old chestnut on endowment redress

de1amo

i started my endowment back in 1986 and was definately mis-sold it and face a balance short fall-why was there never a chance to challenge the mis selling of older endowments?
Also due to circumstances i cant get sight of my yearly statement and was wondering if anyone knows of a site i can get an idea of the forcast amount for a standard life endowment(the last time i saw a statement it was sooo woolly).
And finally-since i took the endowment out i have moved home and changed mortgage provider so am i duty bound to use it to pay off part of my mortgage?
Thanks in anticipation

Annisele

Well, firstly, there *was* a chance for some people to challenge the sale of endowments sold pre-1988.

Who sold the endowment to you? If you were advised to buy it by your bank, building society, or directly by the insurer, then there is a chance that the seller would consider your complaint (and that the FOS would consider your complaint if you aren't happy with the seller's response). However, you've left it *very* late and so your complaint might be timebarred by now.

If you don't know who sold the endowment, write to Standard Life and ask. Standard Life is quite used to people wanting to complain about endowments; it won't want you to complain about it so it will be happy to make at least some attempt to find the seller.

I'm afraid that I find it a bit odd that "due to circumstances" you can't get sight of your yearly statement. Why can't you just ring up Standard Life and ask it to send you a copy? If there's some reason you can't do that, I suspect that your reason will also cause difficulties when your endowment matures and you try to claim the maturity value.

You would only be "duty bound" to use the endowment to pay off your mortgage if it was a condition of your loan, or if the endowment was assigned to your mortgage lender. In the 1980s it was quite common for endowments to be assigned to lenders (meaning that the maturity value / death benefit would be paid to the lender, rather than to you, unless the lender confirmed that it had no further interest in the proceeds). Its very unusual now for lenders to take assignments, so you should be able to do whatever you want with the money.

If you're worried your endowment might be assigned to a lender, call Standard Life and ask it if your policy is assigned to anyone. You might find that it is still assigned to your original lender, in which case it would be better to sort that out now rather than waiting until maturity.

Anni

dunstonh

why was there never a chance to challenge the mis selling of older endowments?

A shortfall is not grounds for complaint. How it was sold to you is where these things are measured and the rules that were in place at the time. In 1986 there were virtually no rules as regulation and consumer protection didnt start until 1988. Some voluntarily look at earlier complaints as mentioned above.

Also due to circumstances i cant get sight of my yearly statement and was wondering if anyone knows of a site i can get an idea of the forcast amount for a standard life endowment(the last time i saw a statement it was sooo woolly).

Why cant you see your annual statement? They include the example projection rates.

And finally-since i took the endowment out i have moved home and changed mortgage provider so am i duty bound to use it to pay off part of my mortgage?

no. However, older policies are often assigned to the lender. So, you may want to ask std life if the policy is assigned or not. If it isnt no action is required. If it is, you will need to get the old lender to write to std life to say that no assignment is required any more. Its best to do that now and not wait to maturity as it can take many months with some lenders.

de1amo

originally i was on a repayment mortgage of 24750 and within 6 months i went back to my lender(the Abbey national) and asked for an extension of 5250 for improvements etc--the manager of the branch refused my application on the grounds of my salary not being of sufficinent level BUT would accept if i went onto an interest only with an endowment of 37 pounds-it increased shortly afterwards due to the removal of MİRAS-40 pounds now--my aged mother can bare witness to this as she witnessed the sale!!--Do i feel mis-sold!!!
There is no regress to the original lender so from what i gather i am in the clear.-all the documents are just between myself and standard life.
The reason i never see my statement is that i live outside the uk and my mail is collected and shifted by my aforementioned mother!! she bins what she deems irrelvant and i assumed before this conversation that i couldnt make redress on the matter-the policy matures May 2011 and i recd my first warning of short fall back in about 2006-otherwise i study and work hard on money efficiency!

EdInvestor

Standard Life willl be happy to communicate directly with your overseas, just write to them and change your address.You can also ring them up and ask for updated values and forecasts.