Missold FSAVCs?

I claimed for a mis-sold FSAVC and, over the years, have received much more in compensation than I paid in originally. I am still receiving a very small annuity each month plus a small amount annually.

When my FSAVC matured the company said it wasn't enough to fund an annuity!! Another reason I'm glad to be receiving a nice unexpected lump sum. It really was worth checking.

What kind of things constituted mis-selling?

I was thinking of pming you but I think this thread deserves a bump up🙂

Basically the salesman who came to our staff meeting and told us of the wonders of a free standing additional voluntary contribution policy should have told us that it would be more beneficial for us to add extra to our existing superannuation system. We didn't even know that was a possibility. I'd had a few years working only part time so I wanted to beef up my retirement savings and the FSAVC seemed a good idea.

Gosh, that’s exactly what happened to me. I’ve just written it off as my own stupidity 🙄😳

Will payout for the company name

Obviously, the nearer retirement loomed the more financially savvy I became but, back then, when I and colleagues took out these policies we thought we were being very sensible.

I don’t know why it said will payout🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I wrote will pm

I know. I've replied 😂

🤞Thanks

I don’t think I have any paperwork to prove I had an FSAVC, nor can I remember which company it was with.
Is there any hope?

I didn't need any paperwork. I did know the company it was originally with though. The investigating company did all the work and I can see that they have got it right.
Rack your brains. Which company could it have been with?

Aviva? Prudential?

We could take out AVCs through a work scheme and there was a choice of two.

As I couldn't decide, I used the Dip, dip, dip my blue ship method and chose one which proved to be just ok. The other one proved to be disastrous, a friend had put all his combined pensions into that company and lost a lot of money.

They were a lucky dip. I had to buy an annuity and would rather have taken the money.

I'm glad you have some compensation, Aveline.
These policies were, in many cases, disastrous.

This sounds familiar. We had a staffroom visit from a company rep, maybe late 80s, who advised us to start FSAVCs as a way to compensate against pension ( superannuation) gaps caused by maternity leave, part time working or career breaks. I'm pretty sure he didn't make us aware that we could add to our existing superannuation.

I think the original company might have been Colonial Mutual? At some point it was taken over by Prudential. After a while I needed the monthly premium so I froze my contributions. It provided a very small lump sum when I retired and a miniscule monthly pension.

Thank you Aveline for raising this issue.
Would you recommend your claims company?

I certainly would. It's called 'It is your money'. Google it and it's reviews. I hope it's OK to mention the name here.

Thank you very much, Aveline.

Good luck. Let me know how you get on.

On checking the criteria for misselling I don’t think I would be eligible. Mine was explained by an IFA, not a company. He also enabled me to repay into the TPS the two years I had taken out previously, for a small charge. I rather think it was the in-house scheme, an AVC not an FSAVC.

Many years ago I was mis-sold a pension by someone who belonged to the same club. He invited me and DH to the theatre in London and the next morning got busy selling. I felt I had to agree after the theatre etc. I suppose he would have got a large commission.
Not too long afterwards, reports started appearing about this scandal and I got in touch with the insurance company. It doubled my original sum and I've been getting £63 pcm for the last 20 years.
I still remember the play. It was Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel at the Royal Court theatre.

Having had my claim assessed and reviewed by an independent auditor the money arrived in my account yesterday. It has been a remarkably quick and painless transaction all round. I notified a colleague who'd signed up at the same time as me and she's now going through the process.
Good luck to others. This was well worth it for me.