Endowment Mis-selling - Don't give up!

hammy_the_hammer

ours is a standard life one took out in may 1993 . (25 years till 2018 ) . target amount is £26,550 and the projections from may 2005 are ..low £11500 ...inter £14000 ...high £16900. is it safe to assume that this isn't a very good one and hasn't got much chance of recovery ? nb the low figure for 2004 is now the same as the high figure for 2005

dunstonh

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

ours is a standard life one took out in may 1993 . (25 years till 2018 ) . target amount is £26,550 and the projections from may 2005 are ..low £11500 ...inter £14000 ...high £16900. is it safe to assume that this isn't a very good one and hasn't got much chance of recovery ? nb the low figure for 2004 is now the same as the high figure for 2005

Actually you may come off ok with this one, with a bit of tweaking.

With standard life demutualising, you would be looking at around £1000 payout. After dm, they have suggested that they will allow with profits funds holders to move into their unit linked range. This still has to be confirmed but if that happens, their unit linked range is not at all bad and the potential with a spread of those funds is far higher than their with profits fund.

shopaholicjules

I am new to posting so forgive me if I have put this in the wrong place. I am wanting some advice re my endowment. I am not very techie so hope this makes sense.
In 1993 I took out a with profit endowment with Legal and General to cover 23,000. Over the past few years they have sent me letters to say that it looks as though there will be a shortfall, about 6,000 I think.
I sent in a complaint as recommended as I did not feel that at the time I was told that there might be a risk that it would not pay off my mortgage, only that it would pay it and that I may get some extra on top.
My complaint was I was missold the policy as I was not made aware of the risks involved. They have rejected my claim saying my attitude to risk was recorded as balanced on the Personal Financial review completed when I started the policy. The investment risk associated with an endowment is consistent with this.
It then says they have looked at my circumstances when starting the policy and concluded I was in a position to understand and accept the level of investment risk.
on the point of me saying I was not told there was a possibility it would not pay the mortgage off they have not found any evidence that I was given a guarentee that my policy would repay the mortgage at maturity or produce an extra lump sum.
With this info would you advise that I leave it and also do I keep or sell the endowment and change the mortgage to a repayment or something else.
Hope this makes sense and that I have not gone on too much
Julia

Marama_2

Thanks for your advice Dunstonh.

dunstonh wrote:

Many endowments are going back in to surplus again and an increasing number will do so over the coming years at this rate.

That's really intresting. How do you know which ones are going to perform?

dunstonh

With this info would you advise that I leave it and also do I keep or sell the endowment and change the mortgage to a repayment or something else.

L&G generally have good funds and offer good potential for future returns. Even their with profits fund isn't too bad. We would need more information on the plan to help you any further. Look at some of the other recent threads on endowments to find out what information is required.

That's really intresting. How do you know which ones are going to perform?

In the case of unit linked funds, you look at the fund spread and look at the potential related to that fund or portfolio of funds. In the case of the with profits funds, it is based on research of the provider from a range of sources.

Then its just a case of estimating the likely potential and seeing how that stacks up with the rest of the information on your policy.

shopaholicjules

Thanks
I have looked at other posts to see the kind of info needed, hope this is what's needed: My guarenteed basic sum is 8050 to which bonuses will be added, total existing bonuses at present are 2,324. I pay a monthly premium of 33.51. The maturity date is Oct 2018. I have just spoken to L&G and my surrender value is 4,964.
Hope this makes sense as I haven't a clue and would appreciate the advice you can give.

Thanks
Julia

defender_of_the_weak

Julia

This sounds like the fairly standard L & G cut and paste reject letter, the rejection should probably be challenged with the Ombudsman. How are you 'balanced'? Did you have any other investments to suggest knowledge and understanding, one tick in a box does not make you an experienced investor.

Did the salesman explain the risk of receiving no bonuses and not hitting target, without this it was not a complete sale.

I cannot say for sure, but we have not lost a single case to L & G at the Ombudsman's office. This speaks volumes for the quality of their reviews. Give it a go.

DCLane

DCLane wrote:

I put a complaint into Sesame last April. Following lots of letters and mis-laid letters I apparently had a final response in November. Guess what, I never received it.

They're sending another copy but won't tell me the result ... so I'll wait and see.

Basically I was classified as risk-averse and my wife as very risk-averse, yet we were demonstrated returns of 12-20% plus. We took out an endowment of £40k but only used £35k of it due to other funds. Sesame are questioning why we only used £35k. The adviser was with DBS but is now retired.

David

They've now rejected our claim. I'm considering whether to take it to the Ombudsman.

David

dunstonh

They've now rejected our claim. I'm considering whether to take it to the Ombudsman.

Your situation is totally different as you are complaing to Sesame when they had nothing to do with it.

DCLane

dunstonh wrote:

Your situation is totally different as you are complaing to Sesame when they had nothing to do with it.

But aren't Sesame the owners of DBS? If my IFA was part of DBS (I've got copies of the DBS Client Agreement) then shouldn't it be them?

I can't contact the IFA since he's retired and has Alzheimer's.

David