Endowment puzzle

Millie_2

When i bought my new house in 1991, my solicitor talked to me about buying my policy through him.
He did some research, showed me league tables of the best perfromers as shown in financial times etc.
The standard life policy was seen to be the best perfroming policy, which i then decided to buy.

My solicitor asked me to sign to say that he had simply pointed out the information to me and that he had not pressured me into buying that particular policy with his own personal opinions.
Then he organised the standard life policy for me and we split the comission 50/50 which i think was about £150 each or therabouts.

So, where do i stand now, do i have a case for compensation now that my policy has a possible £10-12,000 shortfall?

I do not want to be in the position of sueing my solicitor as that would be a terrible situation to be in.
I was thinking that as Standard life was making the claims as to what the policy would provide, then it is them who my claim is against and not my solicitor for organizing the policy for me?

Compensationitis

You should complain to the solicitor first, telling it like you did here. Then keep me posted.

Millie_2

Yes thanks, i am just draughting a letter to him and sending him a copy of my latest SL letter notifying me of my shortfalls, so that i can get an opinion from him but i am so worried about it as my case seems so different to everyone elses

chrisxr2

I think you have little or no case. All he was doing was showing you the information. He did not sell you the endowment. You made the decision entirely on your own and have signed a legally binding document to say so. I think you are a victim of your own choice here sorry to say.

Millie_2

I think you misunderstand, the LAST thing i want to do is sue my solicitor.

What i want to know is do you think i still have a case againt Standard Life for providing a misrepresentation of how the policy would mature in future years?

EdInvestor

The letter you signed means that the solicitor sold it to you on an "execution only" basis, ie he did not give you any advice. So you can't claim for misselling.

Post the details of the policy if you like for some suggestions about what to do with it, but you'll probably be best to wait for the demutualisation bonus next year and then consider whether to surrender the policy after that.Meantime, overpay your mortgage when you can if there are no penalties for doing so, or salt some cash away in a high interest account to meet the shortfall.

Compensationitis

There is no such thing as 'Execution Only'.

She doesn't have to sue the solicitor, all she has to do is take it to the Law Sciety if the solicitor messes about.

I can help with the directions.

dunstonh

Execution only exists and is used heavily by some IFAs. Most of the discount brokers that get mentioned on here, for example.

However, for execution only to apply, the advisor must not give any advice in ANY area relating to that policy. The minute that happens, it ceases to be execution only and any documentation saying it is execution only is incorrect.

What you describe is not execution only as he did the research and showed you that research. Thats advice, even if the research is flawed.

Compensationitis

There is NO such thing as execution only particularly in this case, period.

Anyone who thinks otherwise does not understand the FSA.

EdInvestor

BTW is this a Scottish case by any chance? I heard once that there had not been any successful claims against Scottish solicitors for endowment misselling at all.

dunstonh

Compensationitis wrote:

There is NO such thing as execution only particularly in this case, period.

Anyone who thinks otherwise does not understand the FSA.

Well that is just daft. Execution only does exist. The FSA website confirms it's status. Whether it is used correctly in it's true sense is a different matter.

However, it is frequently used by those that visit this forum and use some of the discount IFAs that get mentioned.