online mortgage endowment resource
In this section of our website you'll find a collection of online documents and reference materials – produced primarily with financial firms and consumer advisers in mind - outlining our general approach on mortgage endowment complaints
frequently-asked questions (FAQs) on mortgage endowment complaints
This is a resource primarily intended for consumers – but it may also be of interest to firms.
our consumer factsheet on ...
mortgage endowment complaints
the FSA's rules on handling mortgage endowment complaints
These rules form Appendix 1 of the "DISP" rules of the FSA Handbook.
our technical advice desk
For help with technical queries and general guidance on how the ombudsman might view specific issues.
mortgage endowment questionnaire – PDF version
mortgage endowment questionnaire – Word version
This questionnaire is used by us – and also by many firms – to collect necessary information from consumers, specifically about their mortgage arrangements. We ask consumers who bring mortgage endowment complaints to us to complete this questionnaire in addition to our standard complaint form (available at the bottom of our how to complain page).
a quick guide to ...
calculating redress for mis-sold mortgage endowments
A quick guide to help insurers and advisers who receive relatively few complaints about mis-sold mortgage endowment policies.
our technical notes:
mortgage endowments – complaints about pre-"A Day" sales
mortgage endowments – complaints about post-"A Day" sales
mortgage endowment redress in more complicated cases
mortgage endowment never taken out
mortgage endowment not continued
the Financial Ombudsman Service and mortgage endowment complaints - report by David Severn
a report [107-page PDF opens in new window] produced for the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service by David Severn - an independent regulatory consultant and former head of retail policy at the FSA - on how the ombudsman service handled its mortgage endowment workload between 2002 and 2007
average historic DTA rates
This is a table of average historic decreasing-term assurance (DTA) rates per £25,000 of death benefit. It has been formed by averaging the relevant premium rates supplied to us by 30 large providers of life assurance products. The averages can be used to estimate the cost of life cover that may have been required on a repayment mortgage (when carrying out a comparison between this and an endowment mortgage).
"capping" where the endowment policy remains linked to a mortgage
In issue 61 of ombudsman news (April/May 2007) we set out our approach to "capping" – where the business believes the calculation of loss should be restricted (or "capped") to a date in the past when, in its view, the consumer was aware of a problem with their policy, so could have done something about it.
assessing consumers' "attitude to risk" in mortgage endowment complaints
In issue 44 of ombudsman news (March 2005) we set out our approach to assessing what a consumer's "attitude to risk" was at the time the mortgage endowment policy was sold.
complaints referred to us after the customer has accepted the firm's offer of redress
In issue 46 of ombudsman news (May/June 2005) we set out our approach to mortgage endowment complaints referred to us after the customer has accepted an offer of redress from the firm involved. In these cases, either the firm has subsequently failed to pay up – or the customer has wanted to re-open the complaint.
where the "deadline date" for complaining is exactly three years from the date the first "high-risk" warning-letter was sent
ombudsman's jurisdiction decision issued in April 2008