Endowment

pcyam

Like many people my parents endownment policy will have a shortfall.

A couple of years ago I did complaint to the bank that they didnt give correct advice, as my parents were originally on a repayment policy and that if they switched then they would still be able to repay their mortgage by having an endownment but also extra money aside for them when they retire. They didnt realise any of this until I started working for my local bank, and from working here I was picking up things and queried things with the mortgage advisor and my manager. they advised me to write to the bank and complain, they received a letter to say that they had not given bad advice back then when they switched from a repayment to endownment, and if we werent happy then we could complain to the ombudsman. So we did and we received forms to complete and then sent them back, got a reply back from the ombudsman to say that they were not badly advised at the time. if we wanted to we could take it further.

But my parents didnt as they didnt see any hope in hell and didnt want to throw any more money for a solicitor to fight the case.

Can anyone tell me if we can write to the bank to see my parents records to see what is in my parents files to see what they had signed for?? My parents arent fluent in english but can get by so i would want to see their file. Advice please

dunstonh

Can anyone tell me if we can write to the bank to see my parents records to see what is in my parents files to see what they had signed for??

You are not entitled to them. This was cleared up in a court case, which was appealed and lost. You cannot request a client file in the hope of discovery of evidence which may incriminate.

Court action is pretty pointless as your parents would have to prove mis-sale. The complaints proceedure with the bank and the ombudsman requires the bank to prove it wasnt mis-sold. That favours the policyholder so its fair to say if that hasnt worked, then legal action is unlikely to either. This is one of the main reasons you dont see endowment complaints going to court.

Back in my tied agent days with a certain bank they introduced a paragraph to go on all reason why letters to go with endowment sales and an endowment vs repayment mortgage comparison. Both of these were signed by the customer to verify that they had read and understood that the endowment would only pay off the mortgage of x% p.a. over the term was achieved. It it didn't they would have a shortfall. (that was from about 1995 onwards). Thats pretty good documentation as far as the ombudsman is concerned.

You can appeal to the ombudsman for a review. Not many get overturned but it does happen.