Endowments - what next?

discodown

Firstly let me say, we genuinely believe we were mis-sold a mortgage, we even have the person who sold it us writing on our quote that we "will make a tax free profit".

Anyway, we have put a complaint in and to cut a long story short been refused compensation. This simply seems to be on the basis of our answers to how we assess risk.

We have appealed and still been turn down. Im am totally bemused, this wasnt a fly by night try to make a few quid claim, is there anywhere we can take this, frankly we cannot afford the losses predicted and are trying to address it but its hard! Any comments very welcomed.

trafalgar_2

Have you taken it all the way or just to the insurers so far............. ???

discodown

Sorry, yes its been to the Ombudsman and had a decision which we appealed and lost, as I said seemingly purely on the basis of the risk questions.

trafalgar_2

You really only have two options left in my opinion.

One is accept the ruling of the ombudsman and the second is to see a solicitor and get advice on taking it through the courts.
If you say in your view you have a string case it would at least be worth discussing the option with a solicitor to see what your chances are.
Others may have more advice for you
Good luck.....................

dunstonh

The risk questions asked at the time of application or how you answered them in your mis sale claim?

You should also be aware that at no point should a predication been given to you. You should have received a projection to maturity but this is by no means a predication. It could be less or more than the figure in the projection. This is usually why you are given 3 figures based on three different growth rates.

scottishlizzie

I work in the financial services industry and my current job involves handling mortgage endowment complaints.
Have a look at your paperwork and see if your case has been handled by someone called an ajudicator at the Ombudsman. If so, write back saying that your are not happy with the way your complaint has been handled and you wish for it to be passed on to one of the Ombudsmen because you feel that they have not considered the key issues, which are:
1) you were not advised of the risks associated with the plan when you took it out. 2) you were not made aware of the possibility of a shortfall. 3) If you had been made aware that the return was not guaranteed then you would have taken out a repayment mortgage.

The FOS(Financial Ombudsman Service) is hugely overstretched and understaffed at the moment. I made a complaint on behalf of my husband to them around April and we have only just had the response. The company had defended the complaint but the FOS found in his favour. It is quite possible that your case was handled by someone inexperienced. The Ombudsmen are more Senior and you may get a different result. I do not know the exact criteria for getting the case passed on to a more senior person and whether or not it is an absolute right. It may be that you have to raise a new issue not previously considered, however in the first instance do as I have suggested above. If they say no then ring them and ask straight out how your case can be passed on to someone more experienced.

For anyone else thinking of complaining: start with the firm who sold you the plan first but if they turn down your complaint I would always recommend referring it to FOS. The 3 points I raised above are the main ones to kick it off. Don't bother with any of these companies who offer to handle the complaint for you. They take a big cut and all they do is issue a standard letter covering everything that could possibly be complained about.
Incidentally, FOS charges the firms £500 for every case referred to them, regardless of the outcome.

dunstonh

Incidentally, FOS charges the firms £500 for every case referred to them, regardless of the outcome.

Which is why the insurance companies will often settle small claims, say upto £1000, without admitting liability because it is cheaper in the long run.

discodown

useful info particularly scottishlizzie, but thanks all, will dig out my papers and see where we are. I am considering a solicitor though as I do belive I have a stong claim.

paul666

As I understand it,
If it's the case that you have made alternative provision to cover the shortfall, then you won't get a penny even if you were sold a lie...

dunstonh

Additionally, if the ombudsman will not increase the payout to cover legal fees should you go down that route and they decide to change their decision. You could end up paying out more in fees than you get back.

As for what happens if you win your case, I havent a clue. I'm not sure anyone has got that far because basically you would have to prove that both the insurance company and the independent ombudsman are incorrect. My guess is that a solicitor will probably advise you that it will cost more than its worth and you dont have a good chance of winning.

It would be good to see what happens if someone tries this route but are you sure you are ready to be the one?

Best thing is to ask them to review it again and be more specific on the reasons and ask them specific questions that you want answers to.

robnye

As I understand it,
If it's the case that you have made alternative provision to cover the shortfall, then you won't get a penny even if you were sold a lie...

this isnt strictly true, if you mortgage was 100% covered by endowment and you changed it all to repayment, then the above applies.
If you mortgage is part endowment/part repayment and you increase the repayment part, but your endowment part is still larger than the endowment policy in question, then it doesnt apply.

ie i have 3 policies but they only cover 50% of my total mortgage, the other 50% is repayment, I have increased this time each time i have remortgaged, as originially it was 60/40 in endowments favour. yet is still received compensation.