Scottish Amicable Endowment - Payment Of Further Bonus

cjph

Hi Froggitt - will do. I have the 1997 booklet with the info in, but have been to the FOS and due to the pre-regulation dates and way it was sold via a third party I don't have any case - I guess you are still on their case for the additional terminal bonuses ? I asked for a final value estimate, and they suggested the figure included all bonuses, but did not seem 100% sure.

Just has to go down as a painful (learning) experience.

cj

cjph

Snap (must have crossed in the ether) !

cj

Froggitt

dunstonh wrote: »

The complaint is pre A day (april 1988) and it wasnt sold by Pru. Pru have no liability and the FOS have no jurisdiction

Im not talking about a shortfall or misselling complaint. Im talking about a complaint as they didnt pay on maturity the further bonuses due. Pru have liability as in 1997 they made the undertaking.

Froggitt

Heres the relevant section

Further bonuses

The balance of the estate of Scottish Amicable will be distributed as further bonuses on eligible policies when they are paid out. The total estate as at 31 December 1996 is estimated to be approximately £1,000 million, and, after deducting the estimated cost of the special bonus, the current value of the further bonuses is estimated to be some £530 million.

The estimate of the estate as at 31 December 1996 allows for the contribution to be paid into the Scottish Amicable Insurance Fund in accordance with the terms of the Scheme (as described in Part V) andincludes an estimate of the present value of future profits from non-profit, unit-linked and unitised with profits pension business retained in the Scottish Amicable Insurance Fund. The amount of the contribution has been estimated by applying the melhodology and assumptions set out in the Scheme as at 31 December 1996 and the value of the pension business has been estimated on a consistent basis.

The estimated value of the estate as at 31 December 1996 has been determined by Scottish Amicable and has been reviewed by Tillinghast-Towers Perrin.

magpiecottage

dunstonh wrote: »

The complaint is pre A day (april 1988) and it wasnt sold by Pru. Pru have no liability and the FOS have no jurisdiction

The question is not about the sale of the policy but what Prudential may, or may not, have subsequently promised.

If they did promise a payment then they are bound by it.

However, it is in the nature of traditional endowment policies that you get a guaranteed basic sum which, provided you pay all the premiums until it matures, will be paid out. Prudential must honour that promise by Scottish Amicable and FOS would, if necessary, force them to.

You also get annual bonuses added to the policy. Again, once added, you are promised these if you pay premiums until the policy matures and Prudential must honour this.

Then there is the possibility of a terminal bonus. There are no guarantees about what this will be - or even that a terminal bonus will be paid at all. That is where the case falls down. The policyholders are attempting to enforce a promise to pay not less than nothing.

Froggitt

.....and as part of the takeover, a further bonus was promised at maturity from the £510m fund, which will obviously grow over time.

glp

Hi, I have a small with profits policy which i took out in 1991, it matures in Feb 2016. Over the last few months i have phoned each month for a fund value and they do seem to be picking up a tiny bit. I asked today about the special bonus and the lady was able to give an exact amount of an amount sent by cheque and an exact amount which was added to the fund, called the 'Special Bonus'.
However she says the 'Terminal' bonus is added on to the policy each year and grows with the policy. I thought Terminal meant end of policy. I tried to dig some clarification from her and she said that the Terminal bonus may be withdrawn at any time.
So the fund value is surely not accurate which she gave me. I tried to get her to clarify under what circumstances can the Terminal bonus be withdrawn but she couldnt tell me. She said she would write to me in the next few days with clarification. We will see what it says.

DancingDragon

I now have the maturity paperwork for our Scam/Pru policy and it's about 7k short of target (approx 50K)

As expected there is no mention of the additional bonus due for the takeover and I would like to follow up on this. However the form I need to sign says that payment is in full and final discharge - I presume that this would prevent a complaint in the future and that if I don't sign the form I won't get my money until this issue is resolved. Any one know if my assumptions are correct and if so is there a way around it. I want my money when it's due but don't think they should get away without paying the additional money we were all promised.

Froggitt

Update.

FOS refused my claim for payment of further bonus. Pru convinced them that it had been paid over the years.

DancingDragon

OK - guess I may as well sign it and take my money.

Thanks for trying