Endowment Mis-selling - Don't give up!

W_s_n

dreamylittledream wrote:

Your comaplaint is within time if your first shortfall letter was last year.

If you are rejected by the selling agent take the case to the FOS...

Thanks again dreamylittledream. I actually got a reply today regarding the letter I sent.

To quote the letter it says
'As we were acting as Appointed Representives of Winterthur Life at the time of the policy sale it is to them that any complaint regarding the advice should be referred and I have, therefore, forwarded your letter to their complaints manager, who should respond to you shortly.

Does this sound about right? Or are they fobbing me off?

Regards, W_s_n

scotti

Just an update from my January 28th query, we have just received from the FCSC (our FA went into liquidation) compensation of £27 yes £27, I kid you not.


We took out an endowment mortgage in 1989 and with the advice we were given, fully expected to have sufficient funds plus profits to pay the sum borrowed. (expected shortfall 11k)

I really do feel sick to my stomach and don't know what else we can do.

Is there anything else we can do or is this the end of the line?


Thank you all for your words of wisdom and advice

cheers scotti

dunstonh

I really do feel sick to my stomach and don't know what else we can do.

Is there anything else we can do or is this the end of the line?

It means that had you gone with repayment mortgage, you would be £27 better off than you are now. It just goes to show that your endowment hasnt been one of the poor ones.

Just because a projection at x% says you will get back y amount, it doesnt mean you will get back that. You could get more, you could get less. The important part now is that you need to find out what the potential of your endowment is.

scotti

Thanks for your superbly speedy reply Dunstonh,

to find the potential of the endowment would I need to contact Alba? (the company the endowment is now with)

are there any particular questions I should be asking?


many thanks again

cheers scotti

dunstonh

to find the potential of the endowment would I need to contact Alba? (the company the endowment is now with)

I wish you hadnt added that bit! If it's an Alba with profits policy then you should really be looking at your options ASAP. And i mean ASAP. If its unit linked, then things are less of a concern overall but you could investigate what funds are available to you and whether these are appropriate to you. You could also look at other options going forward as well, after all, if at this point you are at break even (thanks to your £27) then you have to look at this point onwards, not at what has gone before.

Before we give a list of questions, can you confirm if its with profits or unit linked?

scotti

I think its unit linked, (sorry if this is too much info)

have copied the following from our ‘Homeplan Plus Policy’ (originally with The LAS Group then taken over by Alba)

In the policy schedule it states under
Benefit
An endowment assurance benefit payable on the maturity date of a sum equal to the value of the units attaching to the policy at that date or in the event of the earlier death of the life assured the greater of (A) ‘the guaranteed death benefit’ and (B) a sum equal to the value of the units attaching to the policy on the unit valuation date immediately following the date of notification of the death of life assured.


Under standard provisions it also states that

Bonus units. Provided that the policy is maintained in full force until the maturity date there will be a bonus equal to 3% of the value of the units then allocated to the policy.

Many thanks again for all your useful advice Dunstonh

Cheers scotti

heather8

We took out our endowment in 1985 for 26100.
Originally with crusader and then taken over by Alba.

I put in a claim for compensation and received some 6500. That was great.

What I'm not sure about is should I be surrendering the policy. They offered us 10000 to surrender the policy, but it has 16000 in protected bonuses. I asked the chap at Brittania if these bonuses were protected and he said yes they were. But why only offer us 10000 to cash it in. We have 4 years to go and the premiums are 37.00 per month. I don't trust these people with all the mis-selling etc.

I think I am better keeping the policy until the end if the bonus is protected, am I right? Is there any hope that it will have some terminal bonuses at maturity. I don't understand all the literature that comes each year about the bonuses. They haven't paid any for years.

The last projection letter I got last June actually showed it had made 600 up on the shortfall.

iwilliams0511

Hi

I am glad i have found this forum, hopefully someone will have some advice for me. I will try and keep it short.

