Countrywide Assured Endowment

Cerulean

Due to continual "High risk of shortfall" letters and an imminent house move, I'm currently investigating cashing in my Countrywide Assured Home Purchase Plan endowment policy.

My understanding is that as it is unit linked and I am only 8 years into its 25 year term I cannot sell it to a third party. When I got a valuation on the 6th July its value was £7500 but as of today it is just under £7200. I've been told that it would probably be another 14 days+ before its final value would be calculated due to paperwork etc.

My question is do I have any other options to get best value and is this a good time to sell as I realise the stockmarket recently took a turn for the worst which I assume is what caused the reduction.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

dunstonh

Due to continual "High risk of shortfall" letters

Which doesnt mean anything by itself. Many endowments that have paid surpluses have had high risk of shortfall warnings.

My understanding is that as it is unit linked and I am only 8 years into its 25 year term I cannot sell it to a third party.

unit linked policies have a daily value so there is no market for them. It would be like asking someone how much they will pay you in exchange for a ten pound note.

Also, only 8 years in explains the shortfall warnings. An endowment above track heading for a surplus would still get shortfall warnings at that early stage due to the nature of the projections.

My question is do I have any other options to get best value and is this a good time to sell as I realise the stockmarket recently took a turn for the worst which I assume is what caused the reduction.

Its a great time to be buying units not selling. There is nothing you can do about it.

I would suggest getting the policy reviewed before making a decision to surrender. The last Countrywide unit linked endomwent I reviewed was not that bad and they do have a range of funds to choose from and the potential is there for a good surplus on maturity.

Cerulean

Excuse my ignorance but how do I get the policy reviewed?

dunstonh

Any investment IFA should be able to review it. You can also post details on here for a simple opinion (not advice)

Cerulean

Thanks for your help dunstonh. What specific details do I need to post to get an opinion.