Good afternoon,
In 1990 my dad took out a low start endowment policy with Aviva (Norwich Union at the time) using an FIA approved broker (luckily it was after they started regulating them) At the time the endowment was to pay out £77,900 upon maturity (April 2015) and he was told that there would also be surplus money for him to spend as he pleased. The first years payment was on £56 p/month and slowly increased over 5 years to £113, which it has been ever since. By about 1998 he was told that the endowment would not perform as promised, with a shortfall of around £5000. At this point my mum contacted a company (he believes it was ECA, a claims company) they said that due to the broker's situation (one of the partners was declared bankrupt in '92) they could not claim all the time the were not trading. As the shortfall was relatively small at this point, they left it. In the following years the shortfall increased. Having received a red letter in 2009/10 (shortfall then at roughly £28,000) He contacted Aviva at this point, to complain and seek compensation, they said it was nothing to do with them as it was sold through a broker, they told us that the broker was no longer trading. We then went to the FSCS, they said nothing could be done because the broker did still exist, wasn't trading, but was solvent. So again it was left, in the hope that perhaps the broker's circumstances changed. Another red letter was sent in 2012 (shortfall at £34-£37,000), prompting action be taken, again contacted the FSCS, they said all they could do was give me the name and address of one of the partners. I sent a letter to the partner earlier this week, he is working for an independent financial services company, less than a mile away from where I currently live. I do not expect much to come of this letter. Having also rung Aviva earlier this week and complaining about this obvious huge miss-selling, they have lodged his complaint and will look into it.
Seeing as the broker was a verified/IFA approved company, why has Aviva not done more to help the situation. I must point out, as you may know, Aviva have an MEP, they have told my dad he will receive the maximum of £15,800 upon maturity. This still leaves a huge sum for him to pay.
Also, he was never consulted by the broker about his financial position at the time, nor was his attitude to risk assessed, nor did they mention that a repayment mortgage could be a better option, or that the endowment could under perform.
I hope someone can shed some more light on his position, any more we can do?
Thanks for reading my short 'book'...!
In 1990 my dad took out a low start endowment policy with Aviva (Norwich Union at the time) using an FIA approved broker (luckily it was after they started regulating them) At the time the endowment was to pay out £77,900 upon maturity (April 2015) and he was told that there would also be surplus money for him to spend as he pleased. The first years payment was on £56 p/month and slowly increased over 5 years to £113, which it has been ever since. By about 1998 he was told that the endowment would not perform as promised, with a shortfall of around £5000. At this point my mum contacted a company (he believes it was ECA, a claims company) they said that due to the broker's situation (one of the partners was declared bankrupt in '92) they could not claim all the time the were not trading. As the shortfall was relatively small at this point, they left it. In the following years the shortfall increased. Having received a red letter in 2009/10 (shortfall then at roughly £28,000) He contacted Aviva at this point, to complain and seek compensation, they said it was nothing to do with them as it was sold through a broker, they told us that the broker was no longer trading. We then went to the FSCS, they said nothing could be done because the broker did still exist, wasn't trading, but was solvent. So again it was left, in the hope that perhaps the broker's circumstances changed. Another red letter was sent in 2012 (shortfall at £34-£37,000), prompting action be taken, again contacted the FSCS, they said all they could do was give me the name and address of one of the partners. I sent a letter to the partner earlier this week, he is working for an independent financial services company, less than a mile away from where I currently live. I do not expect much to come of this letter. Having also rung Aviva earlier this week and complaining about this obvious huge miss-selling, they have lodged his complaint and will look into it.
Seeing as the broker was a verified/IFA approved company, why has Aviva not done more to help the situation. I must point out, as you may know, Aviva have an MEP, they have told my dad he will receive the maximum of £15,800 upon maturity. This still leaves a huge sum for him to pay.
Also, he was never consulted by the broker about his financial position at the time, nor was his attitude to risk assessed, nor did they mention that a repayment mortgage could be a better option, or that the endowment could under perform.
I hope someone can shed some more light on his position, any more we can do?
Thanks for reading my short 'book'...!