Scottish Widows Demutualisation Payouts: £70 million still unclaimed!

nichola49

Okay here goes. Scottish widows rang me and left a message leaving the wrong contact number for me to get back to them on!!...took about a day to track down right number as I had a name. Phoned and phoned got someone eventually who told me that I had had a cheque back in 2000 and that it was cashed on 1st september????

I informed them that I wasn't even living at the address they sent the cheque to in 2000 so they have now asked me to send evidence that i wasn't living at that adress but even then they will not issue another cheque?

Cheques were issued by Lloyds TSB and not via SW and when I asked for the CHEQUE NUMBER as my bank advised Sw said they cannot do this as it is now longer than 5 years? Unbelievable so they cannot provide me with the info of cheque number, bank paid into etc as too long has elapsed, they recommended that i ask my bank to trace the info through........

So I go to the bank and give them the full story , they are agahst at SW and say the onus is on them to provide full details ( which they cannot provide as they say its not available and not their info as Lloyds issued the cheques?) and GUESS WHAT bank can only go back 7 years so they cannot help me prove that i never had the cheque 9 years ago......so bank manager said effectively SW will know that noone can go back as far as 2000 now and prove that they didn't pay in a cheque and SW know that they don't have to provide evidence of cashing ie cheque number as over 5 years....... SO THEY WIN EITHER WAY....GOOD EH !!

I have tried to sort this out and have been running around and phoning /emailing everywhere but the reason that they have left it so long to tell us is that they knew we would not be able to get evidence the longer the length of time elapsed from original pay out.

...and that's as far as I've got.....

Anyone else any other info? as I'm fed up to say the least, I've been to the banks and Sw and banks have advised contacting FSA in bulk...all of us.....:j...and I'm still trying to get xmas pressie sorted in middle of all of this sleuthing !

di3004

nichola49 wrote: »

Okay here goes. Scottish widows rang me and left a message leaving the wrong contact number for me to get back to them on!!...took about a day to track down right number as I had a name. Phoned and phoned got someone eventually who told me that I had had a cheque back in 2000 and that it was cashed on 1st september????

I informed them that I wasn't even living at the address they sent the cheque to in 2000 so they have now asked me to send evidence that i wasn't living at that adress but even then they will not issue another cheque?

Cheques were issued by Lloyds TSB and not via SW and when I asked for the CHEQUE NUMBER as my bank advised Sw said they cannot do this as it is now longer than 5 years? Unbelievable so they cannot provide me with the info of cheque number, bank paid into etc as too long has elapsed, they recommended that i ask my bank to trace the info through........

So I go to the bank and give them the full story , they are agahst at SW and say the onus is on them to provide full details ( which they cannot provide as they say its not available and not their info as Lloyds issued the cheques?) and GUESS WHAT bank can only go back 7 years so they cannot help me prove that i never had the cheque 9 years ago......so bank manager said effectively SW will know that noone can go back as far as 2000 now and prove that they didn't pay in a cheque and SW know that they don't have to provide evidence of cashing ie cheque number as over 5 years....... SO THEY WIN EITHER WAY....GOOD EH !!

I have tried to sort this out and have been running around and phoning /emailing everywhere but the reason that they have left it so long to tell us is that they knew we would not be able to get evidence the longer the length of time elapsed from original pay out.

...and that's as far as I've got.....

Anyone else any other info? as I'm fed up to say the least, I've been to the banks and Sw and banks have advised contacting FSA in bulk...all of us.....:j...and I'm still trying to get xmas pressie sorted in middle of all of this sleuthing !

How annoying and yet SW have the info right in front of them!

Just a suggestion, but have you a good MP?
If so maybe they could help you with this with a letter perhaps on your behalf.

Good luck.;)

beeker170572

I have sent 2 emails to Scottish Widows with complaint in the title.
Regulatory compliance means they have to respond and they have responded very quickly to both emails.

Today they phoned me and said they have info that the cheque was cashed on sep 6th 2000

They could not give me the cheque number as they say they only hold that info for 6 years

My (old) bank also cannot help me as they only have records going back 6 years

So basically i cannot prove that the cheque was not cashed.

