Standard Life Endowment

M2006

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice. I have a standard life endowment (taken out in 1989) with profits. As per many other posts they have seriously underperformed (have others but pre 1988 so can't claim). Approached the Fccs to find out that the company I bought them from is no longer trading (what a surprise!) and that they cannot further pursue this claim as they intimated in correspondence that the previous owners still had assets and this was an avenue I could pursue. Although they had done their work and identified who and where the previous owners were, they would not divulge any further info. Ho hum!

I seem to have come to a dead end again. One route could be to track them down, which I have been quoted a minimum of £300, and then I would need to take them to court - all of which costs further. This seems rather odd to me, when Standard Life are washing their hands of the whole affair.

Considering I have been completely missold a product supplied by Standard Life (it didn't do what they said it would do on the tin albeit through a broker). I never got correspondence from them when I took the product out that it may not perform - although they were quick to point out directly when they were getting into trouble - but this was only when they had to! Are there any other options to pursue direct with Standard Life etc in this case?

If I equate this to a major car manufacturer. If I bought the 'car' through a dealer, although the dealer will put the car right in case of fault, there becomes a point that if the car was unfit for purpose, that the matter would be taken up with the manufacturer direct in terms of compensation- because the 'dealer' is merely following the manufacturers instructions.

Where does standard life fit in here, apart from sweeping a product that has proved 'unfit for purpose' under the carpet? It's criminal

dunstonh

Considering I have been completely missold a product supplied by Standard Life

No you havent. Did you at any point receive advice from an employee of standard life? No. So they have not mis-sold you anything.

I never got correspondence from them when I took the product out that it may not perform

They are not required to. The adviser has that documentation and is meant to give that to you.

Are there any other options to pursue direct with Standard Life etc in this case?

No. And rightfully so as well. Standard Life have not done anything wrong as far as the advice goes. They can be cricised in other areas, like investment management but they did not provide any advice to you.

If I equate this to a major car manufacturer. If I bought the 'car' through a dealer, although the dealer will put the car right in case of fault, there becomes a point that if the car was unfit for purpose, that the matter would be taken up with the manufacturer direct in terms of compensation- because the 'dealer' is merely following the manufacturers instructions.

Really? So a manufacturer would take up the case on a 17 year old car? I very much doubt it. Loads of cars made in the 80s wouldnt meet todays standards but you dont see car manufacturers paying any compensation for that.

Who says it is unfit for purpose? A 25 year standard life with profits endowement could still come in on track. You are looking at this in the interim just after a major stockmarket crash. Standard Life have a record of giving out projection shortfalls but paying surpluses 12 months later on maturity. At the moment, you have a paper shortfall but it doesnt mean you will do on maturity. It is expected that with 25 year endowments, more will come in with surpluses than those that dont. Less than 25 year terms are not as likely to.

You could ask standard life for the name and address of the selling agents and the name and address of the agent receiving the renewal commissions. The person getting the renewal commissions could be the person you need to complain to. Or they may know the details of the person. Or you may get lucky and find that the address of the selling agent was changed to reflect their current address to matches the FSA records (which the FSCS would probably have looked at). Also, if you have the name of the adviser, you can look them up on the FSA register to see if they are trading. If the FSCS say that there are still assets held, then it probably means that the adviser was self employed as a sole trader or partnership and they carry a liaiblity for the advice for the rest of their life.

M2006

Hi,

Many thanks for the bottom part of the mail ref renewal commissions - this could be a useful idea, and lead to further info - good one. Don't buy the rest of it though with the non liability of Standard Life. Although I won't be selling up the policies as they are still a reasonable investment over the term and may recover to some extent, most of the initial yearly communication WAS direct from standard life and not the broker with no advice that there could have been a shortfall in the mortgage payment from them either until the whole thing started to go tits up through a catalogue of disasters and blunders - the rest is history. Standard Life has treated many of their customers badly in many ways. It is their product, and they should have a compensation plan in place, but they don't. Instead, they award massive performance payouts to the members of the board. Enough said. Once again - thank you for your feedback.