Friends Provident Endowment Cash Value via FriendsLife website

moneydiy45

Hi there,
New to this but had to ask the great MSE public having exhausted all other routes inc the FSA who have confirmed FP are not obliged to provide any of the info I need which is crazy.

Much along the lines of the original thread - not sure if any news on this beyond 2012 - I have an FP endowment policy maturing this May. Current surrender value well above the guaranteed maturity value by £11k. Despite all attempts, FP will not give me the facts I think I need (like last years final bonus rate etc) to make an informed decision on wheher to wait and see if the final bonus meets anywhere near the £11k gap currently in place. This would mean they would have 'kept back' around 50% of the declared bonus pot over the 25 year term for smoothing >- seems highly unlikley - but why offer a surrender value that's much higher than maturity if they don't need to?
My cynical side thinks they do the gross numbers and equate most people will indeed wait until matuity thinking this 'must be' likely to meet or exceed the surrender value. Then it's too late and could lose a fortune - already at a huge loss vs original value etc. But that would not be ethical?
Does anyone have any info on what recent final %s are and how they have been calculated - or any advice at all? I have spoken to an IFA who could not offer ay advice either.

Many thanks in advance.

Whatcanido

Hi,

As I found out from FP.

1) With-Profits policies , are generally looked at twice a year , to me it seems July & December.

2) You can't get any info regarding how your policy is going to do over the next year , apart from the projections, which are just gimmics.

3) Confused over a 'terminal bonus rate' ....When does this get applied...My policy finishes Feb 2014, but got told by FP the final rates would be applied in December this year...

So the final two months and a final bonus rate would be what I've received over the last 3/4 years...0.25%....

So people who have the policys maturing say May this year, would have seen the final bonus in January and can view it now...

Anyone had a FP policy finish in the last few weeks , if so, can you tell me if at maturity date you got ur 'terminal large bonus'

moneydiy45

Thanks whatcanido!

Had another futile conversation with FP today & am awaiting a Manager to call me back. Proposed to them that I am now in a casino-like scenario - whether to roll the dice now or in 2 months time at maturity.

I cannot be the only one completely stunned that the FSA rulebook has no requirement for these large companies to disclose facts - know they can't 'advise' but historic performance data should be available to consumers - surely? Without any change at this level - seems this can never improve.

Good luck to anyone in a similar situation!

Whatcanido

So had another call with FP, and once again no value. I understand they can only give information, and not guide you, thats down to a MA.

So what information did they give. Exactly the same infor I get sent in paperwork These are 'Projected Rates' for Growth they say...

Well here are mine. Maturing next Feb2014. And these Projected Values, according to FP 'include' the possible,not definate, terminal bonus, which orginally they told me happened on the twice yearly adjustment a year, so mine would be next Jan2014,not on the final day of may policy. So what is 3/5/7% off ?

So I pay £85.90 a month...if i cash in now i save £850ish straight away, and not risk another dip during on there twice a year decision, to re-adjust again...

Cash Value as at 20/03/2013

£39,176.22
Projected Value on
20/02/2014*

£41,100.00
3% annual growth</I>
£41,800.00
5% annual growth</I>
£42,400.00
7% annual growth</I>

moneydiy45

Hi there,

Well I had a slightly more productive call wih FP today demanding to speak to a senior Manager. This is all verbal however - not in writing so I can only hope they have given me the right info....

I pushed for past FINAL bonus rates with all the caveats about might not be the same etc...and discovered that if my policy was maturing 'today' -the final bonus applied would be 95% of the total declared bonus value to date +SA. That means the payout would be just under £47k - around £600 higher than the current surrender value - which made more sense. The policy was supposed to procure £65k when taken out 25 years ago!

I asked for previous actual terminal bonus rates paid out too to gauge the 'swing' levels and was told the following based on the twice yearly assessment periods:
July 2012 - 65%
Feb 2012 - 80%
June 2011 - 55%

I was 'advised' that the 95% figure could change between now & May but it was unlikley to change dramatically as the next official assessment will be around June.
So. still very much as their discretion and could be a risk - but at least I now have some facts to make a better judgement call.

The %s on the paperwork we all get is purely the FSA guidleine on what they have to report - pure prediction with no foundation or relevance to actual performance.

At least now I understand how the final is calculated - i.e., on the declared bonus to date value which is something.

Hope this helps.

ewanrob

Just picked up on this discussion, I also have a Friends Provident Endowment about to mature...end of April. Cant quite get my head around the figures shown. On the overview when I log in, it states a value of £19,561. My latest pdf statement shows guaranteed amount for bonuses £9228 & bonuses to date £5255. And final bonus rate of 95%, seen it mentioned a few times but there seems to be a bit of confusion. But what is 95% applicable to? the previous bonuses orthe guaranteed amount?

dave041967

I am having such trouble with Friends life its impossible for me to access my endowment details online as originally it was in joint names but now I am sole holder and they tell me its impossible for me to access online and have to ring to get any info I require ( end of rant).

I wonder if the previous poster would be willing to confirm their returns were as predicted.

dave

dunstonh

I wonder if the previous poster would be willing to confirm their returns were as predicted.

There are no predictions.

dave041967

dunstonh wrote: »

There are no predictions.

Sorry my bad.

Wrong turn of phrase maybe I should of said expected not predicted. As in the 95% bonus rate.

But thanks anyway for your reply.

ianb24

Hi
I have a Friends life UKPI policy with profits, 37 years at £5 a month, payout in June 201313 £9055.92.
At the same time as I took this out I did an identical!! policy with Scottish Amicable, now Prudential.(37 yrs WP at £5pcm) Payout is £14479.20. 60% better payout.
Now we know why Resolution is such a stock market success. Go figure why they call them Zombie funds.