We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Long wait to encash an endowment
sjreynolds143
Posts: 14 Forumite
So today I'm busy being cross with Scottish Widows.
I have had for many years an endowment that I took out with Lloyds TSB and which got transferred to Scottish Widows way back when. Underperforming according to its targets, I long ago took it out of the mortgage, so it was just sitting there as an investment vehicle, and I got to the point where I wanted to cash it in (to buy a car, not that that is relevant - the point is that I had something I wanted it for)
No problems - it's a unit based policy, I don't lose out by cashing it in early. Yes, said the men and women at the other end of Scottish Widows phone line, just send us a letter so that we have wet signatures for you and your wife, and we'll process it the next day.
This is the point where I fall down laughing, not. I wrote to them on Friday 11 May. They later confirmed that they received the letter on Tuesday 15 May. By 21 May, I had heard nothing and had no money. Oh, they said, we need a signature check, and we've requested that today (today! this is 6 days after you received the letter!!). Still nothing by 25 May, so I rang them again. Oh, it's just come back OK today, they said. We'll action it this morning.
My comment here is that I have no cause to write to an endowment (or, indeed, any similar investment vehicle provider) once I have taken the policy out, and hence they should have my signature scanned into the system from the word go. OK, so they took the policy over from Lloyds, but even then it took them a week to get around to asking for the signature check, and most of another working week to actually get it. And you have to wonder if they would have, had I not chased it.
These are also unit linked policies, so the price can go down as well as up. I'm lucky - it has gone up since I sent the letter. Also, I had waited until the price was back to a reasonable level as it had dropped a fair bit at one point thanks to comments Trump had made that made the markets nervous.
But, and this is the point of this rant other than to get it off my chest, I wanted to warn you: - if you rely on cashing something in to pay for something that is time critical, be aware that it may take a very long time to see the money, and you may lose value in the meantime while the company faffs around.
I have had for many years an endowment that I took out with Lloyds TSB and which got transferred to Scottish Widows way back when. Underperforming according to its targets, I long ago took it out of the mortgage, so it was just sitting there as an investment vehicle, and I got to the point where I wanted to cash it in (to buy a car, not that that is relevant - the point is that I had something I wanted it for)
No problems - it's a unit based policy, I don't lose out by cashing it in early. Yes, said the men and women at the other end of Scottish Widows phone line, just send us a letter so that we have wet signatures for you and your wife, and we'll process it the next day.
This is the point where I fall down laughing, not. I wrote to them on Friday 11 May. They later confirmed that they received the letter on Tuesday 15 May. By 21 May, I had heard nothing and had no money. Oh, they said, we need a signature check, and we've requested that today (today! this is 6 days after you received the letter!!). Still nothing by 25 May, so I rang them again. Oh, it's just come back OK today, they said. We'll action it this morning.
My comment here is that I have no cause to write to an endowment (or, indeed, any similar investment vehicle provider) once I have taken the policy out, and hence they should have my signature scanned into the system from the word go. OK, so they took the policy over from Lloyds, but even then it took them a week to get around to asking for the signature check, and most of another working week to actually get it. And you have to wonder if they would have, had I not chased it.
These are also unit linked policies, so the price can go down as well as up. I'm lucky - it has gone up since I sent the letter. Also, I had waited until the price was back to a reasonable level as it had dropped a fair bit at one point thanks to comments Trump had made that made the markets nervous.
But, and this is the point of this rant other than to get it off my chest, I wanted to warn you: - if you rely on cashing something in to pay for something that is time critical, be aware that it may take a very long time to see the money, and you may lose value in the meantime while the company faffs around.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 353.7K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.1K Spending & Discounts
- 246.8K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.2K Life & Family
- 260.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards