santander guarranteeed growth plan

rozzle27

I opened the santander guaranteed growth plan back in April 2010. I received some inheritance which i wasn't told about until the day I opened the account. My uncle came round told me the amount and within 30 mins we had to go to the bank to open the account as he had prearanged it as he was executer of the estate. I had no time in which to think what I might want to do with the money or anything and the amount was such a shock. I am now wanting to withdrawn all of the money from it as I am wanting to buy a house and I was wondering if theer anyway to get around what they say about " you might get less than you put in". I will get about £5000.00 less than what I invested. Will I have to pay comission costs as i have been looking over my facts sheet and it says they will take a commision for every year invested but it's only been 8 months.

Please any help would be great.

jimjames

It seems pretty unlikely that you can get round it otherwise everyone would do so in the event that markets dropped and they wanted their money back now. By signing the forms you are deemed to have accepted and understood their terms and conditions.

The Santander product has been mentioned before on here and your example shows why it is such a bad idea.

dunstonh

I am now wanting to withdrawn all of the money from it as I am wanting to buy a house and I was wondering if theer anyway to get around what they say about " you might get less than you put in". I will get about £5000.00 less than what I invested.

Those warnings are on there because that is what can and will typically happen if you draw them out early. If there were ways around it then the warnings wouldnt be needed.

Will I have to pay comission costs as i have been looking over my facts sheet and it says they will take a commision for every year invested but it's only been 8 months.

They are factored into the charges and terms offered. So, if the cost of early surrender is £5000, then that will be partly due to the underlying investments being worth less than they were at the strike date (investment date) and the cost of early surrender in breaking the terms (which is typically a much lower figure around £100-£500).

You may have a case for mis-selling if you specified when you sought advice that they didnt wish to tie the funds up for the long term. However, you can bet your life that the documentation issued to you makes no such reference to any short term need and that you were happy to invest for at least 5/6 years. That said, even if you were happy to invest and this is a short notice unexpected requirement then you were not mis-sold.