Another endowment question

chops05

My mum has got an endowment policy which has got another 9 years to run. She split with her ex over 5 years ago (he did a runner leaving my mum in a lot of debt but that's a different story!!) and she has got the house transferred into her name along with the mortgage but not the endowment policy - this was all done via a solicitor. She has been told that unless she gets her ex's signature then the policy remains in joint names.

She has just claimed compensation regarding the misselling of the endowment but she is only entitled to receive half as it is in joint names - we appealed to the FOS but this was unsuccessful. :mad:

My mum wants to sell her property at the end of the year as she is going to be moving in with her father (my grandad) as his health is not too good.

What I would like to know is can she stop paying into the endowment now but keep paying the mortgage until such time that she sells the property and moves? When she surrenders the policy she is only going to be able to get half of it anyway so why should she be paying into something that she is not going to get a good return on.

I think she is worried that she will get repossessed if she stops paying it but I have tried to explain that the endowment is only a "savings" plan in order to pay the lump sum of the mortage off while the mortgage payment she is currenly making is just to cover the interest. Not having a mortgage myself I'm not sure if I have got all my facts right!!:rolleyes:

Ian_W

chops05 wrote: »

Not having a mortgage myself I'm not sure if I have got all my facts right!!:rolleyes:

You seem to have done a pretty good job to me, chops.

Your Mum has no need to worry about being repossessed if she simply stops paying the endowment. Obviously she has to keep up her repayments on the mortgage but the policy isn't needed as she'll be paying off the mortgage with the proceeds when she sells the house. She does need to check with the insurer that the lender hasn't registered an interest on the policy - otherwise she won't be able to cash in until she's cleared the mortgage. If they've not then I don't think there is anything to stop her cashing in now TBH.

One thing she should be aware of before cashing it in is that it's a "policy" because it contains life assurance cover - if she still needs life cover she should replace it before cashing in. The insurance section of the site has guides to get it cheaper.

chops05

Thanks Ian. :beer:

For some reason she doesn't want to stop paying the endowment. I have said that she is just wasting her money by continuing with it as she's not going to get back what she is paying in and why should her ex benefit from any of it when he did a runner and left her in deep in poo!! She should cut her loses, surrender it and pay the monthly amount into a savings account. Its not as if the endowment was going to cover the mortgage as it has got an estimated £18k shortfall!!!

I'll get her to make sure that the lender (Halifax) hasn't got an interest in the policy (Norwich Union) and then she can get it surrendered and put the lump sum away in a savings account. I'll also tell her to shop around for life insurance too.