Mis-sold Endowment In 1997- Am I Too Late

fedupbeingbroke

Hi, just found the paperwork for our endowment which was recommended to us in 1997, does anyone know if we are too late to claim.......Just been reading the paperwork from the mortgage advisory centre we arranged everything with and this is what it says....."To repay your mortgage all methods were considered. Endowment method was recommended and selected ahead of others based on the following, the term of the mortgage and your ages, probability to allow the mortgage to be moved in the future, potential for higher returns by selecting a growth rate of 7% which would allow the option of early repayment or a tax free cash sum at maturity, life and critical illness cover inbuilt in a cost effective way, investment option to match your attitude to risk and a low start option to reduce initial costs and meet affordability"
Standard life was recommended to us and even after the initial 3 year fixed rate had finished we paid them for a total of around 4-5 years....any advice would be much appreciated. many thanks

dunstonh

does anyone know if we are too late to claim

You have three years from your notification of a high risk of shortfall. Most people are time barred now but some of the better endowments are not as they are not in a high risk scenario.

To repay your mortgage all methods were considered. Endowment method was recommended and selected ahead of others based on the following, the term of the mortgage and your ages, probability to allow the mortgage to be moved in the future, potential for higher returns by selecting a growth rate of 7% which would allow the option of early repayment or a tax free cash sum at maturity, life and critical illness cover inbuilt in a cost effective way, investment option to match your attitude to risk and a low start option to reduce initial costs and meet affordability"

That confirms all repayment methods were considered. Portability was a positive point of endowments (no need to reset your mortgage every time you move which most people do with repayment mortgages). Not a strong reason by itself but valid. Especially where frequent moving was likely.

The magic protect the adviser backside word "potential" is in there. Plus it mentions the target growth rate of 7%.

No mention of risk in that paragraph. Is there a risk warning elsewhere in that letter?

Standard life was recommended to us and even after the initial 3 year fixed rate had finished we paid them for a total of around 4-5 years....any advice would be much appreciated. many thanks

I am asssuming you mean standard life was the endowment provider in this case and not referring to standard life mortgages. I did a review of a 1997 standard life endowment a few months ago and despite it having shortfalls on the projections, it was exceeding the 7% target growth rate and was in a surplus position based on the original illustrations. So, if yours is in the same boat, you would probably would find no redress payable because it is making more than the required target growth rate.

Nyx_2

Could you still claim for one that was sold in 1997?
I bought mine in 1998 and was told by Scottish life that i couldn`t claim as i was sold it before April which is the cut off date for support from the FSA.
Also they said that as it was done by someone who was an advisor and wasn`t working for them solely i couldnt claim.
Have i been fobbed off?

dunstonh

29th April 1988 was the date that matters (unless FIMBRA firm that didnt become PIA authorised which was in 1994).

If the adviser is independent, an accountant or solicitor, you claim via them and not the insurance company.

fedupbeingbroke

hi, the only time it mentions risk is when it says "This product is medium risk 70% managed 30% with profits...sorry I took so long getting back on, sky broadband is driving me mad !!!!!

EdInvestor

Were you aware there was a risk the endowment might not pay off the mortgage? Was that a risk you were prepared to take in the hope of higher returns?If not, then the product was not matched to your attitude to risk and it was a missale.

EdInvestor

Nyx wrote: »

Could you still claim for one that was sold in 1997?
I bought mine in 1998 and was told by Scottish life that i couldn`t claim as i was sold it before April which is the cut off date for support from the FSA.

As mentioned it's before 1988, not 1998 so no problem.

Also they said that as it was done by someone who was an advisor and wasn`t working for them solely i couldnt claim.
Have i been fobbed off?

You complain to the advisor that sold you the endowment. What they must have meant is that you couldn't claim from them (Scottish Life).

fedupbeingbroke

EdInvestor wrote: »

Were you aware there was a risk the endowment might not pay off the mortgage? Was that a risk you were prepared to take in the hope of higher returns?If not, then the product was not matched to your attitude to risk and it was a missale.

hi, thanks again, no we weren't aware, at the time we took out the mortgage the mention of risk would have frightened the life out of us. if it was mentioned it was in the passing and we definitely didn't go into any great depth of how we would pay off any shortfall...it was more lighthearted, infact we were given the impression that this was the only way to go, not only did you get your mortgage paid off, but you were insured and you had a nice little sum to look forward to at the end.........we are now 10 years older and know that if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is !!!

Nyx_2

EdInvestor wrote: »

As mentioned it's before 1988, not 1998 so no problem.



You complain to the advisor that sold you the endowment. What they must have meant is that you couldn't claim from them (Scottish Life).

Thanks for that, it was 1988 not 98 that was my fault, i`m fast turning into the typo queen.

I`m going to see if i`ve still got the letter i was sent about this, i seem to remember something about the advisor couldn`t be traced but i could be wrong.