Endowment - smoke free!

Murff

Hi,
I have an Axa Endowment Assurance policy for a portion of my mortgage, running since 1999 and it has always been near enough on track, so I have kept it.
I stopped smoking over 18 months ago and sent a copy of my NHS 1 year stopped smoking certificate to Axa for them to acknowledge and expected them to adjust the life assurance details in some way.

They replied stating this would only count in the first 5 years of the policy, so no action has been taken.

Is this an acceptable answer? It still has 15 yrs to run, I thought it would have made a difference, even if a very small one?

Joe_Bloggs

Congratulations on stopping smoking. I guess this means that you will not have to pay for smoking paraphernalia and will have more money to invest in productive ventures.
J_B. (spell checked via Firefox English Dictionary)

Murff

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

Congratulations on stopping smoking. I guess this means that you will not have to pay for smoking paraphernalia and will have more money to invest in productive ventures.
J_B. (spell checked via Firefox English Dictionary)

Thank you!!
It's great to be smoke free! I never believed I would be.
For someone who smoked alot, I found it relativley easy to give up and stay stopped.

Yes, I put my smoking money into a Barclays Golden ISA.
:beer:

dunstonh

They are correct. Amendments to qualifying life policies can only be made when there are more than 10 years to go until maturity. If changes are made when less than 10 years to go then the policy cannot qualify and becomes chargeable for tax.

So, a policy term of 15 years would allow changes up to year 5 as there is more than 10 years to go to requalify. After that though they cant change it.

mluton

Congrats, Im 3 months smoke free now after 12 years.

morg_monster

dunstonh wrote: »

They are correct. Amendments to qualifying life policies can only be made when there are more than 10 years to go until maturity. If changes are made when less than 10 years to go then the policy cannot qualify and becomes chargeable for tax.

So, a policy term of 15 years would allow changes up to year 5 as there is more than 10 years to go to requalify. After that though they cant change it.

but i read the OP as that it was originally a 25 yr endowment as it was taken in 1999 and "it still has 15 yrs to run"? so not within the final 10 years?

pawpurrs

I had the same, told them in year 6 of a 25 year endowment no change to premiums, well done on giving up smoking, horrid habit!

dunstonh

Yes, a re-read says you are right. Technically then there is nothing from a taxation point of view that prevents them from being able to amend it.

However, not all policies are amendable or only have a limted period when they can be amended.