Axa Sunlife policy

anewby

I took out an Axa sunlife policy over 10 years ago and started paying £8 a month then increased it to £10 a month, I rang them today to enquire what my savings were or what the value would be was if i cashed it in as of today just to get an example and was told i would get £82 only. Apparently the policy only started maturing in August last year. I find this totally disgusting and would like to know if anyone else has had the same problem. When I was told this i was completely shocked and said to the lady that my understanding of the policy was that I was paying into a savings account and if this was the case of me only getting £82 back as of now then i had paid out money for the past 10 years for nothing and she said basically yes i had been, charming ay. I calculate that i should have about £1000 roughly and not £82. I want to know where my money has gone!
Can anyone help me please?
Thanks
Alison

dunstonh

was told i would get £82 only.

That would suggest that it is not a savings plan but something else. Possibly a life assurance with an investment element (rather than a savings plan with a life assurance element)

said to the lady that my understanding of the policy was that I was paying into a savings account

AXA Sun life have never issued savings accounts. What made you think it was?

I calculate that i should have about £1000 roughly and not £82.

What does your policy document say? Or the personal illustration issued 10 years ago telling you what you could get back if 4, 6 or 8% p.a. was achieved?

Can anyone help me please?

You need to tell us the product you have. Its clearly not the product you think it is and you have the advantage of having the documentation on it. We have nothing to read here so you have to give us that information.

CornishLass

Hi anewby, It sounds like I could be in same boat as you with this, as I also took out a policy which sounds like the same as the one you describe. I can't find out on my bonus certificates the actual name of it except for "Life Policy" bonus rates on the back of my bonus certificates. I think I started paying it at £20, it rose to £30 and is now at £40, I remember it will rise to £50 and matures in 2014. I have moved since I took it out, and my original paperwork got lost in the move. All I have is the 2008 and 2009 bonus certificates and I don't understand them.

My 2009 statements says the following in columns my policy number, then my maturity date, then my new bonuses (£108.44) total bonuses (£1101.96) last column current rate of terminal bonus (110%).

Like you I have been paying into it for at least 10 years, and I think it must be a 15 year policy. I seem to remember that there was a life cover policy part of it, but I did this one, as I remember that they sold it big on it also paying out in years to come with all these lovely bonuses they'd add to it. This was well before the massive drop in interest rates clearly.

Does anyone have any idea what one of AXA's policies this is, and if I kept it going what I would get out of it? In this financial climate I keep thinking where I could use £40 or £50 a month, especially with energy costs ever on the rise. I have been wondering for a while if it is worth cashing in, or carrying on to the bitter end? If all I got back was a meagre amount like anewby has been quoted I wonder if it is better to cut my loses and get out, as even if I carry on paying £40-£50 up to maturity date, I probably will get nothing like what I have spent over 10 years investing in. Which does make me angry, as I feel I haven't ended up with what AXA sold to me all those years ago.

dunstonh

Hi anewby, It sounds like I could be in same boat as you with this,

No. You have a different type of plan.

Does anyone have any idea what one of AXA's policies this is,

Yours is probably a cashbuilder or bonus builder.

If all I got back was a meagre amount like anewby has been quoted I wonder if it is better to cut my loses and get out, as even if I carry on paying £40-£50 up to maturity date,

You havent got the same thing so dont worry about that.

Which does make me angry, as I feel I haven't ended up with what AXA sold to me all those years ago.

Most of these plans were not sold. They were bought. How can you be angry about the plan when you dont really know what you have? That said, these types of plans were obsolete over 15 years ago. That is why they were mostly sold through direct offer (i.e. no adviser involved).

CornishLass

Wow, it sounds like I may have been paying into it longer than I thought then, it does seem to have been running for a very long time! I may well have got it from some kind of advertisement then, I just can't remember it was such a long time ago. So, I should be angry at myself for loosing all the paperwork in my move and not the company I have it through. I've even gone through boxes in the loft from when we moved but can't find anything except previous bonus certificates.
If it is a cashbuilder, or a bonus builder, does that have a life cover part to it do you know and do you know how either of them works? The only thing that I can clearly remember is that it had a life part to it, but was also something else as well. Sorry, to ask dunstonh, but you are clearly knowledgeable, where I am not on these matters. I have the letters that came with the certificates but they just explain how the bonuses work.
Thank you for your help it is very much appreciated.