Standard Life Endowment question

BellaBargains

I’d appreciate some advice about my Standard Life Policy. I took it out in June 92 when I bought my first flat. The policy is now standalone (ie I no longer have a mortgage associated with it) and our mortgage is on a Fixed rate of 4.99% until October 2009. Would I be better off surrendering this policy and putting the money into the mortgage (it is flexible so this would not incur any charges) or should I stick with it.

Death benefit: £22,796.00
Surrender value: £7443.69 (as at today)
Monthly premium: £28.22
Maturity date: 01/06/2017
Maturity forecasts : £13,100 (3.75%), £15,400 (5.5%), £18,000 (7.25%)
Also – there is a comment that they currently (june07) estimate that there may be a top-up amount payable under the MEP of between £2,438.00 and £3,658.00

From what I can see, of the £28.22 monthly premium, £14.36 of it is the cost of life cover – is that expensive?

Anyway – any advice would be appreciated, I’m currently only working 12hours per week and do not normally earn enough to pay tax or NI although my hours may be increasing soon. I’m working p/t so that I can have time with my kids but am considering returning to college to do teacher training in 2009 just before our current mortgage deal ends so I’m starting to think about how best to organise our finances.

Thanks in advance.

EdInvestor

BellaBargains wrote: »

Maturity forecasts : £13,100 (3.75%), £15,400 (5.5%), £18,000 (7.25%)
Also – there is a comment that they currently (june07) estimate that there may be a top-up amount payable under the MEP of between £2,438.00 and £3,658.00

If you cashed it in and used the lump sum to reduce the mortgage also topping up the mortgage payment by the endowment premiums to maturity, your return would be 16,451.

This suggests that you will do better to hold it, if you can be sure you will get the endowment promise money.Otherwise you would be better to surrender or sell.It might be worth seeing what the TEP traders say, at https://www.apmm.org

If they offer you a decent premium over surrender then it would mean they thing the promise is a fairly sure thing.

BellaBargains

Hi,
Thank you for the reply - reading through the paperwork it states that they would not pay a Top Up if the plicy was sold as a Traded Endowment Plan - would that affect it's sale value (I'm assuming it would, but find all this financial stuff a bit incomprehensible!)
thanks again

BellaBargains

Update - spoke to the people at APMM and because the policy is 50% with profits and 50% unit linked (or something like that) they wouldn't be interested in buying so I'm left with keep it or surrender it.