refused endowment compensation - help!!

off-that-internet!

could someone please give me some advice on the following. we were sold an endowment through our solicitors who, after receiving our recent letter of complaint, say they wont pay out because it says in their files that we were happy with standard life as they were a strong company with excellent performance; that we received the 'home buyer protection plan' and the 'home plan' and some other documents that states that the figures quoted arent guaranteed; that we were apparantly told about how the funds were invested; and also that we are barred by the limitation act 1980 which requires claims for negligence to be brought within 6 years from the date of the alleged negligence or 3 years from the date that 'you prossessed relevant information in order to put you on reasonable notice that you may have a cause to complain'. I still maintain that the risks werent told to us back in 1993 and certainly we would have not proceeded with the policy if they had been. the solicitors say that if we wish to pursue the matter we have to inform the law society within 6 months of their letter. is this normal practice? should I be sending a letter somewhere else instead? what are my next steps? I'd be grateful if someone could hlep me out here as we're looking at a deficit of approx £15,000/£17,000. many thanks.

EdInvestor

Hi OTI

off-that-internet! wrote:

....and also that we are barred by the limitation act 1980 which requires claims for negligence to be brought within 6 years from the date of the alleged negligence or 3 years from the date that 'you prossessed relevant information in order to put you on reasonable notice that you may have a cause to complain'. .... the solicitors say that if we wish to pursue the matter we have to inform the law society within 6 months of their letter.

If they are saying you can take the matter on to the Law Society ( which handles misselling complaints involving solicitors in place of the Ombusdman) then this suggests that you are not timebarred.

When did you first realise you were going to make a loss/shortfall? The clock starts ticking from the point at which you receive a "red letter" which says you are at a "high risk" of shortfall.

Given that it's Standard Life, it's probably fairly recent isn't it?The "mortgage promise" delayed matters there for a few years.

defender_of_the_weak

The 6 and 3 year guff is just that and your solicitor is relying on you not knowing any better. Even if the three year rule were to be applied properly and not under the current FSA fudge it can only apply from a quantifiable loss and until your case is calculated or reviewed that particular rule does not count.

The FSA fudge system says 'since acquiring reasonable knowledge to know or understand there was cause for complaint'. I am with edinvestor in believing the first letter you received with the words high risk did not appear more than 3 years ago.

Go to the law society and file your case with them

dunstonh

Isnt the compensation method different with solicitors and doesnt the law society have lower payout amounts? I seem to recall a case in Scotland (remember scotland does have a different system) where the payouts were limited to a maximum of £1000 for cases sold before April this year.

I am sure DOFW will clarify that.

I can only find reference to the Scottish case or comments that payouts may be lower (with no specifics) on Google.

defender_of_the_weak

Dunston you are correct re Scotland but Law Society 'should' work like FOS, excuse my reservation in this regard we are stll arguing a number of cases with them filed over the last two years and I think it fair to say the experience is slightly different to FOS

off-that-internet!

thank you for all your help. we're pretty sure that the letters from standard life which told of a potential serious problem re a shortfall only started arriving 2-3 years ago. I'm a bit concerned about the scotland comparisons - why is it that the law society is different? I did have some good news today though - we have a small policy with yorkshire building society. we tried to claim for mis-selling approx. 18 months/2 years ago. initially they offered us £49 which we didnt accept as it was such a pathetic amount. anyway, they've come back to say they'll compensate us with £1700 now!! as you can imagine, this other £15,000+ potential deficit is a lot more of a worry though!

off-that-internet!

any tips on what I should be putting in my letter to the law society?
once again, thanks for the advice