HPS financial services then - who to complain to now?

bobber

Hello

Would be v.grateful for any help please.

Finally decided to complain about endowment - but have always been put off because i didnt know where to direct complaint as company no longer exists. Im having a baby in a months time so there wont be much free time to do it after I suspect !!....

Was sold endowment in 1992 by a 'financial services area manager' within Halifax estate agents. On his business card it states 'Colley Sampson Ltd trading as HPS Financial Services is an appointed representative of Standard Life which is a member of Lautro'. So does this mean I can send the letter to Standard Life directly as I cant locate contact address for the salesman or the company? Or do I direct it to the Halifax - but I didnt actually take any financial products from Halifax, just used their estate agents?

Thanks for any help!

FOSman

Complain directly to Standard Life, as he was a representative/agent. He was not an independent financial adviser.

bobber

Cheers for that FOSman.

I thought I was too late to complain, but on the latest red letter from Standard Life they said I had up to August 2006 to take action. I've read it can take months and months to get anywhere - hope I dont miss the boat with this time frame. I'll get my letter done asap!

defender_of_the_weak

Make sure the complaint covers all the issues (which website will do) and I am confident that you will be pleasently surprised by the speed and outcome of your case. My bet, upheld within 8 weeks paid soon after.

bobber

Thanks for the advice - really appreciate it!

Just one more query if thats ok? I've still got a copy of the original mortgage 'fact find' sheet the salesman did. One of the questions on their is 'would you consider investments with higher risk but greater growth potential to repay your mortgage?' The 'NO' box is clearly marked. Is this solid evidence of a miss-sold endowment?
It also says in 'summary of advice' section that endowment route was recommended for me for its 'repayment of FTB motgage 9.6 from recommmended for stable payments' - god knows what that means - any ideas?
I remember being told as a single naive 22 yr old that endowment was the most suitable route for as I would get an additional lump sum at the end to do what I wanted with. I remember asking why would i need the life insurance and was told not to worry about it as it was just an added bonus to an endowment. Do I mention this in my letter or do they only accept witten evidence?

Thanks

defender_of_the_weak

The fact that you did not want risk, and did not need life cover are two very good indicators of mis-selling. Not sure what the middle comment is abaout other than recommending an endowment to a first time buyer. 9.6?was that a fixed rate or something you took at the time

bobber

Thanks for all the help - am in process of writing complaint letter and will send it off asap.

Would really like a bit more advice if that is ok...

Thought I'd dig out the paperwork to the 2nd endowment I have, to see what the fact find said. I'd assumed that I couldnt complain about this one as they would dismiss any claim automatically if I had previously taken one out, regardless of the circumstances - is this right?
I bought the 2nd in 1998 (Scottish Widows sold through B&B IFA) to fund top up to mortgage when I moved house. Had wanted repayment but was advised to take endowment route as it was better option for me in IFAs opinion.
Reading the paperwork today I cant believe I didnt challenge it at the time. It states reason for choice of product: simplified underwriting; with profit - relative security of with profit build up; repay mortgage in the event of death; provision of lump sum on diagnosis of specified illness or medical condition. Then on following page it outlines discussion which clearly states I said I didnt need life cover as I had no dependents and didnt want any health protection cover.
It then says "Having discussed the repayment alternatives a top up endowment has been selected over the 25 years as client has a positive attitude to investment linked repayment methods but is keen not to be directly exposed to equity investmnets and prefers the flexibility of endowmnet based repayment methods should she wish to move to a larger property". I am assuming my 'positive attitude' was the fact that i already had an endowment at the time, even though I told him I wanted to go down the repayment route for the top up part. Am lubered with endowment, life assurance and critical illness. I wish i had challenged it at the time... its his word against mine now.
Might be nothing, but the paperwork for the endowment he sold me was dated over a week before I had the mortgage fact find - could this imply that he was intending to sell me this product regardless of suitability? ie could I use that as evidence of mis-selling?

Thanks for any advice you can offer - sorry this is such a long post!

defender_of_the_weak

Dates are a tricky issue but I think that you probably should have the print out before signing. The only possibility lies in showiing the fact find was completed post sale. Even then I would not be optimistic

bobber

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I thought this one looked far less straight forward than the Standard Life one. I'll give it a shot at complaining anyway and not expect anything - really wish I'd challenged the paperwork at the time. Little did i know then that this 'v.safe and reliable' scottish widows homeplan would be such a disaster...

Think I should be putting my efforts into remortgaging as im on rubbish rate with B&B (fixed term finished last year) and should switch to repayment so at least the money is going somewhere useful. But we will want to move in approx 2 years to get bigger house and mortgage, so if i change now it might limit us then if Im stuck in a deal? Sorry to ask yet another question - I must be at the 'nesting' stage with my finances!

FOSman

bobber wrote:

9.6?

This will either be the interest rate, or the assumed annual growth rate of the policy. Probably the interest rate though as 9.6% would be very high if growth rate in 1992.

FOSman

bobber wrote:

Thanks for all the help - am in process of writing complaint letter and will send it off asap.

Would really like a bit more advice if that is ok...

Thought I'd dig out the paperwork to the 2nd endowment I have, to see what the fact find said. I'd assumed that I couldnt complain about this one as they would dismiss any claim automatically if I had previously taken one out, regardless of the circumstances - is this right?
I bought the 2nd in 1998 (Scottish Widows sold through B&B IFA) to fund top up to mortgage when I moved house. Had wanted repayment but was advised to take endowment route as it was better option for me in IFAs opinion.
Reading the paperwork today I cant believe I didnt challenge it at the time. It states reason for choice of product: simplified underwriting; with profit - relative security of with profit build up; repay mortgage in the event of death; provision of lump sum on diagnosis of specified illness or medical condition. Then on following page it outlines discussion which clearly states I said I didnt need life cover as I had no dependents and didnt want any health protection cover.
It then says "Having discussed the repayment alternatives a top up endowment has been selected over the 25 years as client has a positive attitude to investment linked repayment methods but is keen not to be directly exposed to equity investmnets and prefers the flexibility of endowmnet based repayment methods should she wish to move to a larger property". I am assuming my 'positive attitude' was the fact that i already had an endowment at the time, even though I told him I wanted to go down the repayment route for the top up part. Am lubered with endowment, life assurance and critical illness. I wish i had challenged it at the time... its his word against mine now.
Might be nothing, but the paperwork for the endowment he sold me was dated over a week before I had the mortgage fact find - could this imply that he was intending to sell me this product regardless of suitability? ie could I use that as evidence of mis-selling?

Thanks for any advice you can offer - sorry this is such a long post!

OK, if Standard Life rejects your complaint and you take it to the FOS, then your entire mortgage history will be probed. You will be asked if you have complained about your subsequent policy. If you say no, then your complaint is highly likely to be rejected, as it shows you were happy with the sale of that policy (and accepted the risks).

If your first policy is upheld, then they can't really use it against you as any prior knowledge you had about the policy can be called into question.

About the first fact find, I think this is very strong evidence and you should highlight this when complaining to Standard Life. Don't however use that stupid which? letter to complain. Write a letter yourself in your own words. It will sound more genuine.

Let us know what Standard Life do with your complaint.