Target Life .. missold & lost policy! Help 😫

billiea2019

Hello!

I am hoping somebody may be able to offer advice, so in late 70s my dad (17 at the time) was sold a ‘savings policy’ whilst shopping on the high street. This was through a company called Target life. He paid monthly payments for a number of years and then contacted them to withdraw his savings, it then became clear that things had been completely missold and he had taken out some sort of death/over 65 policy (sorry not exactly sure what it was as I am just picking it up now)

So basically 30 plus years later, I can’t locate any paperwork and from google I can see that target changed to abbey which have now changed to Phoenix.

My questions, would the money he paid in still be sat in an account somewhere?
Would this now lie with Phoenix?
What sort of chance do we have when I can’t locate the original documents?

Any help would be very much appreciated

dunstonh

Investment class business was not regulated until 1988.

it then became clear that things had been completely missold and he had taken out some sort of death/over 65 policy (sorry not exactly sure what it was as I am just picking it up now)

If he was 17 at the time, then its unlikely he was sold an over 65s policy.

What was typical of the era and the sales method was the sale of small premium industrial branch policies. Most of these would have been small endowment style plans with an element of life assurance but also a payout on maturity.

My questions, would the money he paid in still be sat in an account somewhere?

Highly unlikely unless he went missing (moved frequently and didnt tell them).

Would this now lie with Phoenix?

Depends. If the plan ceased without value long before they took over then they may have no records at all.

What sort of chance do we have when I can’t locate the original documents?

If neither side has any records then close to zero.

billiea2019

Thanks for the info, I am trying to make sense of the information as so much time has passed.

He is convinced that it was sold as a savings style account that would generate decent interest, after 3 years he contacted them to withdraw the money and was told it was some sort of end of life style policy or something that would mature at 65 (does this make any sense at all?!)

He says they said to him I have no idea why this policy was sold to you, and from that point my dad stopped paying but at the time there was around £1500 that he had put in to the account.

All these years down the line in came up in conversation, he is 63 now so we are trying to get the account info/money back etc.

dunstonh

I am trying to make sense of the information as so much time has passed.

That is going to be difficult as time dulls the memory. Plus, you personally will have no knowledge of the types of policy that were sold back then. They compare with nothing today.

Back then life assurance based with profits penny policies dominated.

He is convinced that it was sold as a savings style account that would generate decent interest, after 3 years he contacted them to withdraw the money and was told it was some sort of end of life style policy or something that would mature at 65 (does this make any sense at all?!)

It was the 1970s. Partly to do why financial services became regulated in the first place. It would have been a term plan. Probably 10 years. Possibly 15. It would have been called savings (as monthly premium plans were as they were known as regular savings plans even though it was investing). it was not a savings account.

He says they said to him I have no idea why this policy was sold to you, and from that point my dad stopped paying but at the time there was around £1500 that he had put in to the account.

I suspect that is unlikely. If he paid for around 3 years in the 70s then its unlikely it was around £1500. That would be an unheard of premium for a late teen in the 70s. The average weekly wage in 1970 was £32. you could buy several cars for that or half a house. It may well have been £1500 on maturity if held to the end.

TrickyDicky101

It's time to move on - if your father stopped paying in the 70s or early 80s then it is highly unlikely any records will now exist.

Old_Lifer

The following may help you understand the situation when you father took out the policy in 1972 or 1973:


Target was a unit trust group which, like other unit trust groups at the time advertised in the national press. Some unit trust providers had a small life assurance subsidiary. In those days taxation was high and tax relief was allowed on life assurance premiums. Life assurance was often used as a way of reducing the net cost of an investment or savings plan. A unit trust savings plan linked to a life policy could be taken out for a fixed term (15 years was common) or could be taken out to end at state retirement date. A small amount of life cover was included and on death during the term, the bid value of the units or the sum assured would be paid (whichever was the higher).



The following is a simplified example of how these policies worked:


Annual premium £100-00
Cost of life cover £ 2-50

Amount invested in unit trust £ 97-50




Annual premium £100-00
Tax relief £ 15-00
Net premium £ 85-00


So for a net premium of £85-00 an amount of £97-50 would be invested in the unit trust.



The cost of the life cover depended on age but was usually 2.5 - 8 per cent but could be more with an older life. The tax relief varied with the rate of tax but at one time I believe was around a sixth of the premium. A number of life assurance companies offered similar plans but linked to a monthly building society savings account and was a useful way to boost the returns with those savings accounts.



dunstonh has told us the average weekly wage in 1970. Many adults will have earned less than this average of course but by 1972 or73 a 17 year old could expect to receive perhaps £900 a year. I would not expect a 17 year old to have paid £500 a year into a life policy. May I suggest that perhaps £1500 was the guaranteed sum assured under the policy and the amount paid in premiums over 3 years was probably a couple of hundred pounds or so.



The Oil Crisis happened in late 1973 and the stock market fell by around 70 per cent to a low of 147 in January 1975. (the all time high in those days was a little over 700). Imagine how it would be nowadays if the FT Index fell to 2000! All this may have caused your father to stop paying into the policy.


Paying into a policy as described above was usually seen a a good choice in the 1970's.



As this is now heading towards 60 years ago and the policy records were probably destroyed long ago and indeed your father has no documentation, I cannot see further enquiry getting anywhere.

Old_Lifer

In the last paragraph of my post it should read 50 years ago. I hit the wrong key in error. I'm afraid my typing skills nowadays leave much to be desired.


A last thought, if your father asked to withdraw the money that would be what happened. In view of the fall in the stock market this would no doubt have been less than the amount of a couple of hundred pounds that I suggested he had contributed to the policy.


Sadly, it is very common for investers to panic and sell when there is a steep fall in the stock market and the fall after the 1973 Oil Crisis was the steepest I have ever experienced.