Mrs JFW

Thinking of the migration process and just sorting out finances etc... and have after much umming and ahhhing we have decided to put in a claim for a mis sold endowment policy. Has anyone else done this and come out with a successful claim?

We have a projected shortfall on our mortgage of over £17,000 :scared:

tabby

Ours was projected at a shortfall of around £30K, we also thought about this and dedecide against as we were under enough stress with visa app. etc......

hilary6

Havent done it but We are thinking about it
I suppose theres nothing to lose if you go with a 'no win no fee' agent
Hilary

suzy

Yep I did, Got a nice sum back too. Ir wasn't easy to start with but once the paperwork was watertight they didn't have much choice really.

suzy x

marco121068

What reason do you put? Is the case based on the projected growth or something else?

I'm not sure if "the investment has been crap" is a valid reason.

suzy

Hilary

It's easy to do it yourself so long as you get the right paperwork in the beginning and have all your details. The FO's website is invaluable in helping and the Which consumer website.

Suzy x

hilary6

Good for you Suzy thats great
I have all my original documents is that all Ill need

suzy

No you can't claim because of a 'crap investment'. There's about 6 valid reasons you can go for. I won my case because when I took out my endowment I was single and not even engaged or thinking about getting married. I was sold a 'Life Insurance Element' within my policy and because single people had no need for life insurance I won because it was deemed to have been missold.

Suzy x

suzy

Hilary

You'll need as many original docs as possible. The forms are very nosy so to speak and want to know everything - old addresses and everything.

As I said got to the FO's website - there's a section about claiming on there. Also there's a consumer website that gives you all the templates of letters depending on your case. I'll see if I can find it and pm you later. Write a letter to your bank/BS stating why you want to claim. They have to send you an application form which you fill in. Once the claim is in they have 8 weeks to repond.

Make sure you are within the timeframe to claim and that you have a valid case. Don't get fobbed off - they hate having to pay out.

I'm rushing this now (child is in bath so I'm busy) but I will pm you later or tomorrow with the websites.

Suzy x

hilary6

Thanks,
What about it Mrs JFW, you gonna have a try?

suzy

I'm back now. Thought I'd post the sites I used so that anyone can have a look if they need them.


www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

www.which.net/endowmentaction/complaint


'Which' used to be known as the Consumer's Association. I would start with them as that is where I got the template letter from. Don't forget you need to have taken out the endowment before 1988 to claim.

BTW Hilary I'll have 1 with oj

Suzy x

Mrs JFW

Yes, gonna try, although I'm worried as I don't have many of the orginal documents. Our policy was sold to us because of the advantage of the life insurance aspect, if either of us dies, policy covers cost of mortgage. Also the advisor had a friend in the building society who said he could do us a good deal on the mortgage and set it up quickly for us. Everything was arranged in 3 weeks, we were first time naive buyers. I suspect advisor got nice commission, but don't think I can prove that one!

I certainly wasn't told about the high risks. I wouldn't have taken out a policy if I thought I would have a deficit of 17 grand half way through. He told me I'd have a lump sum to buy a car with or have an exotic holiday after paying off mortgage!

suzy

We were all told we'd have a lump sum - lying bastards!

Why don't you take a look at the sites to see if you have a case first.
The two off the top of my head are the life insurance sold when you didn't need it 'cos you were single and if your endowment doesn't mature until after you retire. I can't remember the others.

I started this process two years ago and got my money last August - I'm not saying how much but it was more than your deficit of £17K.

If you can get through the trauma of TRA/DIMIA and the rest you can do this.

Suzy x

Mrs JFW

Good for you Suzy, glad to hear it was worth all the effort. The way we see it, if we don't try we would never know. Can you tell me what kind of original documents would I need? and can I still proceed with the claim if I surrender the policy? We were going to put the surrender money towards a repayment mortgage.

Thanks for you advice Suzy.

suzy

Just looked at my papaerwork re my case. You can't proceed with a claim if you surrender the policy. It's one or the other. I'm no financial expert but my advice would be make a claim for the mis-selling first. If no luck then surrender. The surrender value for me was less than half I got in compensation. Making a compensation claim is free apart from a bit of effort on your part so what have you got to lose.

Original docs - I didn't need to show anyone these but I needed things like Policy number, date of policy, and the name of the advisor/company. I got married after I took out the policy and had to put on the claim form date of marriage and partners financial details. I thought it was a cheek but had to do it. If I didn't have any info I put 'don't know/can't remember/not avail'.

The only thing I lost on was there was no proof that the advisor told me I would get a lump sum. My word against his but I was happy with what I got inthe end.

suzy x