Endownments-

leem_3

Hi
I'm new to this and so must appolgise if this is a repeat. Has anyone gone through a third party (the type advertised in the papers and on tv) to try and get compensation for being mis-sold an endownment?

My shortfall in not a lot and it all seems daunting to try for compensation myself.

I would appreciate any advise.
Thanks
Lee-M

dunstonh

I'm new to this and so must appolgise if this is a repeat.

Yes it is a bit. There is a search function if you do want to look at existing threads asking the same. That will be quicker than waiting for this thread to fill up with duplicate comments over the next few days.

Has anyone gone through a third party (the type advertised in the papers and on tv) to try and get compensation for being mis-sold an endownment?

Yes they have which is why these unregulated firms exist.

My shortfall in not a lot and it all seems daunting to try for compensation myself.

Writing a letter with a few sentances in it saying why you think it was mis-sold shouldnt be daunting and it will save you a lot of money. You do not want to write war and peace. It can be as simple as "I believe my endowment was mis-sold because....." and send it to the advice company.

defender_of_the_weak

Much depends on when and where you bought the policy. Despite dunstonh assertions in most cases it is not as simple as all that.

If you go through a third party, a few simple rules.

Never pay anything up front

Do not agree to pay more than 15% including VAT (which guideline)

Do not sign over the rights to the policy (its called assignment) even for a short time. If you do, and then have an accident they can claim the entire proceeds instead of your family.

As you think your claim is quite small, do not accept a sliding scale of charges or minimum fee, such as £250. Also there should be no increase if your case is sent to the financial ombudsman.

Ensure that all compensation comes to you and not the claim handler.

A lit of companies is on the guardian newspaper website, but if you post the details about when and where I could give you some further info before engaging anyone or sign up fo anything

dunstonh

Despite dunstonh assertions in most cases it is not as simple as all that.

It is as simple as that. A complaint doesnt even need to be in writing. You can do it over the phone. Doing it in writing allows you to do it without talking to someone who may try and put you off. However, there is no need to write anything more than is needed to register the complaint.

Complaints companies make it out to be harder than it is because they want to justify the large fees for their 10 minutes of work.

EdInvestor

IMHO anyone who has read through a selection of threads on this board will be aware that in some cases, it can be "as simple as that", because there are some providers who are playing with a straight bat - that is, accepting legitimate complaints without argument and paying compensation.

But there are a also a large number of providers who are taking the opposite approach - deliberately binning complaintrs that are genuine, claiming people are time barred when they are not, forcing people to go to the Ombudsman when the complaints should be accepted.

It's obvious that this is the case because the companies regularly get reprimanded and fined by the regulator.

It's all very hit and miss.

I don't blame people for going through a complaints handler, but would second the advice from DoTW above.

leem_3

Hi
Thanks for the replies, the company I was looking at was Keypoint and they charge 20% + VAT comission, the company I have my endownment with is Friends Provident. I have decided to give it a shot myself.

EdInvestor

Hi leem

FP are fairly tough, not an easy ride.

Have a look at the Which? site, https://www.endowmentaction.co.uk for guidance on misselling complaint grounds.

Good luck.

defender_of_the_weak

Er Dunstonh, how much do you charge for sorting a mortgage or bit of life cover. More or less than 10% of the value of the transaction as a one off, fee with no renewal commission for something that people can do themself.

Hefty fees. I'm the cheapest in the country

A tad more balance please. I won't rubbish your job, please dont rubbish me. I refer again to the 93% of Abbey complaints turned down. Honesty and fairness in complaint handling. Not a chance.

knuckledragger

leem,
I used a standard letter that was doing the rounds with mates at work. I just changed a few dates and policy numbers. If you want a copy, pm me and save yourself a big slice of YOUR money.
NU paid me over £7K on the strength of it once I'd returned their questionnaire.

dunstonh

defender_of_the_weak wrote:

Er Dunstonh, how much do you charge for sorting a mortgage or bit of life cover. More or less than 10% of the value of the transaction as a one off, fee with no renewal commission for something that people can do themself.

Hefty fees. I'm the cheapest in the country

A tad more balance please. I won't rubbish your job, please dont rubbish me. I refer again to the 93% of Abbey complaints turned down. Honesty and fairness in complaint handling. Not a chance.

Arranging a regulated financial services product takes around a minimum of 4-6 hours work if done correctly. Writing a letter of complaint takes about 10 minutes. You cannot compare fees for the two.

I would love to see 10% commission but sadly (for me) they dont exist. Although the complaints handlers often like charging around 20-25%.

I do not rubbish you. I rubbish the companies that charge the big percentages and make out they are doing all sorts of things when you know as well as I do that they do nothing more than the initial letter. I know nothing about your company as you know nothing about mine (and its clear you dont when you think 10% is what we get ). If you work for your money, then fair enough but there are lots out there that do not and give what you do a bad name (very similar to what happend with advisors really).

You complain about my not being balanced but you use abbey as an example to tarnish us all. Where is your balance?

defender_of_the_weak

Dunston

I spent 3 hours today researching and cross referencing the opinion of jonathon Hirst QC in his submission to FOS regarding Equitable and fair solutions to offers of compensation. I am still collating evidence in the same case which regards the mis-selling of offshore bonds.

If you honestly believe that it takes a total of 10 minutes to take a case from initial enquiry to completion inluding offer or referral to FOS I think you are dreaming.

As recently as last year I was still providing advice and sales. Nice term policy 86% commission standard letter from network, change the names and dates total time including research 30-40 minutes worth £600 in commission

I use abbey as the most graphic abuse of genuine customer complaints but frankly I could cite about 80% of the big companies and many IFAs