Norwich Union Endowment delays

joshua_dylan

I have an endowment policy with NU which should have paid out on 20th April. I called them yesterday only to be told that they have currently have a delay (around 3 weeks) in paying out on endowments. My building society now require me to pay a further month's mortgage.

Q's - anyone know why NU are delaying making my payment and am I entitled to claim any compensation for their delayed payment and my subsequent costs??

dunstonh

Q's - anyone know why NU are delaying making my payment and am I entitled to claim any compensation for their delayed payment and my subsequent costs??

The insurer is typically allowed 30 days to pay a maturity. Most will pay automatically with interest added and that would satisfy the FOS in the event of a complaint.

Endowments rarely finish on the same date as the mortgage so its unrealistic to expect it to be exact. NU service standards are quite good at the moment on CGNU business but weaker on legacy plans from insurance companies they bought over the years. One thing they do tend to do is state a longer period of delay then is likely. So, if they say 3 weeks, chances are it will be less than that.

Dick_here

dunstonh wrote: »

The insurer is typically allowed 30 days to pay a maturity. Most will pay automatically with interest added and that would satisfy the FOS in the event of a complaint.

It gives off a very poor impression of the insurance industry that someone can pay each month for 25 years but the company cannot pay out on the day of maturity at the end of it.

dunstonh

It gives off a very poor impression of the insurance industry that someone can pay each month for 25 years but the company cannot pay out on the day of maturity at the end of it.

With remortgaging and house moves its unusual for the morgtage expiry to match the maturity as the months will change more often than not and the actual date in the month will be different. That isnt poor but a reality of the situation where if an endowment matures on say 20th April and you remortgaged (or house moved) on 28th June then the two dates no longer tie up.

Only if you stick with the same lender until redemption and dont move house are you likely to see the dates remain the same.

What normally happens is that a few months before maturity the process starts to find out where to pay it etc so its ready to release within days of maturity. A common snag is where the policy was assigned to the original lender and the lender has changed. The endowment provider cannot release the money until that assignment has been revoked by the original lender.

joshua_dylan

As a newcomer to this site I have really welcomed the "advice" from Dunstonh, and at least I have an idea now when I will get my mortgage repaid.

I am one of the few people who have remained in the same home for the period of their mortgage and expected the endowment to simply pay off the outstanding balance when it was due. I won't even do the "with profits" bit as it's been so overdone.

I think maybe NU could have told me there maybe a delay instead of me having to call them to find out the information??

Dick_here

dunstonh wrote: »

With remortgaging and house moves its unusual for the morgtage expiry to match the maturity as the months will change more often than not and the actual date in the month will be different. That isnt poor but a reality of the situation where if an endowment matures on say 20th April and you remortgaged (or house moved) on 28th June then the two dates no longer tie up.

I was talking about endowments in general, not specifically those connected to a mortgage. The payment should be x years after the policy was taken out TO THE DAY, not a couple of weeks later. Premiums wouldn't be accepted a couple of weeks late each month, would they.

EdInvestor

It is not as though many endowments last till maturity. Hard to see why a loyal customer should be treated worse than one who cuts and runs - surrender money is often in the bank account within a week.

NULifeCustomerRelations

Hi Joshua Dylan,

My name's Chris Amor and I work for Norwich Union in York. Part of my job is to keep an eye on the various financial forums to help out where I can.

Really sorry to hear you're having problems with our service. If you give me a call on 01904 684 617 I'll be able to get this sorted out for you.

Look forward to speaking to you soon.

Nick_Snow

I have two policies, one matured on the 1st May 2008 and the second is due on the 1st June. I have not received any payment for the 1st of May policy and when I made initial enquiries I was told that there was a backlog etc. My situation is slightly different in that the policy is subject to a Deed of Assignment as part of a Divorce consent order which has transferred the polices into my name only. This took place and was finalised in early 2007.

On being informed of the delay I insisted that a formal complaint was raised and I was contacted on the 12th May by a Customer Services Rep who assured me that I would receive my payment by telex on 14th of May. I checked my account on the 14th and I had received no such payment so I called the Customer Services Rep on the Morning of the 15th who apologised and said he was “chasing the payment”. Later that same day he called back and said that there was an issue with the Deed Of Assignment! He said that I would now need to get the Deed certified by my solicitor and that they would need to contact my x wife to confirm the Deed! I could not believe what I was being told – I had followed their instructions to the letter with regards to the Deed, ensuring it was all completed correctly and backed up with all the ID documentation they had requested. I insisted that I be able to talk to a senior manager on the CR team, I could not understand why I was being asked to do these verification checks now at this late stage – the Policy had matured and they were holding my money.

On the same day I received a call from a Manager from the CR team who informed me that they needed to perform these checks and that I should have been contacted much earlier in the process and told about this – he apologised and said they had messed things up etc.
He said that he would call my x wife that day to get her to provide conformation of the Deed and ask for copies of her Past Port – She has now re married and moved addresses so these will be useless. I spoke to my x wife the following day and she had not received any call from NU. He also has requested a copy of the Consent order which I have to send to NU.

I am very angry with NU, they have lied and are totally incompetent. Why did they not ask for this Deed of Assignment to be certified at the time it was being requested in 2007? Why did they not tell inform me when I received notification regarding the Maturity that additional checks would be necessary? Why are they not doing what they say they will do – they didn’t contact my x wife?
I have been informed about the interest I will receive, which is based on 1.5% below the BofE rate – why? And I have raised the question of compensation etc however I do not hold out much hope – all I want is to paid what is due... now.

joshua_dylan

NULifeCustomerRelations wrote: »

Hi Joshua Dylan,

My name's Chris Amor and I work for Norwich Union in York. Part of my job is to keep an eye on the various financial forums to help out where I can.

Really sorry to hear you're having problems with our service. If you give me a call on 01904 684 617 I'll be able to get this sorted out for you.

Look forward to speaking to you soon.

It just goes to show that sometimes the big Corp's do listen and watch.......
After my first posting on this site, I was contacted through the site by a NU Customer Service person who not only settled my endowment speedily but also paid the interest together with a token amount by way of an apology.

Thanks to MSE and to Chris from NU for putting right the company's inefficiencies in a speedy manner.

dillie

Hi
I hope Chris Amor from Norwich Union still takes an interest in this forum because I'm also having problems getting them to settle up.
I've been reassured several times that forms which were (supposedly) sent to me 3 weeks ago will now be sent again.

Still nothing. Two phonecalls to Aviva (parent company) Customer Services - very helpful lady but still nothing in the post.

Nationwide received their paperwork on July 11th and they replied to say they had "no further interest in the policy". But until Norwich Union shift themselves and send me my half of the paperwork to sign and return- hey presto - nothing will happen. Easy isn't it? For Norwich Union to hang on to the money.

I am still living in the same house that the mortgage was taken out on 25 years ago and nothing has changed. Still the same building society and no name changes.
Yes, I agree with you, 25 years paying the premiums on time should result in far far better treatment than this.
Are you there Chris?