"Offsetting is just a gimmick"?

EdInvestor

Endowment complaint info on Which site

jamesd

adifferentmartin, since stocks and shares ISAs existed at the time and asset allocation was known to be the way to best achieve long-term growth at the time, I have a feeling that you may have been mis-sold that endowment, since it appears that it was not the best product for your needs. Should the mis-selling claim be upheld, the resolution is likely to be putting you in the position you would have been in if you had taken out a repayment mortgage instead.

1.5.1 was a mis-type for 105.1% of monthly payment value.

There was a split in the way IFAs could run their businesses a few years ago and those on the new model are likely to offer you a better deal.

I agree with your conclusions about the most productive future course.

The mortgage bit can be handled independent of the financial advice about investments and IFAs who want investment business are quite likely not to want to do mortgage business. Just go with a mortgage broker and get the best interest-only mortgage deal for that bit of the puzzle.

If you go with the option of switching the cash ISA to stocks and shares, should that arrive as expected, it'll provide a sufficiently large investment fund to interest an adviser, who will be paid on a small percentage of the fund value each year. People differ in whether they think that's worthwhile, I think it is for anyone who doesn't want to learn about asset allocation and watch over things.

My own choice on the mortgage side is likely to be interest only but investing in a stocks and shares ISA the difference between the monthly charges for repayment and interest only. That should provide ample safety margin and a significant fund excess at the end of the mortgage term.

If you go with the mis-selling claim, as I think you should, I'd keep the endowment until that is resolved, then switch the money to the investments.

No harm to keep some money in the Ruffler Bank ISA, since that can provide you a reasonable growth rate and emergency fund. Not as much growth as equities but it's a decent place for that money to be if you want an emergency fund for things like urgent house repair work. In any case, you won't be able to switch from cash to equities until after the budget, at the earliest, so moving the money there now is a good first step.

adifferentmartin

EdInvenstor and jamesd
thanks for the advice and apologies for delay in replying - I was out of the loop for a few days and then had difficulty logging on to forum ??
I'm trying to arrange ISA transfer to ruffler which seems to be best interest rate and gets repeated mention on these forums.
Also think I'm going to go for a simple lifetime tracker - woolwich 5.29% - no fees and no tie in so can always jump ship if rates start climbing but don't need to keep paying application fees every couple of years. Although still considering fixed rate 5.49 2 yr fixed £99 fee.
I've looked at the endowment mi-selling (albeit briefly). Can I really claim mi-selling just because the product isn't much good?

thanks for the advice and assistance.
Martin

jamesd

You can't claim mis-selling because the product didn't perform well (compared to all others of its type) but can if it was the wrong product type - notably, why an ISA wasn't used instead. Posssibly also why a very limited UK-only investment choice was used, when it is known that single region investing is not the way to achieve the best long-term results, so it was a poor investment choice as well as a poor product type. I'd definitely pursue this.

It's worth checking at moneyfacts.co.uk or with a mortgage broker to see if you can find a better deal on the fixed rate. For 80000 borrowed on a property value of 101000 (ie better than 80% LTV) moneyfacts reports the two year cost as £14,091.64 and deals from many providers going as low as £13,185.84 for two years.

Same applies to the tracker, lowest 2 year cost I see is £12,820.08 from ING Direct at 5.14% (not available via brokers, so be aware of that if you go to one). Next lowest is £13,111.64 for a 5.49% deal. The Woolwich looks as though it'd cost £13,280.64 - 4th lowest choice. ING looks likely to be cheaper beyond two years as well.