Scottish Amicable Endowment - Payment Of Further Bonus

bennyboy3

I currently have two with profits endowments with Scottish Amicable which were taken out in the mid to late 80's and they are due to mature in July and August of this year.

In October 1997 Scottish Amicable was taken over by Prudential and as part of the take over certain promises were made to Scottish Amicable policy holders at that time. These promises were as follows

1- a cash payment was made to qualifying members
2- special bonuses were added to qualifying policies in October 1997
3- a further bonus would be added to qualifying with profits policies when they matured.

Both my policies are qualifying policies and i have been paid the cash sum and my policies enhanced as detailed in 1+2 above.

I recently received maturity value details relating to the policy which matured
in July. However the letter I received from them confirming the maturity value of this policy only details the basic sum assured , the reversionary bonuses and the amount of terminal bonus. No mention is made in the letter of the further bonus which was promised back in 1997.


I contacted Prudential regarding this and they have confirmed that the further bonus is due and is included in the maturity value. According to them the special bonus awarded in 1997 has been increased by the annual bonus percentage since 1997 and the terminal bonus when applied to that final figure (ie special bonus+ enhancements) gives me a greater terminal bonus, than if no special bonus had been awarded in 1997.

I understand what there saying but i dont agree with it. I have looked in detail at the policy circular issued prior to the take over and as far as i'm concerned the further bonus should be a seperate payment and there is no indication from the policy document that it is linked directly to the amount of terminal bonus applied to the special bonus. I told Scottish Amicable this and they have admitted verbally that the wording of the policy circular was clumsy regarding the payment of the further bonus.

I'm now at the point that where i feel have to make a formal complaint as I feel i was mislead at the time of the takeover - because i assumed i would receive a further bonus when my policies were paid out, and as far as i'm concerned I'm not getting it.

Before i do this i was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem with Scottish Amicable and how they resolved it, or if there are any other Scottish Amicable members who are under the same impression as me.

Thanks

jnd

Although my Scot Am (Pru) policy is not due to mature for another 12 years, I was under the same impression as you.

EdInvestor

It is a good idea to chase these promises up, as insurers have a tendency to quietly drop them.They think no-one will notice, and quite often they're right

Scottish Life for instance had promised to add part of its demutualisation windfall to people's policies. A year or two later the new owner Royal London quietly dropped the bonuses, claiming they couldn't afford them because the stockmarket had fallen.Yet that money should have been set aside when the court approved the final demutualisation plan before it went through.

Mutual members should not allow companies to take advantage like this.I'm sure the Mail on Sunday would be interested to hear of any such examples.

trademark

Ive got 3 scot am policies , where did the 1997 information come from , i remember getting 600 quid approx years ago but i had forgotten about the final payment so im rather glad i read this .

i seem to remember them saying that a bonus would be added to my policy but recently when the red letters began i did wonder if this had been the case as my projections seemed alot worst than others .

with 9 years to terminal bonus im still hoping that these are going to pay a decent amount and recent valuations are increasing that hope (see my picking up thread)

pdx123

Hi bennyboy3,
I too have a Scottish Amicable/Prudential policy, though mine matures next year. I have kept all the original documentation regarding the takeover in 1997. I had a cash payout and a statement declaring that a special bonus (at the time about £700) would be applied at maturity. I was under the impression that this was an additional payment, over and above the normal maturity value of the policy. I would be interested to know how successful you are at getting this Bonus...best of luck!

bennyboy3

trademark wrote:

Ive got 3 scot am policies , where did the 1997 information come from , i remember getting 600 quid approx years ago but i had forgotten about the final payment so im rather glad i read this .

i seem to remember them saying that a bonus would be added to my policy but recently when the red letters began i did wonder if this had been the case as my projections seemed alot worst than others .

with 9 years to terminal bonus im still hoping that these are going to pay a decent amount and recent valuations are increasing that hope (see my picking up thread)

Trademark, the 1997 information is in Scottish Amicable's Policy Circular regarding the proposed transfer of business to Prudential. There are various references within this booklet to the further bonus I am querying. Most of these references can be found in part 3 of the booklet entitled, " Benefits to Members and Policyholders". There is also a reference to it in the summary on page 3 of the booklet under the heading " Cash and additional policy bonuses".

There is also reference to the further bonus in another booklet I received from Scottish Amicable entitled "Your questions Answered" question 25. Hope this is helpful.

I would be grateful if other Scottish Amicable policy holders would refer to this information or any other information they have and let me know what they think.

Thanks in advance bennyboy 3

trademark

bennyboy3 ... thanks ...is this information available online as although i should have retained this information i believe it is now lost .

bennyboy3

Trademark please note I've sent you a private message re the further bonus.

dealseeker

They are quick to refer to the small print to tell you that you should have been aware that the sum assured was not guaranteed and value could be lower than projected once the red letters are issued.

As a minimum you should be entitled to a full breakdown of the maturity valuation which shows the amount relating to this additional bonus. If not I think complaint is the only way forward.

Wold be interested to hear how you get on as I know someone with one of these policies.

trademark

bennyboy3 .. just seen your pm and replied

many thanks

jnd

Got out my papers and it shows a Total Special Bonus on a schedule that accompanied a letter dated 14th October 1997 which talks about the transfer to the Pru and the benefits. At the bottom of the schedule it states: Please note that the amount of Special Bonus shown applies at maturity. Not that it's much mind you, but still.......