A Idependant financial advisor linked to Royal Sunalliance sold me a £49k Endowment in Nov 1993. The same guy sold me another Endowment for £20k in 1997 when we moved.

I recieved the warning letters in 2001 or 2002 on both occasions i called the financial advisor as i still thought he was with RSA. On 1st occasion he sadi do nothing. On the 2nd occasion he got me to cash in the £20k policy and keep the £49k policy which we did.

After looking up what my first policy was worth a little while ago i decided to complain to RSA, they agreed i was mis sold my policies but they could only settle the smaller one as the other was time bared.

But i said i had complained to your financial advisor who sold me the policies in the 1st place, they said he went totally independant in 2000 so that is not acceptable.

The Financial Obudsman agreed with RSA that i was out of time.

What can i do now ? Can i claim from the Independant financial advisor even though he was linked to royal when he sold me the policy now he is tottaly independant ?

Can i claim for advice i was given in 2002 to keep the bigger policy even though it is 20k short.

Any advice will be greatly recieved

Ian

joncy

Mortgage advice

Hi,

We changed from one lender to A&L about 10 years ago, at the time we asked about switching to repayment from our endowment mortgage and were told it was'nt worth changing the whole mortgage - just the extra £5000 we wanted at the time. So we ended up with a part endowment/part repayment mortgage. We were also sold a payment protection plan for the £5000 repayment part. Have we been mis-sold and what should I do about it?

Any help/advice? Anyone? Please!

Joncy

dunstonh

I think its unit linked, (sorry if this is too much info)

It's not really enough but dont worry about that.

Unit linked contracts have higher potential than With Profits. Indeed, the Alba With Profits fund is one of the worst there is. This would also explain the lower compensation payment as the endowment would have gone off track with the stockmarket crash but back on track (or there or thereabouts) with the recovery. A few more years like the last few and you could be laughing.

If you check the last few years statements, you should see quite a jump in the values as things recover. If projections are available, then look at the 6% to 8% is the likely potential figures. However, do remember that with an investment there are no guarantees on the rate of return. We have no crystal ball. The 6%-8% figures are just potential.

What I'm not sure about is should I be surrendering the policy.

Good question. Its what everyone should be asking with endowments. Some should be kept, some should be paid up, some should be surrendered.

I don't trust these people with all the mis-selling etc.

Thats a bit foolish isnt it. You get mis-sold a policy by one individual, you get compensation for that mis-sale so you are not out of pocket, yet you dont trust the 30,000 other advisors out there who you have never met.

I think I am better keeping the policy until the end if the bonus is protected, am I right? Is there any hope that it will have some terminal bonuses at maturity. I don't understand all the literature that comes each year about the bonuses. They haven't paid any for years.

Well, if you dont get advice, its your choice. However, I would look at the projection rates you have been given and look at zero as the likely option. However, without a full analysis, we cant be sure.

A Idependant financial advisor linked to Royal Sunalliance sold me a £49k Endowment in Nov 1993. The same guy sold me another Endowment for £20k in 1997 when we moved.

He is not an independent financial advisor if he works for R&SA.

But i said i had complained to your financial advisor who sold me the policies in the 1st place, they said he went totally independant in 2000 so that is not acceptable.

It doesnt matter what people do later in their life. Its at the point they were sold that matters. He could have become a window cleaner. It doesnt matter. As he was a tied agent and not an IFA at the point of sale, they have responsibility.

What can i do now ?

Nothing.

Can i claim from the Independant financial advisor even though he was linked to royal when he sold me the policy now he is tottaly independant ?

No. That would be unfair and unjust and quite correctly not possible.

Can i claim for advice i was given in 2002 to keep the bigger policy even though it is 20k short.

If a full and proper report and recommendation was done, then you could complain. However, your complaint would be unlikely to get far and what would you complain about? The endowment was off track, you knew that so you cannot complain endomwent mis-selling. The advisor is not responsible for performance that has led to the shortfall, so you cannot complain about that.

It looks like the end of the road.