Letter about an old endowment

[whatkungfuthat]

I got a letter last week from an insurance co addressed to my old married name, sent c/o to my DM's address. The covering letter said that I may have had a policy with them and enclosed a form. I suspect this is from a very old endowment (25yrs +) which lapsed after a couple of years when we split up and the house was sold. The policy just lapsed in the madness that was going on at the time.

I did call them but they wouldn't tell me much apart from that it may either be an endowment of a pension. I know its not a pension as I have only ever had one. I am a bit suspicious about sending my details and wonder if its worth it? Would there really be much to come back considering it was being paid into for such a short time? The mortgage was for about £45k.

What details are they asking for ? If they say there is something owing to you ask them to send you a cheque, if they won't do that it does sound a bit dodgy.

Its Sun Life of Canada. They are asking for things like parts of my NI no (the rest is greyed out) and marriage and birth certs etc. When I called them she said the letter came from a team that traces people with policies that have matured but this just policy (if its what I think) stopped having payments made.

There is no way I would send a cheque, and they are not getting any docs either. I have reverted to my maiden name and can prove I am who they sent the letter to so I am wondering whether to just send the form back with the partial NI no?

If it lapsed but was never cashed in and is now mature, they are probably going to send you money.

So long as the people you are contacting are the people you originally paid, they will give you your cash in full as its not theirs to keep

If the people are NOT the original endowment company (or whoever owns that name now) tell them to go away and get in touch with the original company

I don't understand why you are worried? sun life of Canada is a reputable company, you know that you did have a policy with them and they just need to confirm that you are the policy holder?

I used to work in life insurance and this sounds normal to me. If the policy lapsed, this means that no more premiums were paid but there may still be some small value at maturity based on the premiums you did pay. Insurance companies have teams of people trying to match up matured policies with 'lost' clients and the reason that they are asking for your documents is to ensure that you are the right 'mrs a policyholder' with date of birth x/xx/xxxx who took out the policy originally. They will not be able to tell you any more about the policy (or send you any money) until you provide documentation proving you are the policyholder.

Also, be aware that if it is a joint policy, they might not pay anything out without both original policyholders' signatures.

Thanks fur replies. I didn't have a policy with them, that is why I am a bit reluctant. The person I spoke to said if may have been with a company they took over. I am very careful about my personal info and how it is used but I guess that if I fill in the form I can find out more before I send in any documents.

Think they took over friends provident? (Or was it the other way round????)

OP
Have a look here ....
www.sloc.co.uk/slfuk/Home/Resources+&+literature/Life+&+protection+literature?vgnLocale=en_CA
Is the firm you were with listed ?
In which case, yes, they want to give you tax free money

Update if anyone is interested: It is for an old endowment for the first property I bought with Ex-H. The policy matured a couple of years ago and there is about £3k payable. I got a letter today saying Ex-H wants all of it, I said he could swivel, but more politely, and that I would like my half as I contributed half of the payments thank-you-very-much. It may take a bit of time to sort if he gets arsey but it could be a nice little amount in the run up to Xmas.

It is curious though, as it would appear that we were just told to abandon that endowment when we took out the second mortgage so I am guessing there is the possibility of proving that the second one was mis-sold. I have started a search with the unclaimed assets register as I don't remember that one being stopped either.

If its a joint life policy then they can't pay it out without both signatures. Although, I'm sure we used to do it for old policies where one of the policyholders was impossible to find but the policyholder getting the money had to sign an indemnity form saying they would pay half to the other person if they turned up. (I think - bear in mind I'm talking about 20years ago here so I might not have it quite right!)

If you've not done so already, make contact with the insurance co and say there is a dispute between you and the other policyholder as to who should get the proceeds of the policy and that no money is to be released until this has been resolved, or something along those lines anyway.

Thanks, I called them today and they said they wouldn't do it without both signatures. They asked me to put it in writing to confirm but they said they won't pay him out now I have contacted them. I think he thought they wouldn't find me for some strange reason and was just pushing his luck asking for the full amount.

The fun starts if he refuses just half I suppose

Well, since he can't get any of it without your signature, I think you are in a fairly strong position to say the deal is 50/50 or nobody gets anything! Best of luck!

Thanks, I am expecting some token resistance but the penny should drop fairly swiftly