SOS - Endowment Catch 22 ??

The_Goose

Apologies for the length - don't know whether to laugh or cry really :rotfl:

I complained to an IFA (now named Charteris Treasury Portfolio Managers, of Exeter) about the mis-selling to me of a Norwich Union endowment policy, on a number of different grounds.

The company took a year to “investigate”, despite frequent letters and phone calls chasing progress, and when they eventually responded (stating that they were unable to uphold my complaint) the response was inadequate and did not address several of the components of my complaint.

They told me that I was entitled to refer my complaint to the FOS, which I did, only to receive a letter saying that the FOS could only look at complaints against IFAs about advice given after 29 April 1988, which did not apply to my case.

I responded that my understanding was that some companies would voluntarily allow the Ombudsman to investigate cases of endowments sold before 1988, and as Charteris told me in rejecting my complaint that I was entitled to take it to the FOS, I naturally assumed that they were one of those companies.

My appeal to the FOS was turned down in a letter stating that Charteris had not agreed to extend voluntary jurisdiction to the FOS, nor were they obliged to investigate any complaint received by one of their customers, and standing by their original decision.

I wrote again to Charteris, setting out five reasons for my dissatisfaction with their original response, plus an additional seven components of my complaint which had not been answered at all.

I was then phoned by Charteris and told that they did not have to investigate my complaint, and had chosen not to do so. On my pointing out that they had in fact investigated it, I was told to take my complaint up with Charteris’ directors.

When I did so, I received a letter stating “I believe you were misinformed … we were of course obliged to investigate your complaint …..”

I therefore wrote again requesting a full response to all the components of my original complaint.

I then received another letter saying “we conclude that there was no obligation upon this firm to investigate your complaint …. Despite the fact that the company chose to investigate your complaint, this was on a solely discretionary basis …. We have to advise you that we are not prepared to investigate this complaint further and assume the matter to be closed.”

As you can see, the situation became increasingly like a black comedy. Is there anything else I can do? My current projected shortfall is (at 5% growth) about £7000 on a £37000 mortgage.

Would be really grateful for any suggestions - I've already spent so much time on this

dunstonh

Suggestion. Give up. If its pre 1988 and the company dont want to review the complaint, they dont have to.

vinno65

You don't have to give up you can take them to court. Even before 1988 firms had a duty of care to their customers. If this has been breached then a court may decide to compensate you. If you want to, issue a small calims against them for miss-selling that way they will have to investigate your complaint. They will then have to offer evidence in their defence that they were not negligent in their advice to you.
If all this sounds alittle daunting then I suggest you pay £50 for an hour with a solicitor who can explain it all to you and maybe offer advice as to whether you have a case or not.

Regards Vinno

The_Goose

How can I work out what my actual loss has been in order to take them to the small claims court? I know it has to be beneath a certain amount, I think it's £5000 ? I know what I could claim won't be as much as the projected shortfall.

vinno65

The_Goose wrote:

How can I work out what my actual loss has been in order to take them to the small claims court? I know it has to be beneath a certain amount, I think it's £5000 ? I know what I could claim won't be as much as the projected shortfall.

Hi Goose,
You may not know an amount because they say you weren't miss-sold I would have thought that you could argue breach of contract (if they told you the mortgage would definatey pay off the mortgage) but say in your particulars of claim the the loss has not been determined. That way they would either have to submit a defence (but what you say in your post seems to indicate they haven't got one) or make you an offer.

Also put in your particulars of claim everything that they have said and done up to this point

I think the smallest fee for starting a small claim is £50 and as you do not know if you have suffered a loss (you may well have not) I would have thought this was the fee you would pay.

It might also be worth your while having an hour with a solicitor and getting some advice on making a claim, this also only costs about £50

regards Vinno