Endowment Policy Bloody Cheek

[kettle]

I have an endowment policy coming out with Standard Life (guess they will all be the same on this one)
It has a massive shortfall.

Thay have the cheek to offer me the opportunity to reinvest the money with them - after all we have been through.

I have declined.

What do they take me for?
Is there a 'mug' inspector out there who could examine my forehead or do I not need this service?

 

[snorri]

What do they take me for?
Is there a 'mug' inspector out there who could examine my forehead or do I not need this service?

Have you compared the level of return you would have obtained from other companies for a similar investment over the same period?
Perhaps you were not so much of a mug as you think.

 

[kettle]

I know Standard Life has done better than most but nobody has done well.

 

[ufkacbln]

I finished my Mortgage two years ago (Abbey) and got a letter yesterday telling me that I owe £85..........

The payments for this will be £160 per month apparently!

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

But Cunobelin - they do need their bonuses

 

[addictfreak]

Mine looks like being at least £20,000 short. I only got £6000 compensation!

Took steps a while back to sort it, and transferred over to repayment.

 

[AlanW]

Mine looks like being at least £20,000 short.

That was the exact same figure as us!

We tried to get compensation but failed, no idea why?

So after taking advice we cashed all three endowments in. The dam things were loosing money faster than a fast thing in a fast race!

In took six months to finalise everything and they were dropping in value ever month?

We then changed over to a repayment. But when I got made redundant at the end of 2008 we paid it off and good riddance to that huge weight hanging around our necks.

 

[Over The Hill]

Sorry to hear of the problems - I will be a smug git and say I went for repayment!
Your loss may not be so bad, the alternative (repayment) costs more per month (say £100) times that by 12 months and then by the time you have had the mortgage and you could easily be £14k in pocket. Just that you had it and spent it and still owe a chunk of mortgage.

 

[mr_cellophane]

But Cunobelin - they do need their bonuses

Insurance companies don't generally pay bonuses to their staff.

 

[Globalti]

I've got an endowment with Standard Life due to mature in about 14 months. I've been paying into this damned thing for nearly 24 years, every damned month. I'm not holding my breath; I shall just view it as a way of having saved the payments every month and added a bit more for a laugh.

The last time I saw a value for it, it was crap. Am I being naive here or should an improvement in share values in the next 14 months mean it could still put on a lot of value?

 

[AlanW]

Am I being naive here or should an improvement in share values in the next 14 months mean it could still put on a lot of value?

Deep down you know the answer don't you?

 

[MrGrumpy]

our endowments were not doing great either, however I changed a chunk of our mortagage over to repayment, hopefully it will be covered.

 

[ASC1951]

Am I being naive here or should an improvement in share values in the next 14 months mean it could still put on a lot of value?

Optimistic, rather than naive. The markets have risen a lot over the last eight months and the consensus for the next year is at best flat. The consensus can be wrong, of course, but my guess is that if it is wrong it will be too optimistic not too pessimistic.

The structure of endowments means that a lot of the value is locked into the final years e.g. with a terminal bonus. Usually you take a huge hit if you bin the investment even a few months early. Some providers do allow you to stop paying in without penalty, which is another option if you think you can get better returns elsewhere, but FFS don't fiddle around with yours without getting chapter and verse from SL - who are one of the better providers.

 

[dellzeqq]

I think people who took out endowments in the 80s were spectacularly naive. I'm not doubting the justice in the compensation schemes, but the stock market was clearly fuelled by an unsustainable hysteria. When the government, bankers and the financial authorities that there is no downside it's the time to sell.

 

[Globalti]

Yes, I was naive in 1986, weren't we all?

I certainly don't intend to touch it now as there will be terminal bonuses, as ASC writes.