Problems with your endowment policy?

Only five years ago, the UK's Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) opened to deal with consumers' complaints. Back in 2000, the staff were dealing with approximately 25,000 consumers a year who were complaining about various finiancial companies, but in just five years this figure has shot up to 110,000.

The FOS says that approximately 1,300 people are complaining to them per week and, as a result, the organisation has had to triple its workforce in order to be able to accommodate them.

The type of complaints that have particularly increased are those regarding endowment mis-selling. There have been 70,000 complaints this year, increasing threefold from 2004.

Endowment policies have caused controversy in recent years. If you're unhappy with yours, you should first get in touch with the firm that sold it to you and ask about its formal complaints procedure.

If the complaint isn't resolved and you wish to complain to the FOS, do be aware that you are constrained by strict time limits. If your financial company sends you a red letter informing you of a shortfall in your endowment, you should complain to the FOS immediately.

Companies should be sending you a reminder letter six to twelve months before the deadline expires, so chase it up if you haven't received it. Remember, if you don't act straight away, you could lose the right to some, or all, of any compensation that may be due to you.

However, do note that there is no automatic compensation just because you may be disappointed with the way your endowment policy is currently performing. Endowments are linked to long-term investments, which can go down as well as up.

If you want more information on complaining about finiancial products, see Lawpack's 'Leaves on the line! How to complain effectively' or visit the Financial Ombudsman Service's website.

12 October, 2005

20 August 2008