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*PLEASE NOTE* This site is
for information purposes only - we are not accepting
any new cases from January 2007
Customers who bought Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)
may have been missold their policy according to The
Competition Commission
-
10th June 2008
MORE BELOW IN OUR NEWS SECTION.
If you believe you may have been mis-sold your
endowment mortgage for a residential property and are
left with a shortfall - you may be entitled to
claim
compensation. It is strongly recommended that you
act now to avoid missing crucial industry imposed
DEADLINES.
Time is now running out for most policyholders.
Please read our questions and answers page regarding
time barring, surrender issues, pre 1988 cases and other
key complaint questions - click
The Background
There are more than 10 million endowment policies
linked to mortgages in the UK. Endowments were sold as a
low cost, long term and supposedly "safe" method of
paying off a mortgage. Endowments combine interest-only
property mortgage payments with an investment.
Throughout the term of the mortgage you pay interest
on the amount borrowed to your mortgage lender and a
monthly premium to your endowment policy. Very few
people were warned of the risks involved with an
investment of this kind.
DEADLINES:
You may already have been advised by your endowment
provider that policy projections suggest your plan is
not going to meet your mortgage loan.
NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT - before it is too late. You
generally have only 3 years to claim from the time you
receive your first "red" warning letter. You may be
running out of time to claim -
TIME BARRING
is the number one reason why claims are rejected
by the providers - dont get caught out. Read our
information pages on "Time Barring" "THE 5 STEP GUIDE"
The following is quoted from the Financial
Services Authority website:
Key factors to consider if you are worried that your
policy will suffer a shortfall and won't pay off your
mortgage:
1. Don't Ignore It - things could get worse if you
don't act now.
2. Consider Your Options - there are various ways you
can make up the shortfall. Speak to an Independent
Financial Adviser (IFA).
3. Speak To Your Lender - discuss the situation with
them.
4. Protect Yourself - If you decide to move to a
residential repayment mortgage, you may need to buy
separate life cover.
5. Don't Delay if You Need To Complain about
misselling - Some insurers may consider your claim "time
barred".
The 1988 rule
If you took out your endowment through a financial
adviser before 29 April 1988 you may be caught in a
black hole because there was very limited regulatory
protection. However people sold endowments by banks,
building societies or insurance company salesmen before
this deadline can still complain, despite what you may
have heard to the contrary.
You may have grounds for a misselling complaint if:
Your financial advisor did not explain at the time of
taking out the mortgage that the plan would invest on
the stock market and the pay-out was therefore NOT
guaranteed.
You were single and did not require the life
insurance element of the endowment and the salesman
failed to make it clear you were paying for this cover
(some lenders would insist on this cover as a condition
of providing the mortgage).
The endowment matures after your retirement date and
the salesman failed to make this clear to you OR told
you that the policy would be worth enough at retirement
to pay off your mortgage.
Or if the salesman failed to conduct a proper fact
find to discover whether you would have sufficient
income in retirement to meet the mortgage and endowment
payments.
The salesman persuaded you to cash in one endowment
and take out another.
The fees or charges involved were not fully explained
to you.
There are a few interesting sites below where you can
find out more about endowment complaints, bad advice or
general problems with paying financial debts:
Financial Ombudsmans official site
-
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
-
Professional negligence claims advice.
We have a
team of specialist Insolvency lawyers providing
bankruptcy advice and can provide information on
Individual Voluntary arrangements - IVA's
Please also visit or main site for bankruptcy legal
advice:
Consumers now turning to
Financial
planning consultants in a bid to avert the worst
effects of the credit crunch. More people are looking to
maximise their money by seeking
investment advice and new ways to generate income.
There has also been an increase in requests for
life cover and
income protection quotes as more people fear of
losing their jobs in a severely disrupted economy -
10.09.08
People who bought Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)
may have been missold their policy according to The
Competition Commission. Many would have been unaware
that they could have bought the policies cheaper
elsewhere and in many cases probably did not meet the
insurers criteria for cover in the first place. It is
thought that consumers have been overcharged by £1.4
billion a year on this product.
Consumer group Which? is now calling for the insurance
to be scrapped because it is put simply a "bad product".
Those people that have been or suspect they may have
been missold, may be entitled to compensation if they
complain to the company salesman who offered the policy
to them. The FSA are taking steps to clamp down on
misselling in this area and have set up a complaints
mechanism for concerned consumers - 10.06.08
New braking system to reduce whiplash injuries -
24.04.08
Why the public perception - that personal injury
claimants are money grabbers - is completely wrong
25.04.08
Specialist wills solicitors offer free advice online
- In an increasing trend, more and more people are
Making a will
online with many probate solicitors offering free
initial advice. [September 2007]
Personal Injury Claim Reform - read about the
forthcoming reforms and how they are likely to affect
the industry in England & Wales [15 August 2007]
The new regime for selling residential property will
soon be upon us -
Home
Information Packs (Hips) will go ahead as planned on
the 1st August 2007 for 4 bedroom properties. [25th July
2007]
New Government plans to build more affordable homes
[11th July 2007] Cyprus gears up for a switch to the
Euro in Jan 2008 - this is driving up the cost of
property on the island.
Long term
rental in Cyprus is now far more expensive as
ex-pats move in from the UK. [8th July 2007]
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