Assurance company payout

Okell

beekeeper39 said:

...  The letter in 2023 said the payment cheque was never cashed.  I suspect because I had moved several times, because the letter also said they had not been able to trace me..

Have you explained to the new company that you were told by their predecessor in 2023 that the original 2006 cheque had never been paid in?

It might be that the new company can see that your policy matured in 2006 and that you were sent a cheque, but they might not be aware that the cheque was never paid in and was - I assume - cancelled.

Of course they ought to be aware that the original cheque was never paid in and was cancelled as it ought to be a simple cheque reconciliation process, but even the simplest of things can go wrong.

Alderbank

Ectophile said:

I suspect that the Limitation Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/contents would apply to this claim.  But I'm not enough of a legal expert to work out which section.

If that's the case, there's nothing they can do to recover the money.

Which country are you in, @beekeeper39?

Here in Scotland, if you had made no attempt to recover the debt for five years, (such as a letter like, 'Hey, Assurance Company, pay me the money you have owed me since 2006!') the debt would have been extinguished in 2011. That means in Scots law that they would owe you nothing so accidentally paying you £7,400 would have legally been a mistake and they could now sue you for its return.

The law is different in England & Wales. You would have had six years to recover your debt. After 2012 the debt would have become 'statute barred' which means if you suddenly remembered it you could no longer take them to court to force payment, but in English law the debt still exists, an important distinction.

However, subsequently they have been kind enough to voluntarily repay the debt owed, even though legally they didn't have to.
I see that as a 1-1 draw, they have only paid out £7,400 and you have received £7,400.

born_again

Okell said:

beekeeper39 said:

...  The letter in 2023 said the payment cheque was never cashed.  I suspect because I had moved several times, because the letter also said they had not been able to trace me..

Have you explained to the new company that you were told by their predecessor in 2023 that the original 2006 cheque had never been paid in?

It might be that the new company can see that your policy matured in 2006 and that you were sent a cheque, but they might not be aware that the cheque was never paid in and was - I assume - cancelled.

Of course they ought to be aware that the original cheque was never paid in and was cancelled as it ought to be a simple cheque reconciliation process, but even the simplest of things can go wrong.

Of course that would mean companies having compatible systems that transferred all data over.🤷‍♀️

Given the timeframe back to 2006 payment, much of the data may have been removed & just the basic matured, amount & paid is left?

Okell

born_again said:

Okell said:

beekeeper39 said:

...  The letter in 2023 said the payment cheque was never cashed.  I suspect because I had moved several times, because the letter also said they had not been able to trace me..

Have you explained to the new company that you were told by their predecessor in 2023 that the original 2006 cheque had never been paid in?

It might be that the new company can see that your policy matured in 2006 and that you were sent a cheque, but they might not be aware that the cheque was never paid in and was - I assume - cancelled.

Of course they ought to be aware that the original cheque was never paid in and was cancelled as it ought to be a simple cheque reconciliation process, but even the simplest of things can go wrong.

Of course that would mean companies having compatible systems that transferred all data over.🤷‍♀️

Given the timeframe back to 2006 payment, much of the data may have been removed & just the basic matured, amount & paid is left?

I would agree that this is possible.

What I find a bit difficult to accept is that the OP must have had a mortgage endowment policy mature around 2006 and apparently they have no idea if it was paid out or not.

These endowment policies were not great ideas - although personally I don't think they were that bad assuming you went in with your eyes open - and I would have thought that everyone who had one was tracking them closely and ensuring they got a pay out when they matured.

I find it a bit hard to believe that somebody must have been owed over £7k nearly 20 years ago and they don't have a clue if it was paid to them or not

sheramber

If the endowment was linked to the mortgage it would be paid out to the lender, not the person.

CliveOfIndia

Okell said:

These endowment policies were not great ideas - although personally I don't think they were that bad assuming you went in with your eyes open

They were a great idea in principle, even more so in the days when MIRAS was available.  You took out an interest-only mortgage, got the tax benefits on the full amount for the full 25 years, then your endowment would repay the capital at the end .  And even better, if the endowment performed well, you'd have enough to repay the mortgage plus a nice little windfall left over.

As I say, brilliant in principle - in practice they turned out not to be so good, especially if (as happened all to often) the endowment didn't perform as well as had been promised.

Okell

sheramber said:

If the endowment was linked to the mortgage it would be paid out to the lender, not the person.

Yes.

So is that the issue?

born_again

Okell said:

I find it a bit hard to believe that somebody must have been owed over £7k nearly 20 years ago and they don't have a clue if it was paid to them or not

There was a thread in motoring section where someone could not remember details of when they sold a car & this argument was used.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81396805/#Comment_81396805


Remember we are all different & while some may remember, many will not as life gets in the way.👍

sheramber

Okell said:

sheramber said:

If the endowment was linked to the mortgage it would be paid out to the lender, not the person.

Yes.

So is that the issue?

The OP won’t have any record of a payout in her bank statements.

She may not remember. any  money going direct to the lender.
 

All I got with mine was a letter saying the money was being forwarded to my lender.

I had three endowments covering the original mortgage and two additional loans.

All paid out more than the amount needed  to cover the loan. 

beekeeper39

In 2023, after the company were satisfied that I was the right person. they paid out £8787.  This was the £7400 plus interest accrued since 2006?  In hindsight I should have noticed that interest was paid for the period 2006 - 2023, but the excitement of a good sized windfall must have distracted me.
I'd forgot to mention that the payment was 50% of the value of the policy(?), as my ex wife also received £8787.  She has now also had a letter asking for the money back.
I'm still waiting for the promised paper copies of my 2006 statements, but my ex wife went straight to the company customer service help line, and has been told they will call her back as they have no knowledge of the letter demanding the money back.  Seems very odd to me, but customer service help line's don't always have all the facts and information.
I'm awaiting her call to see how it went....