Report Endowment Misselling Compensation SUCCESSES

ricbro

Hi all, my first time on this thread, I complained to Standard Life in 2006 about my mis sold endowments in 1990, we were told the mortgage would be paid off with a nest egg of around £18k, they offered me £744 in compensation, I refused this saying that with the projected shortfall of £8k plus the loss of the expected £nest egg the offer was an insult. Anyway, I have just received a letter from Standard Life re-offering me the £744 as a final offer, they have also said that I am not entitled to seek help from the FOS, they said that they were offering what would be equal if I had a repayment mortgage!! Any ideas, please.

dunstonh

ricbro wrote: »

Hi all, my first time on this thread, I complained to Standard Life in 2006 about my mis sold endowments in 1990, we were told the mortgage would be paid off with a nest egg of around £18k, they offered me £744 in compensation, I refused this saying that with the projected shortfall of £8k plus the loss of the expected £nest egg the offer was an insult. Anyway, I have just received a letter from Standard Life re-offering me the £744 as a final offer, they have also said that I am not entitled to seek help from the FOS, they said that they were offering what would be equal if I had a repayment mortgage!! Any ideas, please.

The redress method is defined. You cant really haggle for more as the calculation is done to work out how worse off you are at that point. At this point you dont have a shortfall. So, why should you get any more?

The calculation method is set in RU89 and SL use this so you have no ground to ask for more. You can also no longer complain to the FOS as you have gone past 6 months which is your window to take it further.

So, you either take it or you leave it.

mayb_2

That sounds a bit rough ricbro - I do not see why you cannot take this to the Ombudsman as they have only just reoffered you this amount. Therefore, there has not been a six month window since their final decision on this.

There is a set calculation but I doubt if you could check this on your own. Have you asked Standard Life for a breakdown of the figures? As they have offered you money one assumes they have accepted there was a missale and so it could be possible they have used the correct calculation, but worth having this checked out just in case they haven't.

Unfortunately what you were told to expect is unlikely to be recorded anywhere as a promised amount, this being the case the Ombudsman only looks at the amount of your mortgage and how much of this you would have paid off at this point in time if you had taken a repayment mortgage at the outset. This takes into account the likely variations accross the time you had paid it. If they have found that this only amounts to £744 - sounds pitiful to me but what do I know? - then that would be the redress paid to you. You would then have to remortgage with a repayment mortgage.

Only bankers can get the money they promised themselves - the rest of us have to know our place!!!

ricbro

dunstonh wrote: »

The redress method is defined. You cant really haggle for more as the calculation is done to work out how worse off you are at that point. At this point you dont have a shortfall. So, why should you get any more?

The calculation method is set in RU89 and SL use this so you have no ground to ask for more. You can also no longer complain to the FOS as you have gone past 6 months which is your window to take it further.

So, you either take it or you leave it.

Sorry dunstonh, they are saying that I will have approx £8,000 shortfall, I need to up my premiums to ensure there is enough money to pay off my mortgage.
As Mayb said, they have just re-offered me the same as they offered 3 years ago, is this a new offer? if so I have 6 months to refer to FOS!!
I don't know, that's why I'm asking on here.

KumutKirash

Hi I am new to this trying to claim for miss sold endowment Winterthur offered £102 18 Feb started this 13 Jan mortgage low start with Halifax Feb 1990 over 26 years changed to repayment Oct 1998 Colonial paid me £5760 . Original mortgage £47000. Changed to repayment £53000. Premiums backed up as on income support. Sent to FOS 27 Feb. They agree was miss sold but seems a very low offer. Written to Halifax stating not advised to change to repayment earlier.Could anyone advise me?

dunstonh

They agree was miss sold but seems a very low offer.

Not all endowments are bad and often the cost difference between what you have paid and on repayment compared to endowment does result in small offers of redress or none at all. The calculation is defined so as long as the figures were input correctly the redress should be correct.

Jo-or

Hello everybody. I have been reading this excellent site for some time now.

My wife has several endowments - all in serious difficulty financially. In 1990 she was sold several financial products, including one mortgage endowment, with General Portfolio (now Windsor Life) by a so-called “friend” who was a financial advisor for GP. We have complained about the endowment to Windsor Life but they say the complaint is out of date and they will not consider it. They claim to have informed my wife of the need for action in 2000 and 2003. We are taking the matter to the FOS because we believe there are good grounds for either, them not having taken sufficient steps to informed her or, her not receiving the notice. They say that they will object to the FOS considering the matter as it is outside the relevant time limit. We only complained in 2008.
Two questions for which we would be grateful for any comment, help or advice.

• Has anybody any experience of overcoming the endowment mis-selling time bar limits via the FOS?
• If the FOS find against us are there any other avenues of address such as the small claims court? We would prepared to fund a claim and risk some further lost (say few £100) as we are so peed off with financial institutions ripping us off.

mayb_2

Jo-or - the small claims court will cost you nothing but will not pay out more than a few thousand (used to be £5000 but not sure what the current amount is). If you did receive a letter telling you of the shortfall and that you had six months left in which to claim, then you are timebarred if your claim is not made within that six months. If you did not receive such a letter as I see it then you could make a claim with the FOS.

Any private action taken through the courts could be very costly but it may be worth your while taking this to a solicitor for advice if you feel you could aford to do that. You would need to know the strength of your claim before risking that money.

dunstonh

We are taking the matter to the FOS because we believe there are good grounds for either, them not having taken sufficient steps to informed her or, her not receiving the notice. They say that they will object to the FOS considering the matter as it is outside the relevant time limit. We only complained in 2008.

You have two potential time bar issues here.

1 - you only have 6 months from your complaint being rejected to take it to the FOS. If that has passed, you cannot go to the FOS now (well you can but the FOS will tell you that you have missed your opportunity)
2 - You get three years from being first notified in your statement that there is a high risk of a shortfall. This is an FSA ruling that the FOS enforce. Some of the early 2000-2001 warnings were deemded not good enough and the time bars werent allowed to use those and had to start in 2003-4. With your complaint being made in 2008 you are well past the time bar point. Most time bar warnings are issued with the annual statement.

Has anybody any experience of overcoming the endowment mis-selling time bar limits via the FOS?

If the time bar has been correctly applied then the FOS will side with the company.

If the FOS find against us are there any other avenues of address such as the small claims court? We would prepared to fund a claim and risk some further lost (say few £100) as we are so peed off with financial institutions ripping us off.

There are not many court cases as the chance of winning is lower than using the internal complaints process. Plus the courts operate a time bar system as well. Most solicitors seem to put people off because ultimatly you have to prove that the endowment was mis-sold. The insurer will produce the illustration and key features document that was issued to you at the time and both of those will say there were risks. They will also say you were issued with another illustration with the cancellation rights giving you a chance to change your mind. So, with that consideration, what evidence do you have to provide the court that you were mis-sold? If you have the evidence then you may have a strong case but if you intend to go to court on the basis of what you think you were told 19 years ago but have no evidence to back it up, then your case is weak.

mayb_2

If the complaint was made in 2008 it is important to note that it is the company's final response to you that starts the 6 month count down for a complaint to the FOS - not the date you made your claim.