Axa Sunlife

kiwigirl

Hi All

After reading all the thread I've found my policy details and will be sending my letter asking for surrender by recorded on Monday. (Letter already been printed).

Policy was started in Feb 02 so fingers crossed, would it be ok for me to cancel the DD now? I might as well start putting the £54 into my Halifax RS?

Please someone tell me that the American Provident one for the female cancer policy / 15 year thing I started last year doesn't have the shortfall as this? Or I'll be stopping that too.

KG

ReportInvestor

Hi kiwigirl,

If you want to do this properly, write to both companies asking for a projected return if the fund grows @ 6% (or whatever preferred average figure each company chooses).

Then we will be able to do some meaningful sums.

kiwigirl

Hi RI

I've changed the letter to AXA a bit to ask for the forecast now and will post that tomorrow.

Thanks KG

BONJOEY

Dont Canel Your Dd Until Confirmation That You Will Get A Refund!!!
Otherwise You May Get A Penalty For Doing So Xx

ReportInvestor

The Observer

Axa puts up some bonuses and tries to put a gloss on its performance this year

".....Last week's with-profits bonus announcement from Axa was an unexpected bit of good news: the bonus rates on its Sun Life bond and personal pension policies rose by 0.75 per cent. That may not sound much, but it was higher than many advisers had been expecting and is likely to compare well with rivals - Royal London, for example, announced last month that annual and final bonuses on its 20- and 25-year policies would be cut, and that those on shorter durations would merely be held.

That, boasts Axa, means that the value of 'many' of its maturing policies has risen by 6 per cent over the past year....."

But wait a moment

".....In fact, the increases vary from nil to 6 per cent. And the payouts on many of its longer-term policies are likely to be little over half what they were a decade or so ago....."

Which meant Axa could use those fancy returns in its sales literature in the national press .

And unfortunately

"...Years of overpaying bonuses and investing too heavily in equities during the heady days of the Nineties, when everyone assumed the stock market rise would never end, have left many life companies and their with-profits funds in a weak position....."

So that

"......Ben Willis of financial adviser Whitechurch Securities.... says that among the big companies, only three - Prudential, Legal and General and Norwich Union - still have decent funds....."

Not so good then

More a case of Axa trying to hang onto existing business?

dunstonh

The AXA PPFM states that the annual bonus cannot increase or decrease by more than 1% in a given year. Terminal bonuses have no restrictions either way. So, expect the annual bonus to remain low.

Pru and NU would be the only two I would class as good enough. L&G has the strength but it doesnt make the right noises as to commitment. Whereas NU and Pru actively support WP still.

kiwigirl

Thanks Bonjoey - in the rush to get to work today I clean forgot the letter anyway and I won't be cancelling before I hear off them.

BONJOEY

good kiwigirl xxxx

Super

By chance I stumbled across this thread and looks like I am another of the Bonus Cashbuilder plus victims….

I started paying 50 quid in 28/5/99. Received half back (300 quid) the same year.
I am now paying 100 quid and have done so since 28/5/04

I calculate that I have paid in 7200 to this ‘investment’

I have a guaranteed payout on maturity of 11,070
Going by the generous estimates in the advertising material at that time, I would be in line for 18,900 @5%; 21,600 @7.5%; 24,700 @10%. I have asked them to project 6% as of now and this will be sent to me by post.

Taking the advice from this forum, I called them and details given are as follows:

Surrender Value 5,979 plus 291 bonus = 6,259
Current bonus rate is 1.25%.
Last bonus was 157.60 and I have apparently amassed 1695 in bonuses so far.

I don’t completely understand all this but it seems I should be cashing all of this in? As my policy was 1999, is there any point in writing to them along the lines of the 2002/2004 policy holders?

Seems like I have lost about a grand though

ReportInvestor

Hi Super and welcome to the Slough of Despond thread,

To be on slightly more secure ground, ask Axa to give your a projected maturity value should the underlying fund grow @ 6% pa from today or at whatever average rate that Axa care to choose.

Then we will be able to work out the likelihood of you beating Axa by reinvesting the surrender value and future monthly contributions.