Endowment Mis-selling - Don't give up!

dunstonh

There is no company with that name on the FSA register. However, that very same address and postcode belongs to Skipton Building Society and Amber Select Ltd.

plumb1_2

dunstonh wrote:

There is no company with that name on the FSA register. However, that very same address and postcode belongs to Skipton Building Society and Amber Select Ltd.

Yes, i phoned the FSA up on friday, and they couldn,t find it, so i did a search at companies house and used their registered number 1764926
Mortgage Systems LTD based in Aldershoot, Hants, who originaly provided the mortgage, and the company in Skipton came up with the same registered number 1764926.
So i figured the moved up north.
Do you think the Skipton BS has taken them over?
I need to contact them as i have a endownment with ALBA LIFE( dont laugh) and they have offered me £1500 as they say i have been paying to much for my endownment, but they wont pay me, as i dont have a release form from Mortgage Sysytems, i have explained to Alba that since then i have had 2 other mortgages with Yorkshire BS and Now Abbey on the same property(my house) and they wouldn't have give me them if Mortgage Systems still had any claim on it.

The one thing i am sure about is that its driving me NUTTS_pale_

I have been trying to get this money for over a year, is it worth going to one of the Endownment claim Companies, ie NO Win No Fee??

dunstonh

I would guess that Skipton b/s have some relationship there. Best you contact them to find out and if so, get a letter from them confirming that they took on mortgage systems ltd and that they have no claim on your endowment.

If Alba are not releasing the funds and have made no effort to clarify the situation, then you could make a complaint. It shouldnt take them two minutes to confirm that mortgage systems ltd no longer exist. However, a claims company is of no use to you.

plumb1_2

dunstonh wrote:

I would guess that Skipton b/s have some relationship there. Best you contact them to find out and if so, get a letter from them confirming that they took on mortgage systems ltd and that they have no claim on your endowment.

If Alba are not releasing the funds and have made no effort to clarify the situation, then you could make a complaint. It shouldnt take them two minutes to confirm that mortgage systems ltd no longer exist. However, a claims company is of no use to you.

How would i go about making a claim against Alba?
Plus is there a perticular dept i should speak to at Skipton?

ps, thanks for the help so far.

dunstonh

How would i go about making a claim against Alba?

Just put a complaint in, ideally in writing so you cant get fobbed off over the phone. They are holding on to your money without sufficient grounds to do so. Not strictly true as the policy is assigned and they are meant to verify assignment is no longer required. However, the issue is what have they done to check assignment is no longer required? my guess is nothing.

Plus is there a perticular dept i should speak to at Skipton?

Switchboard or general service line. Outline your problems and they will soon put you through to the right place.

Streetluge_Chris_2

I have just had a letter back from F&P saying that because I had not responded to a 2nd warning letter (which i never had) they will not look into the claim as i should have complained by Jan 04.Can anyone tell me If I still have case.I think they are just trying to fob me off.
It was taken out in 1992 with London & Manchester.
Any advice would be most weclome.

Ecoman

I am in a similar situation having been sold an endowment in 1993 and had my 'red' letter in Jan 2001 but stupidly didn't do anything about it. Also I seem to remember Martin saying something about free online advice with regard to completing claim forms etc. He might have said it on the 5 O'clock Show last Friday and I had just e-mailed one of these claim companies but found out today that if they win, they will want a massive 25% cut! Can anyone help please?

dunstonh

Ecoman wrote:

I am in a similar situation having been sold an endowment in 1993 and had my 'red' letter in Jan 2001 but stupidly didn't do anything about it. Also I seem to remember Martin saying something about free online advice with regard to completing claim forms etc. He might have said it on the 5 O'clock Show last Friday and I had just e-mailed one of these claim companies but found out today that if they win, they will want a massive 25% cut! Can anyone help please?

Simple answer...do it yourself. It doesnt take long as you only have to state why you think it was mis-sold.

defender_of_the_weak

Fp apply the timebar ruthlessly although legal opinion is not necessarily unaminous on this. The whole issue of tmebars was a fudge suggested by the CA and ABI and now we end up in this mess.They are based roughly on the limitations act but without a quantification of loss, it is argued that the clock cannot tick. Also they are retrospectively applying old rules in cases where complaint was not placed after June 2004 when they changed. Sadly, FOS also do not seem to grasp this one which is why we are awaiting answers on a pile of test cases challenging FP and the like.

Even if you do not win raise the issue with your MP. remember that these big financial companies are messing with your lives and finances

Beegee_3

• The illustration given did not give any guarantee about maturity value. It showed three assumed rates 12%, 9% and 6%. The 12% showing a potential surplus and the 9% was the rate needed to produce our target amount.
• The illustration also shows a comparison with a repayment mortgate, providing us with details of an alternative payment option.
• We signed a declaration on the Personal Financial Review to acknowlege that we had received and been taken through the Key Features documents.
• Our attitude to risk was recorded as medium and the investment risk associated with the Plan is consistent with this.

We were told by the advisor (in our home) that the current growth was 12% and that we would either be able to pay the mortgate off early or get a lump sum at the end of the period. He told us that this would be highly likely and even in the growth rate went down to 9% it would still pay off our mortgate. As neither me or my husband has any pension plans he told us that this would be ideal as we would have some money for our retirement - at no time did he mention the chance of any shortfall!

As for signing to say we had been taken through the key features, we can't ever remember him going through these. We signed on the dotted line after taking his advice (stupidly).

As for the attitude to risk - like many others we had no idea that we would become investors! We explained to the advisor that we were living on a week to week basis and had no savings but all he kept telling us was 'not to worry' it would be the best for us.

He gave us a couple of alternative quotes for repayment mortgages and there was a difference of only about £30 and if we were told that there was a chance there would be a shortfall we would have gone for a repayment mortgage for peace of mind. Again we were told not to worry as we were doing the right thing.

What I want to know now is: Do I reply to the L&G or should I go to the Ombudsman?

Thanks.