Has anyone been stung by selling off Endowment policies ?

Bazzaboy7_2

Dear experts,

I have two endowment policies which I plan to cash in.

Pru £33k taken out May 1988 - surrender value £19,480.
Countrywide Assured £16400 taken out 1995 - surrender value £6245.

I've had an offer from FASTTEPS of £20,385 for the first and none yet on the second.

Has anyone had experience of this company? and are there any obvious do's and dont's ? Do I need to get a solicitor involved?

Thanks for the advice (in anticipation).

Baz

dunstonh

That Pru valuation is light given that Pru have not failed to pay surpluses on any endowments (scot am versions are runnign in execess of 90% hitting target) to date and that the bonus announcement is just a short time away and expected to be very good.

Countrywide assured did a lot of unit linked endomwents and you cant sell those. Check what yours is.

I dont deal in TEPs and wont get involved in them so I cant give an opinion of the company concerned as I have no experience with them.

Bazzaboy7_2

Thanks for that - do you know when the PRU Bonus announcement IS due - and in your opinion would it be worth waiting for?

I've seen from previous threads that APMM has been suggested - I'll try them too.

Baz

EdInvestor

Best to wait for the Pru bonus statement.

dunstonh

Between now and March they will announce it.

Martinslovechild

You may find this link from Motley Fool especially useful if you're planning on selling your endowments.

It would appear that there can be a lot of variation in the offers made for endowment policies, so I would certainly suggest shopping around before you decide to do the deed.

andymossy

Hi Bazzaboy7
You need to be careful of a couple of things. Some traders will make you an offer and then go out and try to find a buyer, in which case you could be waiting months for your money. Others might auction it and there is a risk that you will not get a good price for it. The safest course of action is to look up the APMM web site and contact all their members to get a competitive quote.

Bazzaboy7_2

Andymossy,

Thanks for that - I have contacted APMM and currently awaiting the quotes ....
I think I may be better waiting for the Pru announcement - surely this will only add to it's value?

I went back to FASTTEP's and used the detail from dunstonh's reply - they upped the FIRM offer over the phone to £21,237 - and backed it up with paperwork almost immediately.

I'll wait a few days for other APMM members to come back but it's definately worth playing offers off against each other - thanks for the advice.
Bazzaboy7

Bazzaboy7_2

After contacting the APMM recently I just got a response from Foster and Cranfield - Auctioneers (through the post this morning).

They have suggested a reserve of £23,500 (of which we get approx £22,600).
No sale - no fee and should all be complete within 6 weeks !!! Upside is another £1000 as a selling price guide !!!!

It REALLY IS worth shopping around when it comes to trading endowment policies.

Thanks again for all the help and advice !!