Are they savings?

Pixelat0r

NeilCr wrote: »

How did you get the advice you referred to in the OP? Was it in writing, face to face, on the phone? And was it from CAB, the building society and/or any of the other sources?

Do you mean the advice to invest the endowments? If so it was over the phone from the CAB and my building society and The Money Advice Service.

NeilCr

Pixelat0r wrote: »

Do you mean the advice to invest the endowments? If so it was over the phone from the CAB and my building society and The Money Advice Service.

Have you considered complaining to these organisations then if it was bad advice?

I must say I am slightly surprised that CAB would give financial advice - especially over the phone (unless there is a dedicated expert at a particular branch) Individual CABs can work in different ways but the general idea is that they give information that the client can then make a decision on. In your OP you did use the word suggest which could mean an option you could take, I guess.

I'd have also thought that advice on something as important as this should have been confirmed in writing. Certainly, my IFA always lets me have a written version of any meeting/phone call where financial matters/decisions have been discussed

[Deleted User]

I suppose one can get all the advice they can, but at the end of the day you have to make the decision, if you make what appears to be a wrong decision somewhere down the line because circumstances have changed then its no ones fault, its just life.

konark

When I had an endowment the Building society held onto the papers so that I couldn't cash it in without paying off the mortgage first.

I find it hard to believe anyone( other than the bs) would think that putting money in the building society at today's comedy rates would help to breach any shortfall, in fact your mortgage debt would have been rising at a greater rate than your savings.

Pixelat0r

konark wrote: »

I find it hard to believe anyone( other than the bs) would think that putting money in the building society at today's comedy rates would help to breach any shortfall, in fact your mortgage debt would have been rising at a greater rate than your savings.

Precisely, which is why we tied it up in ISAs. Actually the earlier one to mature went in a bond for a couple of years as it paid more than an ISA at that time.
I accept that we are where we are and it's no good crying over spilled milk, I just despair that there was not a single avenue open to me to do the "right thing" without digging myself further into the mire. I worked, I paid my mortgage, I did what the wisdom of the day told me to, I never missed a payment, I refused incapacity when in all likelihood I'd have qualified and on the one occasion where I, through no fault of my own, lose my job it seems none of this counts for anything. If I had neglected to pay or got into arrears I'd accept that I have no God-given right to help from anyone to bail me out but when you're told you're damned if you keep the cash and you're damned if you use it for its sole intended purpose I don't see how that can be deemed fair or just, at least not when so much money is squandered on wasters, druggies and lushes. If nobody got it the fair enough but they do so am I being unreasonable having tried to be a good boy for 24 years to expect a little help for the last year (assuming no employer decides to take me on before then)?

Pixelat0r

konark wrote: »

When I had an endowment the Building society held onto the papers so that I couldn't cash it in without paying off the mortgage first.

In all honesty I did find it odd that the B/S didn't have stricter control over what happened to the endowment policies but assumed it was just how it operated. I could easily have cashed in the policies and booked a round the world cruise (and thought about it often :T ) but I knew it would just be a living nightmare when the B/S came knocking for their cash.

Pixelat0r

venison wrote: »

I suppose one can get all the advice they can, but at the end of the day you have to make the decision, if you make what appears to be a wrong decision somewhere down the line because circumstances have changed then its no ones fault, its just life.

I agree entirely, but in this case there was no right decision that I can see.

Pixelat0r

NeilCr wrote: »

Have you considered complaining to these organisations then if it was bad advice?

I must say I am slightly surprised that CAB would give financial advice - especially over the phone (unless there is a dedicated expert at a particular branch) Individual CABs can work in different ways but the general idea is that they give information that the client can then make a decision on. In your OP you did use the word suggest which could mean an option you could take, I guess.

I'd have also thought that advice on something as important as this should have been confirmed in writing. Certainly, my IFA always lets me have a written version of any meeting/phone call where financial matters/decisions have been discussed

I did call back and explained what had happened and they just did the usual tutting and say things like "you can't do right for doing wrong" etc. The feeling I had was that they hadn't heard of this situation before (though I can't see that being the case) and the advice they gave was almost given as suggestions rather than cast-iron solutions. I suppose they realised that even if I ignored their advice I was still in the same boat so there wasn't a great deal of jeopardy in doing what they suggested.

marliepanda

I have very little knowledge of endowment mortgages other than my parents were railed out of the idea by my grandad in the 80's, and that none did what they were supposed to do. Were they easier to get? Payments cheaper? There must have been a reason people
Took them over repayment ones?

However you will really get a lot more sympathy and help if you stop complaining about druggies and alkies. Seriously. You have made a poor financial decision at some point, whether advised to or not, and now you have to deal with it. The same way the druggies made poor health choices and now have to deal with it.

patman99

The thing is, had you withdrawn the money to replace a 'broken' washing machine, but instead, stuffed the money inside your mattress, they would not have batted an eyelid as that would be an allowable expense.

The general rules allow you to use your capital for general living expenses, so whilst reducing your credit card by overpaying by £50 a month would not be allowed, withdrawing £50 a week for food would (even if you only spent £20 a week on food and hid the rest).