Endowment policy help.

[ghamer]

Sorry a bit long winded bear with me.
My(then)partner and I bought a house back in 1996 through an estate agent whom had an in house financial adviser affiliated to Abbey national.As young naive 21yr olds we signed on the dotted line for an endowment mortgage(winterthur) and Abbey National(interest only).The endowment was £86 per month for 25yrs for us both.Was taken to cover a house purchase of £37k.

Anyway

We split in 2000 and I took the house on and carried on paying the mortgage and endowment(Bank and Endowment company were informed and her name removed) until I sold the house in 2001 but kept on paying the endowment and still do to this day.

Trouble is the amount I'm paying has stayed the same £86 even though only my life is now insured,I've also learnt that my ex has recently passed away.Now I know what your thinking so stop it I will wait for maturity in 8yrs or so,but do you guys think I may have a claim for being overcharged since 2000?

Thanks and sorry if I bored you.

[Heathwood]

Are you sure she was removed as a life assured? She may just have been removed as an owner of the policy.

[Sarnie]

ghamer said:

Sorry a bit long winded bear with me.
My(then)partner and I bought a house back in 1996 through an estate agent whom had an in house financial adviser affiliated to Abbey national.As young naive 21yr olds we signed on the dotted line for an endowment mortgage(winterthur) and Abbey National(interest only).The endowment was £86 per month for 25yrs for us both.Was taken to cover a house purchase of £37k.

Anyway

We split in 2000 and I took the house on and carried on paying the mortgage and endowment(Bank and Endowment company were informed and her name removed) until I sold the house in 2001 but kept on paying the endowment and still do to this day.

Trouble is the amount I'm paying has stayed the same £86 even though only my life is now insured,I've also learnt that my ex has recently passed away.Now I know what your thinking so stop it I will wait for maturity in 8yrs or so,but do you guys think I may have a claim for being overcharged since 2000?

Thanks and sorry if I bored you.

The Life element would only be a tiny element of the policy and in any case they probably just directed the slight difference in the make up of the policy going forward, to purchase/invest in more "units" rather than it paying for Life Cover for your ex...........so your policy is probably worth slightly more now than it would have been.....

[Ginge R]

How is it performing, do you have a need for the life cover, if you surrender it, can you put the money to better use?

At the risk if being mercenary, I'm assuming that you're absolutely sure that your ex partner was removed from the policy before her death?

[ghamer]

I didn't know it was possible to just remove her as an owner but carry on insuring her life.That just seems wrong.I'm reluctant to even phone the endowment company being so close to maturity as I don't trust these firms once they have a sniff I might have a claim to cancel the policy on a technicality for not informing them of her death(march 2014).

Although what you say is making me reconsider I must admit.

[Simpo Two]

I thought that charges are loaded on in the early stages, so if you cash in early, you lose relative to what you'd get if you let it run to term.

Markets are low now so, ignoring the other issue for a moment, I'd be inclined to hang in.

Of course I know nothing, so have an unhindered view

[ghamer]

Ginge R said:

How is it performing, do you have a need for the life cover, if you surrender it, can you put the money to better use?

At the risk if being mercenary, I'm assuming that you're absolutely sure that your ex partner was removed from the policy before her death?

To be fair Ginge,pathetically.I once applied for mis selling but it was thrown out.I might as well stuck the cash under my pillow.It's looking like money back if I'm lucky.Although the last statement was during the crash as I recall.

[ghamer]

Sarnie said:

The Life element would only be a tiny element of the policy and in any case they probably just directed the slight difference in the make up of the policy going forward, to purchase/invest in more "units" rather than it paying for Life Cover for your ex...........so your policy is probably worth slightly more now than it would have been.....

Well that's good to hear.Thanks.

[The original Nick the Greek]

ghamer said:

I didn't know it was possible to just remove her as an owner but carry on insuring her life.That just seems wrong.I'm reluctant to even phone the endowment company being so close to maturity as I don't trust these firms once they have a sniff I might have a claim to cancel the policy on a technicality for not informing them of her death(march 2014).

Although what you say is making me reconsider I must admit.

If she is no longer a life assured as you say, there was no need to advise them of her death. You would only do this in the event of a claim on one of the lives assured.
I would be very wary about surrendering the policy before maturity. The contract was written for a specific term of years and will therefore usually give best value if held for the full term.

