Winterthur Endowment mis-selling complaint – 2nd bite of the cherry?

Sinbad

I have four Winterthur endowment policies which are “under performing”. These were taken out between 1984 and 1988 with Colonial Mutual.
In 2004, I wrote to Winterthur to complain that I was mis-sold the policies, citing that:

• No mention of risk was made, i.e. that the endowments would not meet the target values

• I was told that the policies were guaranteed to either pay off the mortgage with a lump sum or they would reach their targets earlier so as to reduce the term of the mortgage.

• No mention was made at the time that the repayment mortgage we had at the time was a safer option.

Unsurprisingly, they threw our claim out.


A few weeks back, I get a letter from Winterthur stating that they were conducting a review of complaints for policies sold before April 1988. As a consequence, they would like to reconsider their decision. If I wish to proceed, I have a 16 page booklet to complete.


I will of course complete the booklet and return it.

Anyone with any ideas as to why they wish to “reconsider their decision”?

Any advice on what to add to the reasons I already stated back in 2004? I intend to add that no mention was made that I was to expect no bonus for 5 years!

Thanks

EdInvestor

Sinbad wrote: »

Anyone with any ideas as to why they wish to “reconsider their decision”?

It's probably as a result of an FSA review.Quite a lot of firms have been found to have wrongly turned down legitimate misselling claims and have been told to revisit the matter.Abbey was one of the worst offenders.

Just concentrate on the attitude to risk issue.They probably have lost/destroyed your original file and are fishing for information with the questionnaire to see if they can find any grounds for defending the claim.

It's quite Ok to say you don't know/can't remember if they appear to be asking irrelevant questions. Tell them as little as possible.

Sinbad

EdInvestor – Thanks for your post. As luck would have it, they do have the original hand written notes taken during the Sales session – and I have copies of them (as a requested them last time.
Points of interest from those notes:
My Priorities are listed as:

• Protection of Income for Dependants,
• Accumulate Capital,
• Pay off Mortgage.

My “attitudes to investment” is ticked as “Cautious”, with the other choice being “Speculative”. In light of the poor performance, perhaps they though I had ticked “Speculative”!

Thanks for the advice on concentrating on the risk angle and I’ll look out for the irrelevant questions.

Deano39666

i took out a policy with them also in 1994, in 1998 i recieved a letter from them telling me i would need to up the payments to cover the endowment, so i doubled it. The policy was to cover £64,000 i went from £70 pm and i more than doubled it to £170pm just to be on the safe side. A long story short, i complained last year as i was half way through the policy and it was only worth £20,000 (bearing in mind i had more than doubled it). They sent a letter back saying they had conducted a enquiry, and even sent me a copy of the original contract, where i had signed everything (ie risk boxes i had ticked). On further investigation it would appear there monthly charges to invest my money was so OTT it really opened my eyes, thats why my policy was not growing. So 2 weeks ago i closed the account and invested my money in a multifund with stockbrokers Skandia, (the whole amount).. So far IN JUST A WEEK i have made about £500 with the very same risk involved, but lower monthly charges. Granted i have in my multifund the china stock market which can do no wrong at the moment, and emerging markets.. And there is a risk attached just as there was with Winterthur.. But im making money, and i can go online daily via there site to see how the money is growing, and if your not happy you can change funds at no charge to you. Im not trying to sell this company to you cos most comapnies do this.. All im saying there is a better way to invest at your own destiny, with winerthur, you didnt even know what they were doing with your money or where they were investing it.. You got a breakdown every other year just telling you how much it was worth. Bad communicaters! This way i can see daily, tells me how many units i have and how much they have gone up daily or down as the case my be. Hope this helps. If you want any deatils. I would be happy to pass some along

Regards Deano

hoboken

That's interesting Deano, I would like to take you up on your offer details of the Skandia deal you have gone for.

I have 4 winterthur policies (ex colonial) 1988-1996. They also rejected the 4 complaints I submitted 3 years ago. Like the first writer I have been asked to complete a booklet in respect of the one took out prior to April 1989 which I have done so. They immediately replied back to say I will hear a result within 8 weeks. Figured I had nothing to lose. My endowmments total 80000 and I have a current shortfall of 29000 which I have taken steps to address but that isn't the point!

Hoboken

peterpan1709

This may be a long shot, but I would like to know if anything can be done to claim for an endowment shortfall on a 25 year Winterthur (formerly Colonial) endowment policy which was taken out in August 1985 to cover £20,000 but is now projected to be valued at around £15,500 when it matures in August 2010?

EdInvestor

Who sold you this policy? I take it you were not contacted in 2007 like those who posted earlier?

peterpan1709

It was sold by Nationwide; it is my parents' policy and I am sure they received lots of advice and mailings about claiming, but never did anything about it.

EdInvestor

The policy was sold before regulation came in, but big firms like Nationwide accept they have a duty of care under earlier rules and will thus accept complaints.

Have your parents received any red letters from Winterthur about the risk of the endowment falling short? If so, when did the first one arrive?They have 3 years years from then to lodge a complaint.After that they will be time-barred.

Complaints are usually based on attitude to risk.For instance, many people missold endowments would not have bought the product if they had been told there was a risk it might not pay off the mortgage (as opposed to give an additional lump sum on top).

peterpan1709

Yes, I have seen a red letter from Winterthur dated July 2009. Not sure if there were any in previous years.
Does anyone have a template letter that could be used to contact Nationwide to register a complaint?

dunstonh

Yes, I have seen a red letter from Winterthur dated July 2009. Not sure if there were any in previous years.

Almost certainly were. Probably started between 2001 and 2004.

Does anyone have a template letter that could be used to contact Nationwide to register a complaint?

Before you waste any time on this. Contact Winterthur and ask them if its time barred. Over 3/4 of endowments are time barred.

Also, if you were to complain, what grounds for complaint would they give?