Standard Life Annuity Mis-selling

anotherday1

I read in the The Times over the weekend that Standard Life will be writing to their customers who were sold annuities from July 2008 in the new year. My dad was sold a standard annuity by Standard Life despite having Angina. He complained with my help and our complaint was rejected by Standard Life. We went to the ombudsman and they had sympathy, but they said they couldn't do anything about it at the time. It is clear that it has escalated since our complaints given the scale of the mis-selling. It is clear that Standard Life were not encouraging their customers to take out enhanced annuities, because they did not sell them! Here is some more details:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-4258140/Standard-Life-landed-175-million-bill.html

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/insurance-giants-prudential-and-standard-life-hit-with-big-bill-on-annuities-fd8v7b37n

Anyway, my question is! The Times article said that Standard Life would write to their customers in the new year! Hence, this suggests that my dad doesn't have to do anything! Is this correct?

Surely Standard Life would have to physically ask every single customer whether they had a long-term medical condition at the time of sale to find out who was mis-sold and not mis-sold?

Thanks.

Malthusian

Quite possibly that's what they'll do - send a letter out to everyone who was sold annuities within a certain time period asking them to get in contact if they have a long-term medical condition.

As you have already made a formal complaint, and made a complaint to the Ombudsman and been rejected, I'm not sure there's anything to be done except wait for Standard Life to contact you and cross your fingers.

dunstonh

Technically, Standard Life would not be required to reopen your case as you already complained and were rejected. A section 166 review (requested by the FCA) would see an independent third party review cases to see whether they are suitable.

If you have already complained and gone to the FOS, then you have already had it reviewed and a decision made. However, it is possible they will decide to include it in the review as systems are not always clever enough to filter out complaints.

I read in the The Times over the weekend that Standard Life will be writing to their customers who were sold annuities from July 2008 in the new year.

Not quite. They are only reviewing non-advised sales from 2008. Standard Life did operate an advised sales arm for a period. I crossed swords with it twice as it attempted to lie to clients. They are not required to look at the advised sales.

It is clear that Standard Life were not encouraging their customers to take out enhanced annuities, because they did not sell them!

Their own product didnt offer enhanced terms but their sales team did have access to enhanced annuities. Did he end up with a std life annuity or one from another company?

dunstonh

The post by Andy McGowan is probably a spam and I have pressed the spam button on it. However, in case it isnt...

If you're looking for some advice on your mis-sold annuity case, I would highly recommend SPAM SPAM

It you read the post you would see that a CMC is not required .

anotherday1

Standard Life have not contacted my dad yet. The newspaper article said they should contact in January!

I watched the recent Panorama programme about the FOS making bad decisions because of not having enough staff, poor training, etc. I think the FOS made a mistake when reviewing my dad's complaint. They said they didn't uphold my dad's complaint because SL had increased their original annuity offer when we found a better offer elsewhere. SL increased their original offer because we found a better "standard annuity rate" elsewhere. They didn't match the offer and I think the FOS reviewer thought the alternative annuity was an Enhanced Annuity Rate. Hence, they increased their offer to something closer to another Standard Annuity Rate rather than an Enhanced one:

Q1) Should I contact SL given what is in the news, or should I contact FOS to reopen my original complaint?

The following website says SL will get things up and running in 2018 and does not mention January 2018:

http://www.pensionsage.com/pa/Standard-Life-allocates-175m-for-non-advised-annuity-misselling.php

Q2) Maybe we should just wait?

dunstonh

Standard Life have not contacted my dad yet. The newspaper article said they should contact in January!

Perhaps he isnt one of the people affected by the issues.
Perhaps he is excluded because he had already complained and the FOS had already reviewed.

These reviews nearly always take longer than anticipated and often work in batches. So, maybe they havent got around to him yet.

I watched the recent Panorama programme about the FOS making bad decisions because of not having enough staff, poor training, etc

Although Panorama made mistakes as well. The FOS have made mistakes but its not widespread and it can result in cases being upheld when they should be rejected. Any mistake can go both ways.

If you believe there is a mistake with the FOS, you get the right to appeal it and have it referred to an ombudsman.

anotherday1

dunstonh wrote: »

Perhaps he isnt one of the people affected by the issues.

SL asked him about his health and he said he has chest pains caused by Angina. SL have put this in writing to verify this happened. Despite telling them he had Angina, they still sold him a standard annuity. Hence, he is one of the people affected by this issue!