Scottish Widows will now be sending me a letter confirming the info given to me over the phone and if i wish to take it further i need to contact the FSA.

So i guess thats what i need to do - anyone else got any other ideas?

beeker170572

When i sent my complaint email as advised by MSE Alana, i included my correct address in 2000.

I got the impression when i was on the phone to them that they were just reading the info from my email (just a gut feeling)

Has anyone else emailed them? it might be worth omitting the address info and see what they say.

di3004

beeker170572 wrote: »

I have sent 2 emails to Scottish Widows with complaint in the title.
Regulatory compliance means they have to respond and they have responded very quickly to both emails.

Today they phoned me and said they have info that the cheque was cashed on sep 6th 2000

They could not give me the cheque number as they say they only hold that info for 6 years

My (old) bank also cannot help me as they only have records going back 6 years

So basically i cannot prove that the cheque was not cashed.

Scottish Widows will now be sending me a letter confirming the info given to me over the phone and if i wish to take it further i need to contact the FSA.

So i guess thats what i need to do - anyone else got any other ideas?

Hi there

Can they not send the info via email attachment perhaps?

So basically they have the details in front of them, yet no cheque number and are sending you these details of when this was paid to you in 2000?
Well supposedly have paid you?

Am reading more and more of these posts.

When they said the FSA, did they not mean the FOS?
Or maybe both of them perhaps?

Wishing you luck.

di3004

beeker170572 wrote: »

When i sent my complaint email as advised by MSE Alana, i included my correct address in 2000.

I got the impression when i was on the phone to them that they were just reading the info from my email (just a gut feeling)

Has anyone else emailed them? it might be worth omitting the address info and see what they say.

Does make you think doesn't it?

ghol26

MSE_Alana wrote: »

Hi,

I have been in contact with Scottish Widows, it says it should be able to provide policyholders with the date the demutualisation cheque was cashed; this will enable you to go to your bank and ask them for confirmation/statements.

Update 15 dec: Scottish Widows should also be able to provide the address the demutualisation cheque was sent to, the amount the cheque was for, the date it was sent and whether you took out a VIP account to have the money paid into.

It's going to get back to me next week on whether it's able to provide further details such as the address the cheque was sent to, amount, date sent to policyholder and if it can tell which bank it was paid in to.


They have asked that you contact them at [EMAIL="SW_Demutualisation@scottishwidows.co.uk"]SW_Demutualisation@scottishwidows.co.uk[/EMAIL], putting “Payment Confirmation” in the subject line. They aim to get back to you within 3 weeks (depending on volume of enquiries).

To ensure that your enquiry is dealt with quickly, please include the below info in your email:

• The date of the letter advising payment has already been made
• Full name (and maiden name if applicable)
• Date of birth
• National Insurance No
• Current address
• Address in June 1999
• Policy number
• Reference number on trace form
• Phone number

I hope that helps,
Alana

Hopefully, having followed the above advice and sent SW a further email (I also put COMPLAINT in the subject line) we might have more positive news in around 3 weeks time.....

di3004

Hubby completed the online form from SW website the same time as me, and as above I posted that I received my letter from SW to confirm that I was not eligible.
However the letter I received from them was dated the 12 December, and my hubby have not heard anything about his, although completed at the same time.
We had 2 separate policies with SW and at the same time as well, so I take it if I'm not eligible he will not be either.

I have since emailed them about another one from the late 90's.

ghol26

Update on my ongoing saga with SW. Having sent both a letter of complaint (Special Delivery) and an email with COMPLAINT in the subject box I got a reply on 17/12/09. A customer services employee phoned and gave me further information regarding my £500 cheque. He said it was casshed on 7th Sept 2000 so I am going to contact my bank just in case they can check it out for me. I don't hold out any hope though as it seems like SW have done their bit and that's it......:mad::mad::mad:

di3004

How frustrating it is for many.......:mad::mad:.

Have SW got any copies of letters so that they can send to customers?

They must have this info in front of them, if they know when the cheques were cashed......the dates and so on.