Endowment Shortfall

Florrie_3

I recently saw an advert on TV advertising a claims service for those of us who have a shortfall on endowment policies sold against a mortgage. They also give details of a website (https://www.claim2gain.com).

Basically they are saying that anyone with an endowment shortfall (ie the endowment will not cover the mortgage when it matures and so there will be a shortfall) may be able to claim against the company who sold the policy in the first place as they may have mis-sold or misrepresented the policy at that stage.

They do state that anyone can claim as an individual and don't need to use their service although it can be quite a complex process. If you do use their service their charges are very high.

Does anyone have any experience of this company?

Has anyone pursued a claim against an endowment shortfall?

The way i understand and read the situation just about every endowment sold in the past few years (mine is 10 years old) will have some sort of shortfall - so there must be many people who could claim if this is a bonafide route to pursue

Any comments please??

Martin - what would you advise on this subject?

lisyloo

will have some sort of shortfall - so there must be many people who could claim if this is a bonafide route to pursue

Just because you have a shortfall does not automatically mean you were mis-sold.

Mis-selling means that you were advised badly or the risks weren't pointed out to you.

If you were given all the paper work and understood it and it just turned out bad then that's just tough luck.
That's what happens when you take risks with investments sometimes.

My advice would be to go it alone if you think you have a case.

There are a lot of websites where you can get information and even standard letters to write.

These companies will charge a lot for their services so I think they are only really suitable for people who have a complex case or who for some reason can't write letters e.g. illeterate or blind etc.

dunstonh

Sounds like a dodgy advert to me to say that.

The claims process is actually very straight forward so there is no point paying for someone to do it for you.

The way i understand and read the situation just about every endowment sold in the past few years (mine is 10 years old) will have some sort of shortfall - so there must be many people who could claim if this is a bonafide route to pursue

Incorrect. There are some good endowments out there that have been set up with low target growth rates and invest in a range of funds that have the potential to do very well over the term. We have just come off the worst stockmarket crash in recent times and therefore virtually all endowments that have been running for more than 5 years would show a potential shortfall.

Most projections wouldnt start being issued until year 10 but due to endowment compensation rules, they have been issued earlier and this can distort the figures and cause people to think their endowment is bad when there is a good chance it isnt. Of course, it will still show a bad endowment as bad.

Florrie_3

The claims process is actually very straight forward so there is no point paying for someone to do it for you

Is there somewhere (ie website) i could go to to find out what this "straight forward" claims process is please?

dunstonh

If the firm that sold the policy is still trading, you should put your complaint to them. Its as straight forward as that.

Remember that when you make a complaint, it is your word against the person/firm that made the recommendation. That company may have documentary evidence that shows you were aware and if you say you werent, your case wont be very strong. Equally they may have no evidence and you may be telling the truth and entitled to compensation.

I just read an article (found on google) which calls these endowment claim solictitors "ambulance chasers". It suggests that in most cases, these arent handled by solicitors but by form fillers as there is no legal work involved.

The FOS suggests the complaints process is no less onerous for consumers who use a specialist firm because they still have to provide all the paperwork and fill in the same forms and it makes no difference to the resut.

These firms are not authorised by the financial services authority so they can offer no advice on the suitability or the endowment and will only get paid if there is a complaint so its in their interests to get you to complain about what could be a good endowment. Typically, these firms take around 30-40% of the compensation.

These firms give the impression that there isnt a fixed method of calculating compensation and that by using a third party they will get more. However, in reality, the amounts are no different whether somoene comes directly or through a third party. Compensation is calculated the same way.

The FOS will not award extra money to cover the costs of paying for an "ambulance chaser claims advisor".

robnye

Is there somewhere (ie website) i could go to to find out what this "straight forward" claims process is please?

check out the which magazine endowment web site

http://www.endowmentaction.co.uk/

Wayne_Looney

I have had my endownment for 11 years now and its projected target is falling way short so i rang up the company and lodged an official complaint.

I originally thought it was dodgy them dealing with it as my grounds for complaint was against them.

However they explained to me that they have to follow the process to the letter and they would be heavily punished should they be found to doing otherwise and its not in their interests to fob me off.

As it was a long time ago from when i took the policy out i struggled to find all the information they required so in that instance they calcualte themselves.

They sent me a copy of my original mandate highlighting where both my wife and i had signed after their statement saying they were not promising it would cover my mortgage or make profit.

To my suprise they still offered us compensation which amounted to how much we would of saved from day one had we of been on a repayment mortgage.

You can`t really ask fairer than that.They made it crystal clear it was a one off offer not open to negotiation so we took it of course.

Recieved a nice cheque in the post and in the meantime sorted out mortgage out to lower how much we needed the endownment to pay and the balance we sorted out in repayment.

Give it a go,it could be worth it.

Lopo

Wayne_Looney,

Would you be so kind to be able to indicate what kind of complensation figure you received in relation to the property/mortgage value or the shortfall ??

Interested as I am wondering if it is worth putting forward a claim also and trying to gauge if what could potentially be received?

Could you also say who your provider was if possible !??

Appreciated...Thanks!

Furniture_man

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I have been pusuing a case for Endowment shortfall, on my own, for nearly 12 months and have felt I am getting the runaround from the business I am pursuing.

Will update all details for those interested when I have made further enquiries next week. My own experience may be of help to some of you.

Will report later in week.

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

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