mis sold endowment

completemonica

3 years ago I proved I was mis sold my endowment & was offered a payment, but I was under the impression that it meant cashing it in. I have since found out this is not the case, the financial adviser would still compensate me, but he is regulated by sesame who now refuse to pay, the financial ombudsman just say 'sesame refuse to pay' . I am going to be £17k short. Is there anyone else can help?:(I

magpiecottage

completemonica wrote: »

3 years ago I proved I was mis sold my endowment & was offered a payment, but I was under the impression that it meant cashing it in. I have since found out this is not the case, the financial adviser would still compensate me, but he is regulated by sesame who now refuse to pay, the financial ombudsman just say 'sesame refuse to pay' . I am going to be £17k short. Is there anyone else can help?:(I

From memory (I have done some work for Sesame) you would not have proven that the policy was missold. Sesame will simply have made what amounted to a goodwill offer to put you into the position you would have been in had you taken out a repayment mortgage instead of an endowment mortgage at outset.

That will have meant that, if the offer was accepted, they would have paid you the amount that would have been paid off your mortgage by that time less the amount you would have got for cashing in the endowment policy (because it would never have existed in the first place). The offer would also have indicated that if you had paid more on the endowment and interest combined than you would have paid on a repayment mortgage to that point they would refund that as well. (If you had paid less they would not deduct your saving, though).

The offer would also have included meeting reasonable costs, such as early repayment penalties, that you might have incurred in using the redress payment and the cash in value of the policy to reduce your mortgage and convert it to a capital repayment basis.

Had you gone to the Financial Ombudsman Service at the time, it would have told you that the offer was fair.

You did not do so. Again, as I recall, the letters from Sesame would have said something like "You have six months from the date of this letter to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, notwithstanding any further correspondence between us".

Clearly you have not accepted the offer, so Sesame is entitled to withdraw it, and you have not referred the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service until three years later - so the six month limit has been exceeded by a considerable margin.

Unless it is persuaded that there were "exceptional reasons" so that this was the first opportunity you had to bring your complaint to it, the Financial Ombudsman Service cannot consider you complaint unless Sesame waives its right to apply a timebar.

This may sound harsh but it is reasonable as it means a complainant cannot leave a firm hanging in the air forever and that is why the Financial Ombudsman Service cannot consider your complaint.

In theory, you can attempt to sue Sesame. However, in a court, the view will be different. Sesame may have made the offer simply because it no longer holds evidence to show it did not do anything wrong.

In a court, you would need to demonstrate that it did (or at least that it was more likely than not that it did). If you could prove deception, you might have a chance.

However, proving a deliberate deception is almost impossible because there is almost certainly no evidence, so disputes about investment advice hinge on whether or not the adviser was negligent.

That presents you with an immediate problem because Section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980 says proceedings for negligence claims must commence within six years of the negligent act or, if later, within three years of the date on which the claimant became aware that they had grounds for complaint.

As nobody has sold an endowment for a mortgage in the last six years, the first route is barred to you. Sesame can simply produce a copy of the policy document to prove this.

Similarly, it can produce a copy of your original complaint letter to prove that you were aware of grounds for complaint three years ago.

So I suggest you think about increasing your payments to your lender whilst interest rates are low.

completemonica

Thank you for your help. Does illness count as exceptional circumstances? I've 6 yrs to find £ x

[Deleted User]

completemonica wrote: »

Does illness count as exceptional circumstances?

What kind of illness prevented you from accepting the redress offer for THREE YEARS?

completemonica

I was medically retired with ptsd

dunstonh

had the PTSD incapacitated you for all or most of the period following the complaint?

How did you manage to complain previously if the PTSD stopped you from pursuing the complaint?

These are not judgemental questions but the sort you would be expected to answer and possibly prove if you want the timebar to be overruled.

3 years ago I proved I was mis sold my endowment & was offered a payment

Are you sure it was proven. I was at a meeting some years ago and was told that the payout stats had it that around 25 out of 1000 complaints were proven mis-sales but a further 225 received redress offers as goodwill offers. Those were not proven mis-sales but file was not sufficient. This could be due to missing paperwork or poorly recorded information. If it was an upheld complaint due to proven mis-sale, you would expect to still be paid. If it was a goodwill gesture rather than a proven mis-sale then those can be withdrawn and non-acceptance of a goodwill gesture can lead to getting nothing. So, was yours perhaps not a proven mis-sale but a goodwill offer?

completemonica

hi, sorry for the delay I was waiting on copies of the paperwork so I could check the wording. It says 'upheld your complaint...was not suitable for you...pitfalls not explained...' no mention of goodwill gesture.
I understand you playing devils advocate, I had help at the time of the original complaint which was not available since I received the settlement letter, until now.
I appreciate your ongoing advice. x

magpiecottage

Since all you had to do at the time was say "yes", it is unlikely that Sesame (or its insurers) will now roll over without a fight.

Your best bet is probably to go to FOS - but expect to lose.