Lapsed Endowment Policy with Value

robdan

Hi, I've just joined here and hopefully the knowledgeable masses on this forum can help with a simple answer!

I just found paperwork from an old endowment policy that I took out in 1994 that lapsed in 1999. The insurance provider, Scottish Provident, cancelled the policy and ended the associated life covering December 1999. They then contacted me to inform me that the policy had a lapsed value of £641 and that I should contact them to inform them of how I would like it to be paid.

My question is this; when I contact them next week to arrange to recover the lapsed value, should I also be expecting the lapsed value to have accrued some interest over the intervening years?

By my crude maths that will be 16.5 years so it is worth asking the question, thanks in advance :money:

magpiecottage

No they will have allowed for it in the value offered.

Alice_Walker

When did they contact you, in 1999 or more recently?

robdan

The last contact was in 1999, I am in the Army and the correspondence went to my parents address whilst I was in Germany at the time. They moved shortly after that and I totally forgot about the policy to be honest.

robdan

I'm sorry, I may not have made my question clear; the value in Dec 1999 was £641, I am referring to any interest that may be payable by Scot Prov for the period 1999 to 2016 whilst it has been sat in their bank.

silvercar

All depends if the policy was cashed out and the money left "in their bank account" or if the policy remained invested.

Lemonsqueezer78

I think the "expectation" that you will receive interest in this case may be misplaced. You can ask, of course. However the right to interest is not really automatic except where a financial product advertises that it is paid - or if a financial institution has been negligent somehow and owes the customer some form of redress, related to a complaint spanning a period of time.

In this case, though, it appears the Bank did make a goodfaith effort to contact you to arrange payment and it was your - or your circumstances - that prevented settlement for such a huge length of time. Not the Bank purposely withholding your money.

In my humble opinion, unless the terms of the policy stated that funds would be held in some form of interest baring account at the end of the endowment, then you don't really have any claim and should not therefore have any expectation of it being paid.

As I say, there is nothing to stop you asking but your mileage may vary...

robdan

That's very clear, thanks for taking the time to respond. :beer: