Would someone mind having a look at my own Capquest Mini Hell ? !! Here is the link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/125928-capquest-threats-ethics-non.html#post1316443 Not sure what specific action I should take next or with whom. All pointers gratefully received... Happy New Year! 221b

Would someone mind having a look at my own Capquest Mini Hell ? !! Here is the link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/125928-capquest-threats-ethics-non.html#post1316443 Not sure what specific action I should take next or with whom. All pointers gratefully received... Happy New Year! 221b

Would someone mind having a look at my own Capquest Mini Hell ? !! Here is the link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/125928-capquest-threats-ethics-non.html#post1316443. Not sure what specific action I should take next or with whom. All pointers gratefully received... Happy New Year! 221b

Hi My experience with "The Anti-Christ also known as Capquest" is slightly different to the many other folk on here, but I would really welcome advice all the same... Brief background: Had my phone stolen abroad September 06. Thief ran up £1800 bill in 23 hours. Mob phone co tried to get me to pay entire bill plus £500 disconnection. Involved BBC Working Lunch and with advice from folk on here got "my debt" (Ha!) reduced to £850. Otelo then involved (waste of time as they're in the pay of the mob companies). Mob company won't shift on £850 debt as they say roaming mark up makes up large figure; Otelo agreed. I asked them to liaiase with foreign provider who weren't aware of a crime taking place and would they remove profit element. They refused. They've handed "my debt" to Capquest who have behaved in their usual stylish manner of 10 phone calls a day to landline and mob. Mysteriously the fee has now also cropped back up to £2,350 odd (the original figure that I had already negotiated down to £850!) I was unaware of this company before now so foolishly paid £250 to them over the phone when one awful person said that litigation was about to start within 7 days if I didn't pay something NOW. I have also paid the mobile phone company direct £250, so £500 in total. Since, have discovered CQ on this site and their hideousness, so have fought back somewhat. Wrote to them 27th November asking for DOA. They wrote back saying it would be in hold for 28 days (the usual response I've noticed on here). Since then they've written twice, neither time enclosing the docs required and I've heard today from HL Legal who are now apparently 'handling' the case. An added spanner is that the original mob contract was actually my 72 year old Mum's (bless her) she bought me the phone when I was a student so the original contract is in her name. Not that I want her to have to handle any of this, but it would prove interesting if it went to court I think, as I would be present , but the "debt" isn't officially mine I believe... Not sure what to do next with HL Legal and or Capquest and or original phone provider. Honestly, I was a victim of a sleazy crime abroad, had no money or phone, reported as soon as I got back to Blighty (23 hours later) and yet, I feel like I'm the criminal here. Advice please CQ Slayers??!! I am a bit quandrified now... Thanks 221b

Hi My experience with CQ is slightly different to the rest of you, but I would really welcome advice all the same... Had my phone stolen abroad September 06. Thief ran up £1800 bill in 23 hours. Mob phone co tried to get me to pay entire bill plus £500 disconnection. Involved BBC Working Lunch and with advice from folk on here got "my debt" (Ha!) reduced to £850. Otelo then involved (waste of time as they're in the pay of the mob companies). Mob company won't shift on £850 debt as they say roaming mark up makes up large figure; Otelo agreed. I asked them to liaiase with foreign provider who weren't aware of a crime taking place and would they remove profit element. They refused. They've handed "my debt" to Capquest who have behaved in their usual stylish manner of 10 phone calls a day to landline and mob. Mysteriously the fee has now also cropped back up to £2,350 odd (the original figure that I had already negotiated down to £850!) I was unaware of this company before now so foolishly paid £250 to them over the phone when one awful person said that litigation was about to start within 7 days if I didn't pay something NOW. I have also paid the mobile phone company direct £250, so £500 in total. Since, have discovered CQ on this site and their hideousness, so have fought back somewhat. Wrote to them 27th November asking for DOA. They wrote back saying it would be in hold for 28 days (the usual response I've noticed on here). Since then they've written twice, neither time enclosing the docs required and I've heard today from HL Legal who are now apparently 'handling' the case. An added spanner is that the original mob contract was actually my 72 year old Mum's (bless her) she bought me the phone when I was a student so the original contract is in her name. Not that I want her to have to handle any of this, but it would prove interesting if it went to court I think, as I would be present , but the "debt" isn't officially mine I believe... Not sure what to do next with HL Legal and or Capquest and or original phone provider. Honestly, I was a victim of a sleazy crime abroad, had no money or phone, reported as soon as I got back to Blighty (23 hours later) and yet, I feel like I'm the criminal here. Advice please CQ Slayers??!! I am a bit quandrified now... Thanks 221b

Thanks Green & Mean I understood the PCN had to use the phrase "Date of contravention" as well as "Date of Issue". I read this earlier on in this specific thread, hence my assumption. Is this not correct then? Many thanks

Hello Just received a PCN yesterday for parking outside my house. It's a 1 hour limit for free and I simply forgot my car was there ( I normally move it every day to a nearbyish street) and so got a ticket. Wondering if it might be invalid as although it says Date of Issue clearly, it does not say Date of Contravention. Also, the 'Please turn over' instruction is below the perforated tear off bit, which I understand is then not part of the ticket so I'm not obliged to turn over and ahem, read the instructions... Any thoughts? I have scanned in the the reverse as well if that's needed... Thanks in advance. 221b

Thanks Demon_x_slash! Have now posted on PePiPoo under their private parking tickets thread... 221b

Hi there Initial query before I post fuller details. Is it only Local Authority PCNs that can be challenged? I had one in a railway station car park recently (from a private firm called Meteor Parking Services) under (possibly) dubious circumstances... Thanks all! 221b

Thanks, Chezt. I appreciate all the help you guys give out on this site as well as your time. It's much appreciated... A suggestion for the mods - maybe a sticky with extra guidance as to how to fill out the spreadsheets as lots of folk seem to have additional Qs that aren't answered in the guidance notes. Just an idea... Thanks 221b

Hi Can someone please help with my queries above posted on 16th April. I'm keen to get the info off to RBOS, but am all too aware of not making myself look stupid or ill-prepared in front of the banks by not completing the speadsheets accurately. Am extremely grateful to Vampiress for all her work on the spreadsheets, but as a novice, i just need a little more guidance in filling them out correctly! (I've read the notes several times and unfortunately they don't answer my Qs above) Many thanks all 221b

Hi I have a few questions... Have read through the entire thread so as not to duplicate others' questions but haven't found what I need, I'm afraid! Am using (and struggling with) Vampiress's Advanced Spreadsheet for claiming contractual rate of interest back. 1 I'm claiming from the RBOS, they have differing rates for even agreed overdrafts up to £100 free; up to £1,000 - 18.33%; £1,000 to £5,000 - 17.56 % and then unauthorised seems to have hovered around 29.8% over the past 8 years. The only interest free overdraft I've ever had is for up to £100, so do I claim the unauthorised rate throughout (29.8%)or the 17.56% % or what!? There doesn't seem to be space on the spreadsheet for accommodating differing interest rates for agreed borrowing. The bank don't seem to be able to let me know what my various agreed rates of borrowing were over the past 8 years but are checking for me. My question is how do I accommodate this information in the Spreadsheet? Do I average it or what? and if so, how? 2 With the complex spreadsheet, are you meant to use both pages? ie the 'Charge and interest' sheet and the '8%' sheet? Do you have to fill them both out? Have filled out the same information on both but I'm not sure why! In the notes section, it doesn't say to fill out only one page, nor does it say to fill out both. Sorry if this seems like a thick question to those of you who know spreadsheets inside-out, but it isn't obvious to me what to do... I thought there were entirely separate spreadsheets for those claiming only the 8% standard interest rate... Sorry if any of the questions aren't appropriate in this thread, but I'm gettng a bit confused posting stuff all over the place and trying to keep a track of who's answered what and making sure I'm in exactly the right thread! Thank you all!! 221b

Hello I've just started trying to complete the 'speadsheet with contractual rate of interest', but as I'm working from a Mac, googledoc says it doesn't recognise my browser; anyone else using a Mac to calculate interest and use Vampiress's speadsheets or are there Mac frinedly ones out there? Advice anyone? Many thanks... 221b

Hi Sequenci Thanks for your reply I've tried that extensively, but they argue that becaue it happened abroad, they had to wait several days for their Belgian counterparts to notify them of the unusual pattern and that I've signed an agreement holding me liable blah blah bah... If it had happened in the UK, I might be able to use this argument, but they are saying that it isn't valid as they have to wait for the information from other networks when International usage is incurred and that they would not have been aware of the unusual usage due to this. There is a LONG thread devoted to my Voda battle (!) here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/telecoms-mobile-fixed-broadband/35996-mobile-stolen-abroad-thief.html. I've now been to Otelo (mobile Ombudsman) and after months of deliberation, they have come down totally on the side of Vodafone which is a bit of a blow. Otelo will only reconsider if I provide any new evidence hence my posting this thread.... Thanks again! 221b

Hello everyone I'm still 'negotiating' with Vodafone who are trying to make me pay £900 (originally £1,800 + £500 termination fee!) following my phone & wallet being stolen abroad and the thief running up a massive bill in less than 24 hours. I've heard anecdotally that Voda have wiped lots of people's bills who've been in a similar situation but in my case they aren't budging. It would really help my cause if you let me know by posting in this thread if Voda have ever wiped your bill as I think they should have one rule for all their customers, not make it up as they go along. Many thanks in anticipation... 221b

Hello everyone I'm still 'negotiating' with Vodafone who are trying to make me pay £900 (originally £1,800 + £500 termination fee!) following my phone & wallet being stolen abroad and the thief running up a massive bill in less than 24 hours. I've heard anecdotally that Voda have wiped lots of people's bills who've been in a similar situation but in my case they aren't budging. It would really help my cause if you let me know by posting in this thread if Voda have ever wiped your bill as I think they should have one rule for all their customers, not make it up as they go along. Many thanks in anticipation... 221b

Hello Winterthur have agreed that my endowment mortgage - taken out in 1998 - was mis-sold. Hurrah! All done without the use of one of the shark companies, luckily... I have a question, though! They have offered to calculate the loss in one of two ways and they've asked me to decide which of the two they should proceed with. This is where I am stumped... They will either: 1 Calculate any loss by using my exact mortgage details - making allowance for any change in lenders or special deals that I might have had, or... 2 Use the assumption method which assumes that I had a Standard Variable rate mortgage with the Halifax throughout the term of my interest only mortgage. This method allows them to calculate more quickly, but using my exact mortgage details may provide a higher or lower redress amount. They also want to know if I have since repaid my mortgage in full. The facts are that I was on a Fixed Rate Mortgage with the C&G for the first 6 years after which I discharged the mortgage when I sold the original house, but have since transferred the endowment across to my new property and am still paying the monthly premiums. Can anyone suggest what would be my best move? I am not sure which route to go down in terms of redress nor what to do with the endowment itself now. I am almost certain that cashing it in would be a bad move but am open to advice on that! Many thanks! 221b

Bump! Any knowledgeable mortgage person out there able to help me? Many thanks 221b

Hi Dolly If you're thinking of claiming in retrospect (not sure if you can do this, but it's worth a try), here's how I went about it... http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/insurance-assurance-companies/40198-help-endowment-shortfall-please.html#post519020. I only started claiming last autumn. 221b

Hello Winterthur have agreed that my endowment mortgage - taken out in 1998 - was mis-sold. Hurrah! All done without the use of one of the shark companies, luckily... I have a question, though! They have offered to calculate the loss in one of two ways and they've asked me to decide which of the two they should proceed with. This is where I am stumped... They will either: 1 Calculate any loss by using my exact mortgage details - making allowance for any change in lenders or special deals that I might have had, or... 2 Use the assumption method which assumes that I had a Standard Variable rate mortgage with the Halifax throughout the term of my interest only mortgage. This method allows them to calculate more quickly, but using my exact mortgage details may provide a higher or lower redress amount. They also want to know if I have since repaid my mortgage in full. The facts are that I was on a Fixed Rate Mortgage with the C&G for the first 6 years after which I discharged the mortgage when I sold the original house, but have since transferred the endowment across to my new property and am still paying the monthly premiums. Can anyone suggest what would be my best move? I am not sure which route to go down in terms of redress nor what to do with the endowment itself now. I am almost certain that cashing it in would be a bad move but am open to advice on that! Many thanks! 221b

Only a few days at the moment, but I suppose it depends how long it is before they notice it. Never had £19,000 in the account so unsure how much interest it would be anyway. Not a high interest A/c, just ordinary current which has pitiful rate!

Hello Oh joy! RBS have accidentally credited my Dad with £19,000!! I know that he'll have to give it back - or they'll take it back more likely! Just wondering what the legal postion is regarding interest earned in the period etc.... Anyone had this happen to them before? Best wishes 221b

Good luck, Phil. Glad to be of help. This site (and the people who make it what it is, obviously) has helped me tremendously, so it's a pleasure to help other folk out in turn... Let us know how you get on. 221b

Here's what I composed and it worked for me! Feel free to use where it relates to your case. Sorry again for long delay. Good luck! 221b Please click scales if useful! 22nd October 2006 Dear Sir /Madam Re ************ Mortgage Endowment Plan Policy number ******** I should like to make a complaint about the above endowment which was mis-sold to me on April 18th 1998. This is for the reasons listed below: • This being my first mortgage, I was naturally very ‘green’ about the various options open to me. I trusted my ‘advisor’, Mike ******** as having my best interests at heart. • I did not at any time realise that he was on commission for selling me an endowment - I was given to understand that he was employed by ******* Estate Agents as their mortgage advisor, to give advice, not steer me towards the policy that would provide him with the most commission. I have since found out even more alarmingly that Mr ******* was in fact, a tied agent with ******** Life and not the independent I was led to believe by ******** Estate Agents and indeed Mr ******** himself. • The alternatives of repayment mortgages and others were dismissed by the advisor pretty much instantly as ‘not what people were doing these days’; indeed he implied that people were ‘stuck’ with repayment mortgages and that they were a very old-fashioned way of paying off one’s mortgage and that the track record of endowments was glowing compared to traditional mortgages. I was most definitely steered towards an endowment mortgage as the best possible option for me. • I was given no projected figures for a repayment mortgage, not even for one lender and did not get the impression at all that Mr ******** was ‘shopping around’ on my behalf. Mr ******** was required to give me 'best advice'. If the best advice for me was to choose an endowment mortgage, this should be demonstrated by the various documents that he needed to complete, and which should be held on my endowment file. Having reviewed the file, I can find absolutely no evidence of this. • I believe he took advantage of the fact that I was under a time pressure as the house I wanted to purchase was going to be auctioned in 3 ½ weeks if my sale wasn’t tied up before then. • He did not even shop around for me within the confines of an endowment mortgage, I was presented with ********* Life as being the best possible option for me without being shown any facts to back this up, nor was it compared with other lenders’ projections. • The projections I was furnished with for ******** were geared towards a growth rate of 7.5%. I feel that this growth rate was extremely inflated compared to the FOS’s medium growth rate. • Indeed Mr ********* boasted that not only would my endowment pay off my mortgage, but it would give me a nice tidy lump sum left over at the end, not dissimilar to a ‘with profits’ insurance policy. The only problem I would have, he assured me would be deciding what to spend the big lump sum on! • At no point did he even discuss the possibility that the policy might not pay off the mortgage; it was all very rosily painted. He should have told me that the amount I would get back depended on the performance of the policy, and discussed carefully the fund(s) in which I invested. He was in fact quite bullish about the likely performance of the endowment. He also claimed that 'no endowment has ever failed to pay off a mortgage'. • I don’t feel Mike ******** established my attitude to risk fully. He asked it in an offhand way; “how do you feel about investments generally”? I stated that I had no investments at that point and that I didn’t want anything too risky, but that my experience was extremely limited; not-existent in fact. Bearing in mind that I didn’t want anything too risky, I should have been steered directly away from an endowment mortgage and towards a repayment option. It was never suggested that the endowment option was in fact a risky product. In fact if Mr ******* had probed further, he would have concluded that I was in fact risk averse, illustrated by my other savings I had at the time I took out the mortgage - Building Society savings accounts and an insurance ‘with profits’ style policy, no shares or other risky investment funds. In conclusion, I have lost out considerably financially as a result of Mr ********* appalling lack of customer care in mis-selling the endowment to me in the first place. This is because he failed to explain the risks involved with endowments, or to go through all the other options with me carefully. He made no attempt to establish my attitude to risk. Also he said the policy would provide a lump sum after repaying the mortgage, and exaggerated heavily the track record of endowments. I look forward to hearing back from you along with the appropriate level of compensation as recommended by the FSA - by you comparing the current value of the endowment with the amount of capital that the I would have repaid had a repayment mortgage been recommended to me and refunding me the difference as compensation. Yours faithfully ***** ***** Endowment Mis-selling ********** Life (UK) Limited ********** Way Basingstoke Hampshire RG21 6SZ

Thia is very long I'm afraid, but it's a collection of bits of various documents and my own musings through succesfully claiming back money owed to me through a mis-sold endowment. Nightmare computer problems trapped this doc in my old computer for 6 weeks so apologies for the long delay! If you find it useful, please click the scales! More than five million endowments have a shortfall. If yours is one of them, is this just bad luck or were you badly advised? There are 11 million endowment policies linked to mortgages in the UK. More than half are predicted to fail to do what they were sold to do - pay off people's mortgages. This is yet another depressing statistic to add to the financial services industry's dismal track record. Yet, despite the enormity of the problem, the regulator for financial services, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), won't conduct an industry review. No review - no problem? This doesn't mean there hasn't been mis-selling, or that you can't claim compensation if you were wrongly advised to take out an endowment mortgage. What it does mean is that the onus is on you to get your case reviewed, by making a complaint. Read on to find out whether you have a valid complaint, how to put your complaint together and how much compensation you might receive if your complaint is upheld. How to Seek Compensation You won't receive compensation simply because your endowment has a shortfall. Use our guide to find out whether you should claim The fact that your endowment has a shortfall is not, in itself, grounds for complaint. You have to prove that you were wrongly advised to take out an endowment mortgage, and that you have lost out financially as a result. Think back to the meetings you had with your adviser and what you were told. If any of the following ring a bell, you may have good grounds for making a complaint. Your attitude to risk A lot depends on your attitude to risk at the time the endowment was sold to you, and on whether your adviser established this. Recent research by the FSA Consumer Panel showed that only 10 per cent of people surveyed said the adviser told them about the risk attached to endowments. The adviser should have established how risky or cautious you were with your savings or investments, and explained that there was a risk the endowment might not pay off the mortgage. They should have told you that the amount you would get back depended on the performance of the policy, and discussed carefully the fund(s) in which you invested. Overstated claims We know from the many Which? members who have contacted us that advisers often used to be bullish about the likely performance of the endowment, boasting that it would not only pay off the mortgage, but also produce an additional lump sum. Some advisers claimed that 'no endowment has ever failed to paid off a mortgage'. If your adviser said things like this, include it in your complaint, even if you have no proof. Churning If you already had an endowment policy at the time the mortgage was recommended, this should have been used to back your loan. If your adviser told you to cash in the endowment and then sold you another one to replace it, this is called 'churning' and is appalling advice. It's also against the rules. Payments into retirement If your mortgage and endowment were set to continue past your expected retirement age, your adviser should have felt confident that you would have enough income in retirement to continue to pay the mortgage and endowment premiums. If this wasn't discussed, or if you were told not to worry because the endowment would pay off the mortgage before retirement, this is grounds for a mis-selling complaint. Norman's conquest You will need patience if you decide to make a complaint. Norman Huntingdon's complaint against his firm of advisers, Chatterton-Bennett, started in December 1999 and was finally upheld by the Ombudsman in August 2000. However, it took Chatterton-Bennett until December 2000 to gather all the information needed to calculate the compensation. The good news is that interest is usually added to any claim from the date of the Ombudsman's decision. So while Norman has had to wait a while, he won't have lost out further by the delay in the compensation being paid. Endowment Policies January 2001 Your Endowment File Whoever advised you take out the endowment policy was required to give you 'best advice'. If the best advice for you was to choose an endowment mortgage, this should be demonstrated by the various documents that the adviser needed to complete, and which should be held on your endowment file. In reality, many files don't contain adequate evidence that an endowment was best advice. While this lack of proof is not enough in itself to ensure your complaint is upheld, it will help your case if the file is inadequate. You can ask the company that advised you for copies of all the documents on your file. Making your complaint The first thing to do is to contact the firm that advised you to take out the endowment. If your adviser was independent (an IFA), you must go to the compliance department of the adviser's company. If your IFA is no longer trading, go straight to the FOS for advice, see contacts. Our step-by-step guide to making a financial complaint (here) gives more details and explains the coming changes to the various ombudsman schemes. What to include in your complaint Don't forget to include basic information, such as your policy number, when the advice was given and, if you know it, the adviser's name. When putting together your complaint, summarise why you think the advice was wrong. For example, because your adviser failed to explain the risks involved with endowments, or to go through all the other options with you carefully. Perhaps they made no attempt to establish your attitude to risk, in which case include this. Also include anything the adviser said about the the policy providing a lump sum after repaying the mortgage, or about the track record of endowments. If you are risk averse, illustrate this by explaining what other savings you had at the time you took out the mortgage. If you previously had a repayment mortgage but were persuaded to change, mention this. More help before you complain To streamline complaints, the FOS has a questionnaire it is sending to people who have already had their complaint assessed by their endowment provider. However, you can ask for a copy of the questionnaire to use as a guide when making your initial complaint. Also ask for a copy of the FOS's briefing note on endowment complaints. This is intended for endowment providers, but it's useful for complainants, too, as it explains how the FOS assesses complaints. The FSA has produced factsheets about endowment shortfalls and on how to go about making a complaint. We give the FSA and FOS details on contacts. Was the advice regulated? Anyone who was wrongly sold an endowment after 28 April 1988, which is when the Financial Services Act came into effect, can make a formal complaint. However, as the O'Neills discovered, if you took out an endowment before this, there may be no way to seek redress. Most large organisations, such as insurance companies and banks, have signed a voluntary jurisdiction agreement. This means that complaints concerning endowments that were taken out before April 1988 will be dealt with in the same way as all other endowment mis-selling complaints, so you shouldn't have a problem. However, smaller firms, like IFAs, are unlikely to have signed the agreement and so need not deal with pre-April 1988 complaints at all. This also applies to firms that never became regulated. In either of these circumstances, neither the Ombudsman nor the Investors Compensation Scheme can deal with your complaint; your only hope of redress is via the courts. Endowment Policies January 2001 Compensation If your complaint is upheld by your endowment provider or your adviser's firm, you will be offered compensation. However, until recently this has often been derisory, as Helen Bleehen found out (see 'Compensation check', below). This was because the payout was generally a refund of premiums plus interest, which was often little more than the value of the cancelled endowment policy. Things have improved now, though. The FSA has issued guidelines to endowment providers and financial advisers on the way they should calculate compensation. Doing the sums The FSA guidelines make clear that the aim of compensation is to put people into the position they would have been in had they been given the right mortgage advice. In most cases, where an endowment mortgage is considered bad advice, the best advice would probably have been to take out a repayment mortgage. To establish whether someone has lost out financially, the FSA now requires whoever recommended the endowment to compare the current value of the endowment with the amount of capital that the borrower would have repaid had a repayment mortgage been recommended. If the capital repaid is greater than the endowment value, the loss - and the likely level of compensation - is the difference between the two amounts. This is a fair way to work out how much compensation people are entitled to. However, it is a time-consuming calculation to make. To ensure that your complaint is not delayed, make sure you provide details of your mortgage lender and mortgage account (your reference number, for example). This will help to speed up any requests for information your endowment provider or adviser will have to make to your mortgage lender. Taking it further If you don't agree with the outcome of your complaint, your next step is to take your case to the ombudsman. In its 'deadlock' letter, your endowment provider or financial adviser will give you the name and address of the relevant ombudsman and details of how to complain. Compensation check When Helen Bleehen learnt that her endowment had a shortfall of £15,200, she complained about the advice she had received. Legal & General upheld the complaint and offered to cancel her endowment policy and to return all the premiums she had paid, plus interest. We didn't think this was adequate compensation and advised Helen to get it checked by the Ombudsman. It's just as well we did because the FSA has recently announced that compensation will now be worked out by comparing the value of the endowment with the capital that would have been repaid with a repayment mortgage (see 'Doing the sums', above). The Ombudsman is currently calculating what Helen should receive under the new guidelines; it's likely to be considerably more than she was offered originally. Policies January 2001 Contacts Financial Ombudsman Service 020 7216 0016 Financial Services Authority 0845 606 1234 Institute of Financial Planning 0117 945 2470 No One to Turn to Terry and Barbara O'Neill were sold a 20-year endowment mortgage in March 1988 after a meeting with advisers from Scottish Life and from an IFA firm, PA & OM Wright & Partners. Terry was 50 and Barbara 49, so they questioned whether the 20-year term was suitable, as it meant the endowment and mortgage continued until Terry was 70. Terry says the Scottish Life adviser assured them the endowment would pay off the mortgage by the time Terry retired at 65. Terry is now 64 and due to retire next year. Far from being able to pay off the mortgage early, as they were promised, the endowment has a shortfall. However, the O'Neills can't get compensation. Scottish Life says the IFA is responsible for the advice because Scottish Life paid it commission for selling the endowment. The Ombudsman agrees. But the advice was given a month before regulation came into effect and the IFA is no longer trading, so none of the existing redress schemes apply. See Was the advice regulated?, for more on this. With friends like these ... Just two years after taking out a Friends Provident endowment through an IFA, Lesley Ashworth has been told that it has a potential shortfall of £6,100. She currently pays £312 a month for her mortgage and endowment. If she switched to a repayment mortgage - which is guaranteed to pay off the loan at the end of the term - her monthly payment would be just a few pounds more at £319. Bad advice from Lloyds Sally Norman and Leslie Murphy were a bit luckier than the O'Neills because they were sold their endowment mortgage in August 1988 - just after regulation came in. They have good grounds for complaint because they say their Lloyds Bank manager, who recommended they take out the endowment, didn't explain the risks this involved. They also say he failed to assess their attitude to risk or discuss any other options open to them - such as a repayment mortgage. We estimate that, if Sally and Leslie had taken out a repayment mortgage, they would now have repaid around £19,300 of their £72,000 mortgage. Instead, after paying in £14,500 over the last 12 years, their Eagle Star endowment is worth just £10,870 and has an estimated shortfall of £22,000. Before contacting us, they had agreed to increase their endowment premiums by £75 a month, as suggested by Eagle Star. Sally and Leslie are now making a complaint to Lloyds/TSB about the advice they received in 1988. Mix-up with a top-up In April 1996, Louise and Guy Bastow took out a new mortgage with Woolwich for £53,500. They already had an endowment covering their old mortgage of £23,500, so Woolwich sold them a 'top-up' endowment to cover the balance (£30,000). However, Louise says that it wasn't made clear the new endowment was just a top-up and they cashed in their first policy. Although the sale of the top-up endowment wasn't bad advice, Louise and Guy's case highlights the need for advisers to give clear information and to ensure customers understand what they are buying. They weren't given clear information and are over £20,000 short on their mortgage as a result. Louise and Guy discovered the problem only when they received the standard projection letter that all endowment providers have been sending to their customers. Ironically, the top-up endowment is on target to repay the £30,000 it covers. Sweet FSA The FSA says there won't be an industry-wide review into endowment mis-selling like there was with personal pensions a few years ago. This decision is based on calculations it has done which show that, over the term of the mortgage, most people will fare at least as well with an endowment-backed loan as with a repayment one. But we think those calculations are flawed because of the way the FSA has dealt with endowment charges. The bulk of charges on endowments are levied in the first few years. During this time, relatively little of your monthly premiums are invested, so investment growth tends to be slow or non-existent. This slow start affects the value of a policy throughout its life. However, the FSA's calculations don't take into account upfront charging. Instead, they assume that charges are spread evenly over the term of the policy. This overestimates the real value of people's endowments. Agreement on compensation While we agree that a review along the lines of the pension mis-selling one is not practical, we think the FSA is being too complacent and is not doing enough to identify those consumers most at risk. Having said that, the FSA does acknowledge that many people have been wrongly sold endowment mortgages, and it has now issued guidance on how their loss should be calculated. This is by comparing the financial position they are in now with the position they would have been in had they taken out a repayment mortgage. So, if you think an endowment mortgage was wrong for you, don't be put off complaining just because there won't be an industry-wide review. Even if you have surrendered your endowment policy, you can still complain if you think you were originally given bad advice. However, if you were advised to take out the endowment before April 1988, see 'Was the advice regulated?'. Hope this is useful! 221b