Locked into a poor-value investment? It could soon be easier to leave

Former_MSE_Michael

"Savers locked into poor value pensions could be able to leave them penalty free or be given the option to move"

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Locked into a poor-value investment? It could soon be easier to leave



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dunstonh

The FCA has since backtracked on its earlier release to down play the significance of this review. It is now saying:
"We are not planning to individually review 30 million policies, nor do we intend to look at removing exit fees from those policies providing they were compliant at the time,' it said. 'This is not a review of the sales practices for these legacy customers and we are not looking at applying current standards retrospectively – for example on exit charges.'"

So, it now just seems to be a check on whether firms are applying the terms correctly on legacy products from before 2000.

paul5046

It's a shame that all you ever hear is negative news about pensions, when it is the only product where you get tax relief.
Between politicians and the industry they have made a right mess of things.

Linton

paul5046 wrote: »

It's a shame that all you ever hear is negative news about pensions, when it is the only product where you get tax relief.
Between politicians and the industry they have made a right mess of things.

Lies and sensationalism from the media doesnt help. Pity they arent subject to the same liability rules as IFAs.

zagfles

Well it seems to have hammered insurance company shares

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11899862

Renoir77

I certainly hope it may help me......

Last summer the FSA agreed that an Option 32 policy had been mis-sold to me in the 80's but could not take it any further because the agent was no longer in business. So after 6 months delay in claiming (whilst it was under query) I had no option but to claim it. I am now locked into a final pension pot of just under £10,000 paying me less than £9 pw. The forecast was £48 pw !:mad:

I for one would like to have the chance to see if I could do better....but as it seems they may only be checking and not doing but I can live in hope

dunstonh

So after 6 months delay in claiming (whilst it was under query) I had no option but to claim it. I am now locked into a final pension pot of just under £10,000 paying me less than £9 pw. The forecast was £48 pw !

That wasnt your only option.

I for one would like to have the chance to see if I could do better

You wont. The FCA review does not apply to you.

50Twuncle

Will this look at my 1987 bought (with profits) endowment policy bought through the Woolwich - despite interest rates of more than 20% - this policy failed to make a penny over the 20 years that it ran for - I eventually cashed it in to pay off the remaining mortgage....


I did receive approx £8,000 compensation for a missold policy from Barclays (in 2004 ish) but feel that this sum is nowhere near the amount that Sun Alliance (bought out by Phoenix) made on my policy
I was told at the time of opening the policy that I was guaranteed to cover my loan (£30k) plus at least the same again !!
But when sold (to Phoenix - nobody else would touch it) in 2008 - I got back just £19,000 - due to early cashing in (4 years early) - I had been paying approx £70 per month in to it and decided to stop throwing my money away...

dunstonh

Will this look at my 1987 bought (with profits) endowment policy bought through the Woolwich - despite interest rates of more than 20% - this policy failed to make a penny over the 20 years that it ran for - I eventually cashed it in to pay off the remaining mortgage....

It is not looking at specific policies. The article in the thread was based on a incorrectly released bit of information that the FCA have since backtracked on and installed a legal team to investigate how it was released.

What are these 20% interest rates that you refer to?

I did receive approx £8,000 compensation for a missold policy from Barclays (in 2004 ish) but feel that this sum is nowhere near the amount that Sun Alliance (bought out by Phoenix) made on my policy

That isnt your problem. You got your redress payment and that was based on mortgage interest rates which are typically higher than savings interest rates.

zagfles

50Twuncle wrote: »

Will this look at my 1987 bought (with profits) endowment policy bought through the Woolwich - despite interest rates of more than 20% - this policy failed to make a penny over the 20 years that it ran for - I eventually cashed it in to pay off the remaining mortgage....


I did receive approx £8,000 compensation for a missold policy from Barclays (in 2004 ish) but feel that this sum is nowhere near the amount that Sun Alliance (bought out by Phoenix) made on my policy
I was told at the time of opening the policy that I was guaranteed to cover my loan (£30k) plus at least the same again !!

Typical of the lies told at the time.

But it looks like this review is about existing policies rather than ones cashed in, but it's not totally clear. For endowment mis-selling see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/endowments-miss-sold

Linton

zagfles wrote: »

Typical of the lies told at the time.

I doubt very much it was a lie. Rather a projection based on what looked reasonable at the time. Rates of return are very much lower now than they were 30 years ago.

With one of my company pensions taken out in the 1980s the pension company guaranteed an annual investment return of 8.5%, a guarantee that my colleagues regarded as ridiculously small. So an inability to foresee the future hit both the companies and their customers.