Pre 1988 mis-sold endowments

dunstonh

Ombudsman will not review a case from 1983.

Lizzybet_2

I am concerned to read that ombudsman will not look at 1983 cases. I have recently heard from Alliance & Leicester re my complaint about an endowment purchased in 1981. Basically, they are accepting no responsibility, but in their letter they state ".........if you are unsatisfied with the outcome of your complaint you have the right to refer the matter directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service".

Is there any point, or a waste of my time??

Thanks,
Lizzybet

dunstonh

Here is a copy and paste:

The Financial Services legislation, the rules and regulations that govern the behaviour of certain financial companies, was introduced in 1988. It and the Financial Ombudsman were set up so that consumers have somewhere to take complaints if unhappy with the outcome of the complaint to a financial company. As mentioned, if the company no longer trading, consumers have been able to take their complaints to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Before 1988 however, endowment policies will not have been covered by the financial services legislation and so do not fall automatically under the remit of the Financial Ombudsman or Compensation Scheme. To be more specific, there are a couple of important dates to take into account if you were sold in 1988.

29 April 1988 - If you were sold your policy before this date you do not automatically have the right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you feel the outcome of the complaint to the company was unsatisfactory.

It should be noted though, that many large financial companies have agreed to allow endowment complaints concerning policies sold before this date to be dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman. This has been done on a voluntarily basis on the companies part. To ascertain whether your complaint can be dealt with by the Ombudsman, contact their helpline on 0845 080 1800.

28 August 1988 - Unfortunately, with regards to endowment mortgages taken out with companies that are either gone out of business or are no longer trading, the financial services legislation does not allow for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to investigate any potential claims that relate to policies sold before this date. Please visit www.fscs.org.uk to find an explanation on how the Compensation Scheme handles complaints.

aloiseb

DunstonH, wher is your copy and paste from, please? - it looks like the definitive answer.to several poster's questions.

....Also an appeal to Martin - please can you put it into plain English which doesn't send people to sleep, in that delightful way you have?:)