Poor Mortgage advice

y002cjw

I took out a mortgage with Abbey National in 1988 which is shortly due to come to the end of its term

Around 1995 I went into a local AN branch to request that the mortgage be converted from interest only to repayment. The branch manager took me aside and went through figures with me. She talked me out of converting on the basis it would cost me less in the long run to stay as i was.

The branch manager layed out the cost of staying as I was calculating the total payments of mortgage and endowment. She then produced another set of figures which would have been the new repayment figures. These were higher and therefore I didnt persue the matter.

I tried again in later years to agree a transfer to repayment but by then AN had introduced penalty fees of around £2500 which again dissuaded me.

The endowment is not going to cover the mortgage and I am having to find extra money to cover the difference.

Would I have any claim against Abbey National for poor advice?

I have tried to claim for misselling of my endowment but my mortgage agreement was signed a month prior to April 1988.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

y002cjw

Let_Us_See

Do you have documental proof of the advice provideby AN? If so, you are on strong ground. If verbal only.................

dunstonh

Would I have any claim against Abbey National for poor advice?

It would unlikely be advice in the regulatory sense and as such there is unlikely to be any record at all. For example, if it was advice you would get something in writing to explain it. Do, you have anything to show you received advice?

jaybeetoo

I remember those days when nearly every mortgage illustration showed an endowment mortgage being cheaper than a repayment mortgage. And of course there would be a lump sum after the mortgage was paid off because the endowment had done so well.

y002cjw

I have a letter from AN acknowledging my request to change to payment but it requests I make an appointment to discusss the full implications.

I dont have formal letter of what was discussed at the meeting but i do have the scriblings i made at the time.

I think I will approach AN to receive my notes on file, which may include a note of what was discussed at the meeting.

What is really annoying is that AN had restrictions back then on how much you could repay, both minimum and maximum amounts without encurring penalties, how many times a year you could make them. God I could kick myself!!!!

magpiecottage

You would surely have received letters from your endowment provider telling you that your policy was not on target to repay the loan and giving you a deadline for complaining. Why did you not do so then?

Let_Us_See

I can amost guarantee AN will have no notes of your conversation at your meeting.

Just as a matter of interest who provided your endowment? Not AN by chance?

y002cjw

magpiecottage wrote: »

You would surely have received letters from your endowment provider telling you that your policy was not on target to repay the loan and giving you a deadline for complaining. Why did you not do so then?

y002cjw wrote: »

I have tried to claim for misselling of my endowment but my mortgage agreement was signed a month prior to April 1988.?

I tried claiming a few times through claims companies and eventually through FSA. Because the mortgage agreement was signed in March 1998 I fall outside the time period for claiming even though my mortgage didn't commence until May 1988.

Let_Us_See wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest who provided your endowment? Not AN by chance?

Friends Provident.

holly_hobby

y002cjw wrote: »

I took out a mortgage with Abbey National in 1988 which is shortly due to come to the end of its term

Around 1995 I went into a local AN branch to request that the mortgage be converted from interest only to repayment. The branch manager took me aside and went through figures with me. She talked me out of converting on the basis it would cost me less in the long run to stay as i was.

The branch manager layed out the cost of staying as I was calculating the total payments of mortgage and endowment. She then produced another set of figures which would have been the new repayment figures. These were higher and therefore I didnt persue the matter.

I am assuming you mean higher payments on a monthly basis, rather than an overall higher cost of borrowing over the term, which would not have been correct when comparing a C&I v endowment mortgage (as on an IO mge, primarily because the underlying debt upon which interest repayments are based, is never reducing and constant throughout the term).

Furthermore, its probable that an inhouse mge adviser, discussed the issues, and whilst it could be construed as post sale mge advice (ie changing repayment method), mge advice in any guise, did not become regulated until 31 October 2004.

It could be cited that the mge adviser attempted to disuade you from cancelling the policy, due to claw back penalties (on indemnity commission), but it should be noted that AN advisers (whom were co reprs of Friends Provident), had a claw back period of 5 yrs - and as the policy was sold in 1988, I don't think this was an underlying reason for any advice given.

y002cjw wrote: »

I tried again in later years to agree a transfer to repayment but by then AN had introduced penalty fees of around £2500 which again dissuaded me.

Assuming you're talking about ERP penalties, as a new mge account and loan would have be created to enable the repayment switch, as there are no preventative penalties for merely changing repayment methods.

It is further noted that although you considered againn changing to C&I at this point (clearly aware of the non-gted nature of the low cost endowment), you apparently declined to effect the change as you felt the penalty fees outweighed the benefits/could not be met.

y002cjw wrote: »

The endowment is not going to cover the mortgage and I am having to find extra money to cover the difference.

Would I have any claim against Abbey National for poor advice?

Advice on sale of an endowment mortgage ?

Possibly, IF the Firm agree to review a pre A Day (pre regulation) sale, AND if based on suitability (and not loss of expectation, which can not be compensated for) AND if you aren't time barred. Which is probable, given that the first industry wide revised EMV project, advising of possible sfalls to target, commenced well over 13 yrs ago, to which you had 3 yrs from reciept of your first red letter to lodge any mis-sale complaint.

y002cjw wrote: »

I have tried to claim for misselling of my endowment but my mortgage agreement was signed a month prior to April 1988.

Yep, as stated, this is a pre regulated sale (regulation referred to as A Day, which didn't come into effect until April 1988), and Friends Provident (whom I think Abbey Nat. were Appointed Reps for at the time), chose not to assess pre A Day sales. (which was their right under FSA regs).

So, on the face of it we have no real prospect of any successful complaint here, which I know will be disappointing.

Moving on ....

What measures have you taken to cover the Sfall when the mortgage term ends ?

What have you discussed with your lender re the projected shortfall to target ?


Hope this helps

Holly

holly_hobby

Ah ... posts crossed ... just seen you have confirmed the provider as FP (as suspected) AN never provided or sold their "own" branded policies at the time.

H

kingstreet

I though they sold white-labelled Scot Mut stuff as Abbey National Life around the turn of the decade?