just want to say thanks

elantan

i have an endowment and like most people's mines lost money ...i have read on here many times about people who claimed ...i had previously claimed using one of these no win no fee companies ..but found they kept asking questions that i couldn't answer so i gave up trying to claim anything back...then i found the d.f.w site and read alot of stories i sometimes dipped my toes on this forum also ..on more than one occasion i read about people claiming compensation...so thanks to this site i decided to bit the bullet again and try for it one more time....today i phoned them up and found out my claim has been upheld when i asked what that meant he said i will get compensation..i don't know how much but it's gotta be better than nothing ...so i just wanted to say thanks everyone for posting on here although i don't write much i do lurk...i'm gonna use the money to pay off some more of my debt ..might even get it down to sub 16k

dunstonh

Pleased you got a good response.

i have an endowment and like most people's mines lost money

However, that is an incorrect assumption.

Many endowments are still paying surpluses and a number of these are paying surpluses despite getting projection letters showing shortfalls as little as 12 months earlier.

For example, Scottish Amicable have 18,500 endowments maturing this year and 96% are expected to exceed the required amount producing an average surplus of £2600. Almost every one of those paying surplus would have been getting amber letters showing shortfalls.

All Prudential Policies that matured in 2005 provided a surplus.

When you get your money, do not be hasty on your decision with the endowment. Get it reviewed and dont rely on the flawed projections as a guide to whether your endowment is above track or not.

EdInvestor

Prudential and Scottish Amicable (same company) endowments are not typical of the industry.These particular With profits funds were run in a very astute manner prior to the last stockmarket crash, unlike those at most other insurance companies.

Although it may be possible that quite a few endowments started 25 years ago and maturing now don't have a shortfall, how many of them have the great big extra lump sum that people were promised to spend on a cruise or a new car?

I am afraid the OP is right and that most endowments going forward will disappoint and many of them will not pay off the mortgage.:(

elantan

i'm not gonna make any decisions soon i foound out a few years ago that it wouldn't pay out the £26500 i was expecting that's when i changed it from the endowment mortgage to the repayment mortgage..i'm just keeping it as a saving plan just now ..will have to decide what to do next whether to cash it in or keep it up ....but for today i'm just gonna be happy and thankfull....

Chrisg59

Just a general enquiry, do the warning letters of shortfalls on endowments continue during the term of the endowment or were they just issued as a requirement to a claim for mis-selling.
I have two endowments for £35,000 one unit linked with MGM and one with profits with Windsor Life.
We were issued with warning letters approx 4 years ago and did'nt claim since we felt we had insufficient grounds, but have not received any more letters with regard to shortfalls.

dunstonh

Prudential and Scottish Amicable (same company) endowments are not typical of the industry.

L&G and NU are producing similar stats. The problem is looking at the shortfalls after a stockmarket crash was a foolish thing to do.

Gorgeous_George

So, some of the projected shortfalls are not accurate.

If people sell, based on the projected shortfalls, only to discover that they should have kept their policies until they matured, will there be an avenue to claim against the endowment providers for giving out poor information?



GG

dunstonh

The whole endowment projection/compensation method is flawed.

When the PIA introduced the projection method, providers generally matched the middle rate figure as the target required. This figure was 7.5%. The FSA reduced the figure on projections to 6% and some providers have gone further.

So, any endowment that needs 7.5% p.a. average and is getting that is heading for paying off the mortgage but it will show as falling short on the projections as they are using 6% (or lower).

The redress is based on the surrender value of the policy which is often many thousands lower than the current value. So, someone with a surrender value of say £1500 lower than current but getting redress of £500 could well be getting a payout for their endowment being above track.

There are some pretty naff endowments out there. Pearl, most of the Resolution Life endowment for example but it is important to make sure that when you decide what to do with your endowment, the projections and the size of the shortfall on those should not be viewed as an accurate picture of your policy.