Report Endowment Misselling Compensation SUCCESSES

buel

Hi,
has anyone here had any success in claiming a missold endownment policy from Barclays?
My parents never received the letters informing them that their endownment policy wasn't doing well until, apparently, their third letter. As soon as my mum read this she wrote to Barclays to complain that they were missold the endownment policy, they argued that she had complained too late and she should have complained when she received their first letter, my mum argued that she lives in a very rural area where sometome the post gets lost or delayed (which is true), Barclays insisted that they sent the letters so my mum had to complain to the Financial Ombudsman where she got a very insensitive adjudicator who dealts with the case (Adjudicators deal with cases before a Ombudsman) and said that the rule is, basically, if Barclays showed proof that they sent the letters then that is good enough so he wouldn't even look at the case of the policy being missold being as my mum hadn't issued her complaint in the given time threshold (from Barclays' apparent 'first' letter)

Now, i have at the ready 3 neighbours who are willing to sign a statement saying that they share the exact same post code as my parents and that they have in the past received post for my parents and have, at some point, also had post missing. I am going to help my parents, if i can, but i must admit that having done a bit of research on the FOS i am a bit aprehensive being as they are known to side with the banks...and i have read that they are funded by the banks...although i dont know if this is true!
Please can anyone tell me have they had any success claiming a missold endownment against Barclays?
And is my parents' claim a non-starter?
many thanks in advance- Buel

VIGILANT22

Surely if they didn't receive the annual statement they would call Barclays as they would want to know how the fund was performing?

buel

Hi,
You say 'surely' but let me explain that my parents are not very financially educated to say the least, they barely understood the endownment in the firsty place! However, that doesn't answer my query, id like to know if anyone has had any success with Barclays and will my new 'evidence' stand any chance of succeeding?

dunstonh

Please can anyone tell me have they had any success claiming a missold endownment against Barclays?

This has nothing to do with Barclays. Its the FSA approved time bar that is the problem. Barclays are just following the guidelines set.

but i must admit that having done a bit of research on the FOS i am a bit aprehensive being as they are known to side with the banks

There is absolutely no evidence that they side with the banks. The FOS reputation is that they are generally slightly consumer biased as they disregard certain documents that a court of law would consider.

And is my parents' claim a non-starter?

yes.

I doubt anyone is going to believe your parents didnt get all their post. You get the first warning of high risk of shortfall, then another one or two over the next years and finally you get a warning of the time bar date. One envelope may go missing but all of them over the three year period? Most providers send the detail with the statements. So, the fact your mum knows from there is a shortfall would indicate that they got the statements and therefore got the warnings.

mayb_2

Nothing changed on here I see - why is it always assumed that everyone who bought an endowment policy knew exactly what they were doing and why on earth if they did would they allow themselves to be time barred - it just doesn't make sense!! I think it is offensive to assume that claimants are liars as a matter of course because they did not understand what was going on or ask questions about performance until it was too late. Why not give advice asked for rather than make decisions about whether you believe the statements made or not. The whole point of this thread being to help others to understand and sort out their finances.

Edward1968

My policies were with Standard Life and Commercial Union, who advised my claim was with the independant financial adviser who mis-led me, not with them. The independant advisor no longer traded, so via the FSA I was directed to claim through the FSCS. Their evaluation upheld my claim, but the amount they offered was very low (about £150 aginst £40,000 cover worth of policies), due to their application in assessing my loss of DTA premiums (see other post by me today). Im am currently in dispute with the FSCS about their evaluation.

dunstonh

but the amount they offered was very low (about £150 aginst £40,000 cover worth of policies)

Which suggests that at the point of calculation you were not really any worse off. Its not the potential shortfall but the cost difference between repayment and endowment that is considered. i.e. the surrender value plus redress puts you in the position you would be had you gone with a repayment mortgage from the start. Indeed, if the std life policy had a surrender penalty, then its actually possible that you were in a surplus position at that point.

Edward1968

But surely if the comparison is what I have paid versus what I would have paid, i.e. endowment premiums versus mortgage repayment + DTA, then the comparison would be different if it was without DTA. e.g £50 per month versus £35 + £10 is very different than £50 per month versus £35.

Edward1968

...Despite the fact that
1. I had been sold the policy by an adviser (who could not be traced) and
2. The mortgage still had 15 years to go, and
3. I had not been told that the investments would not pay it off (unlikely though)
4. My new mortgage was part investment/ part repayment to cover the shortfall..............

When I contacted my endowment provider, Standard Life, telling them that the adviser who sold me the policy was no longer trading, they told me that they were not responsible and my claim should be taken up with the FS ombudsman.

However your conditions above are virtually the same as mine, but your insurer paid up. I'm confused as to why they would do this when mine wouldn't. The ombudsman, when I contacted them agreed I had a case for compensation, but tried to trace the adviser not the insurer, then on not being able to trace the adviser referred me to the FSCS, not the insurer. As stated by me in another posting on this thread, the level of compensation subsequently calculated and offered by the FSCS was very low (£150).

Did the ombudsman advise me incorrectly as to where my claim should be directed, should it have been with the insurer, should the insurer when I contacted them have accepted liability??

Can anyone on here clarify what should have happened?

dunstonh

However your conditions above are virtually the same as mine, but your insurer paid up. I'm confused as to why they would do this when mine wouldn't.

If the adviser was an agent of the insurer then the insurer accepts liability for advice given by that agent. If the adviser is not an agent of the insurer, then they dont.

As stated by me in another posting on this thread, the level of compensation subsequently calculated and offered by the FSCS was very low (£150).

Thats not untypical for an endowment that isnt that far off target.

Did the ombudsman advise me incorrectly as to where my claim should be directed

No. They were correct.