lloyds have their debt cleared in one fail swoop!!!!

Night Owl

ILW

Night_Owl wrote: »

Thank you ILW.

We don't have access to the Lloyds account to recover the rest.

AND WHY should Lloyds have their debt cleared in one fail swoop!!!!

Night Owl

Until the charge issue is resolve it it not Lloyds debt but yours. Is there now a credit balance in the account?

Night_Owl_2

Yes ILW I know about the charge issue but and yes it shows as a credit balance in Lloyds since Sunday (just checked again and it's still there)

The big issue is that the company should have paid it to the bank account that our premiums come from as their letter states and they haven't.

dunstonh

Please can someone tell me if they have broken any Law over this?

The endowment provider have not broken any laws. The money has been paid to an account which belonged to you. It may not have been the account you wanted but it was your account.

Lloyds have the right to take funds to clear your debts under the right of offset. This will be in their terms and conditions and the FOS have ruled against consumers on this who have made complaints about offset transactions.

Its unfortunate for you but as you are not financially worse off because of the transaction its hard to see if you are entitled to anything.

Night_Owl_2

Thank you dunstonh.

We received a letter stating that the funds will be paid into the account the premiums come from then that was not Lloyds. We have proof that we have not used Lloyds for the premium payments for at least a year.

They said on the phone that he could see where the ERROR was made. Their ERROR.

We have waited 25 years for this policy to mature and in the space of a weekend they have messed up big time with our money.

I will be very cross if we can't recover fully what we should have received last Friday in our current bank account.

dunstonh

I will be very cross if we can't recover fully what we should have received last Friday in our current bank account.

That will require Lloyds to return the payment to the endowment provider. Whats the chance of them doing that?

Night_Owl_2

Update.

Just received a letter from our Endowment company.......from Richard.
He has submitted a complaint to their Customer Relations Department.
Also there is a copy of a letter they have sent to Lloyds outlining their ERROR......."amount has been forwarded to you in error".

Been reading about the right of offset.

"right of offset - (banking) the legal right of a bank to seize deposited funds to cover a loan that is in default."

How are they going to deal with this ERROR though. Will Lloyds look favourably on us because they have already given us such a bad time.
Bank charges claim,
1. Application to see a bank manager urgently.........fell on deaf ears........I made the appointment and they gave me 7 minutes of their time. Waste of time........advised to go to CAB!
2. Claim stayed TWICE..........no mediation the behalf of the banks.........dispite me writting 6 letters!!!!

Now they have the BIG ISSUE, do we pay the money back in full or do we clear the debt owed first.................... ...it's now in their hands.
Will they won't they.

THEY HAD BETTER thats all I can say...................... ......please?

Night Owl