Friends Life Endowment Maturing This Month *UPDATE

mae

maninthestreet wrote: »

What more do you think you are entitled to??

It was more should I accept the no explanation type of thing not the money. I am very inexperienced with endowments and how they are paid out and if I hadn't decided to query it I would have lost out on nearly £500. So my point is surely their procedures should be questioned and possibly changed as how many others have missed out on money that is rightfully theirs or was this a one off mistake, which obviously can happen.

mae

Voyager2002 wrote: »

It looks as if the OP was misled into surrendering the endowment a little before maturity rather than allowing it to mature, and so has lost about £12,000. I think that an apology and £200, and maybe some chocolate as well, is rather inadequate.

Hi, no the amount is just under £500 they have said so luckily didn't run into thousands !

dunstonh

All the way through the thread, the terminology sounded like surrender rather than maturity. So, the £450 figure does seem like the correction amount and £200 being the inconvenience/goodwill amount.

MaggieJet

Hi sorry but this has been misunderstood by 'dunstonh' who I note is an IFA.
This is Friends Life's 'end of premium term' product. It does not actually mature. It runs for the whole of your life, but you get the opportunity to claim once the term you agreed to pay for it comes to an end. This term was set in line with the mortgage term when you bought it.


The MVR wording (your original question) is not 'lazy', it IS for a surrender - which any claim later than the end of premium term claim will be. This is a warning that this MIGHT happen if you choose not to go ahead and claim now. It does not mean you will be given a new savings plan. The policy just continues until you choose to claim it, or you die.


The fact you were paid too early was a mistake. Friends did discover this was happening and people who had been affected did receive corrective payments. What they paid you over and above meeting the right value seems very fair to compensate bearing in mind you only had a limited amount of inconvenience.

dunstonh

Hi sorry but this has been misunderstood by 'dunstonh' who I note is an IFA.
This is Friends Life's 'end of premium term' product. It does not actually mature. It runs for the whole of your life, but you get the opportunity to claim once the term you agreed to pay for it comes to an end. This term was set in line with the mortgage term when you bought it.

The OP says it is an endowment policy. Whole of life assurance plans are not endowment policies. Endowments have a maturity date. Whole of life plans do not.

It also says it is a homebuyer plus plan. So, again, that supports the OPs view that it is an endowment policy rather than a whole of life plan.

Where have you got the view that this is a whole of life assurance plan? Unless you are referring to a conversion option?

A whole of life assurance plan would also make the policy non-qualifying. Whereas an endowment is usually (but not always) qualifying. This could make a big difference to the tax position.

EdRWat

A little bit old but worth adding for anyone else coming across this thread, similar to me.

I too have a Homebuyer Plus Plan and mine reaches its 25th anniversary soon. I've just enquired when I will receive my maturity pack and was therefore surprised to be told this is a whole of life policy.

Now if it is cashed in on the anniversary date it ultimately should not make any difference to the value whether it is a maturity or a penalty-free surrender but some wider comments are appropriate.

1. When I bought this I was Friends Provident staff and it was marketed as a mortgage endowment policy, not as a whole of life policy.

2. I've checked my paperwork. The policy schedule does not refer to a maturity date, only to a Premium Payment Term. However, annual update letters in the early 2000s clearly refer to this policy being a "mortgage endowment policy" and they also state a "maturity date" alongside the projected value calculations.


I therefore believe that MaggieJet is technically correct to state that this is a whole of life policy, based on a narrow reading of the schedule. However, I also believe that the point of sale marketing together with the wider literature supplied subsequently has created and then reinforced reasonable expectations for policyholders that this was an endowment product.