Fair Settlement ?

ibinns

Hi
My 25 yr endowenent with General Accident - now Norwich Union is to mature in 18 months. I have paid a constant £22pm & the target amount was for £17.5k. Obviously I will receive a lot less than this now - but how much?.

My point is- that a number of years ago, the now-defunct Eagle Star were settling endowement claims by how little they thought they could get away with per client.
If challenged or if a complaint was made which gained a higher profile (media attention, FOS etc) they were told of "errors" & given a higher settlement.
From a recent incident involving a stubborn pensioner
www dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1139920/Insurance-victory-grandmother-besieged-head-office.htm
NU seem to have also coined the phrase "misunderstanding" to pay less than is due on life assurance policies.

As there is zero transparency for with-profits policies, is there any independant or third party I can consult who will tell me if I have paid x amount for y years with NU what the final payout should be at maturity.

thanks in advance

IB

dunstonh

Obviously I will receive a lot less than this now - but how much?.

Your statements will give you example projections.

As there is zero transparency for with-profits policies, is there any independant or third party I can consult who will tell me if I have paid x amount for y years with NU what the final payout should be at maturity.

NU can tell you this. They are the only ones. Its not difficult to work out either. Although you can ask an IFA to go through the figures if you have problems.

ibinns

Thanks - but the trouble with these policies is that you cannot use calculations to obtain the payout or find the reduction-in-yield .
It is left to the providers to decide how much to pay in bonuses & how much is taken in charges.

I was hoping to find out what the value should be from someone other than NU. If this cannot be done I will just have to believe what they tell me.

IB

dunstonh

Thanks - but the trouble with these policies is that you cannot use calculations to obtain the payout or find the reduction-in-yield .

The reduction in yield is shown on the original illustrations assuming the middle growth rate is achieved. Some statements show it as a running figure with some providers (although some contracts which are multi-charge rather than mono-charge wouldnt work well if that was the case with all).

It is left to the providers to decide how much to pay in bonuses & how much is taken in charges.

And so it should be. Investment returns are always going to be unknown in advance and volatile. There shouldnt be a defined calculation that tells you what you are going to get. However, charges are defined and published.

I was hoping to find out what the value should be from someone other than NU. If this cannot be done I will just have to believe what they tell me.

With conventional with profits plans you wont get external sources. With unitised with profits funds you can just as you can with unit linked funds.