[ghamer]

Just to clarify I have no intention of surrendering I was asking about being overcharge since 2000,but I think good ol Sarnie has addressed that one.I do however need to check whether or not she was removed as an owner or removed altogether.Hoping it's the latter as I couldn't ever ask her parents for proof of death as she was my childhood sweetheart since age 11 and lived next door.Very sad.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

It's unlikely the endowment will pay the full £37K at maturity, as most have underperformed. But if it included life insurance for £37K also, and her life is by some chance still covered, you would get the full £37K. Plus maybe return of the amount paid so far that wasn't for the life cover (the bulk of premiums), plus accrued bonuses. And save yourself the monthly premiums from now until maturity, which is 60 months!!! So check. You might be talking about a reasonable amount of money, on a policy that you have been paying for after all.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 19th January 22:41

[Heathwood]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

It's unlikely the endowment will pay the full £37K at maturity, as most have underperformed. But if it included life insurance for £37K also, and her life is by some chance still covered, you would get the full £37K. Plus maybe return of the amount paid so far that wasn't for the life cover (the bulk of premiums), plus accrued bonuses. And save yourself the monthly premiums from now until maturity, which is 60 months!!! So check. You might be talking about a reasonable amount of money, on a policy that you have been paying for after all.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 19th January 22:41

Yes, it is worth checking whether her life was removed and, if not, you could potentially claim for the full amount. However, you wouldn't be entitled to a refund of the investment element of the premiums paid.

[darreni]

Heathwood said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

It's unlikely the endowment will pay the full £37K at maturity, as most have underperformed. But if it included life insurance for £37K also, and her life is by some chance still covered, you would get the full £37K. Plus maybe return of the amount paid so far that wasn't for the life cover (the bulk of premiums), plus accrued bonuses. And save yourself the monthly premiums from now until maturity, which is 60 months!!! So check. You might be talking about a reasonable amount of money, on a policy that you have been paying for after all.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 19th January 22:41

Yes, it is worth checking whether her life was removed and, if not, you could potentially claim for the full amount. However, you wouldn't be entitled to a refund of the investment element of the premiums paid.

You would receive the sum assured or sum assured plus accrued bonus to date, whichever is the higher figure.

[ghamer]

Thanks for the replies guys.I had a look at some paperwork asking for recent address details etc(no figures on them) dated March 15 strangely they have various policy numbers and some have my name only and some with joint names so I really don't know where I am.I have tried to register online to view documents but that's not possible apparently.The policy is now held by Friends Life not Winterthur so have asked/complained to them about the messy situation this policy is in.I will update when they get back to me.

Thanks.

[Heathwood]

OP, I'm not sure why you're viewing this as a complaint at this stage. Just call the provider and ask if your ex is still a life assured. They'll just tell you, and then you'll know for certain.

[ghamer]

Heathwood said:

OP, I'm not sure why you're viewing this as a complaint at this stage. Just call the provider and ask if your ex is still a life assured. They'll just tell you, and then you'll know for certain.

That's a fair point perhaps a bit hasty wish I'd selected the enquire route now.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

darreni said:

Heathwood said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

It's unlikely the endowment will pay the full £37K at maturity, as most have underperformed. But if it included life insurance for £37K also, and her life is by some chance still covered, you would get the full £37K. Plus maybe return of the amount paid so far that wasn't for the life cover (the bulk of premiums), plus accrued bonuses. And save yourself the monthly premiums from now until maturity, which is 60 months!!! So check. You might be talking about a reasonable amount of money, on a policy that you have been paying for after all.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 19th January 22:41

Yes, it is worth checking whether her life was removed and, if not, you could potentially claim for the full amount. However, you wouldn't be entitled to a refund of the investment element of the premiums paid.

You would receive the sum assured or sum assured plus accrued bonus to date, whichever is the higher figure.

Yes, sorry, you're quite right. But OP would save £5160 on £86/month premium for the next 5 years!

[ghamer]

Quick update
I contacted Friends Life and they rang me to say there are different policy numbers to reflect different aspects of the policy for example the unemployment cover,endowment cover etc.I never even knew there was employment cover and certainly never asked for it.So will be claiming for that back.Anyway they said yes both lives are covered on the policy so I informed them she passed away in Feb 2012 so a claim has been started for which they are sending me a pack.Just ordered a death certificate and we'll see how we get on.
Will update with how I get on.Thanks.

[Sarnie]

ghamer said:

Quick update
I contacted Friends Life and they rang me to say there are different policy numbers to reflect different aspects of the policy for example the unemployment cover,endowment cover etc.I never even knew there was employment cover and certainly never asked for it.So will be claiming for that back.Anyway they said yes both lives are covered on the policy so I informed them she passed away in Feb 2012 so a claim has been started for which they are sending me a pack.Just ordered a death certificate and we'll see how we get on.
Will update with how I get on.Thanks.

Wow.

Does the payment for her Death benefit get paid out to her Estate?

[ghamer]

Better not Sarnie I've been paying for the damn thing since we split in 2000.Wondered why they asked does she have a Will don'y say the dough won't come my way.