CWFS Mis-Selling Policies ?

[superdriver]

Hi All

We currently have about 20 people in our office who believe we have been mis-sold our policies by a certain salesman from the CWFS.
These policies were all sold as saving schemes in which people believed they would get all there money back plus interest (bonues) - it was never mentioned by the salesman that you are actually taking out a life cover/insurance policy whch has savings attached to it if your still alive at the end of it.
I don't think anyone would have taken one out if they were properly explained as life cover.

I was told myself that i would get back the minimum i put in plus whatever bonues it paid out each year and so i set up a policy for £10.06 pw which was going to give me a minimum of £7,000.00 - as i've been told i get my minimum that i put in bac,k i believed i would be paying in £7,000.00 over the 15 years that he suggested so never questioned this.
Thought to myself i might back about £8,000.00 for this.

Ive had mine for 8 years and about a month ago got my latest bonus certificate which showed that i have accumulated just over £400.00 in bonuses.
I then thought theres no way this will hit £8,000.00 so was curious if i actually pay in £7,000 or if its more or less - It turns out i will pay in just over £7,800 over the 15 years.
At the moment it probably won't even give me back my money to the penny that i put in.

Now others are looking at there policies thinking that they have something they didn't actually want - 1 guy has 6 polices and hes thinking why on earth do i need 6 lots of life cover, esp when he has a mortgage and his RM pension if he was to die in service.
Another guy was 22 when he took his out, no kids, no mortgage, lived with parents who would benefit from his Rm Pension - why did he need life cover - Simply he didn't?
The senarios continue!
3 of the people are Union Reps (2 area reps) who all thought they too were just taking out savings policies and didn't want life cover and are backing my claim for mis-selling to our office.

There are more reasons too but i won't bore you yet with them.

I have started a complaint and have warned them that we could have up to about 50 people making the same mis-selling complaint so i am waiting for a reply at the moment.

What do other people think about it - does anyone else feel the same

Maybe you should look at your own policies and work them out if you too believe the same as me

Interested in your views - also we are based in the south and its not so much against the company, just against one salesman so this may not effect people in the northern regions

John

[POSTMAN]

£10.06 x 52wks x 15yrs = £7846.80 What is your sum assured?

Now i know there are charges to be taken out of that (It is mentioned in the policy somewhere) i do a few which are sum assured for £1,500 the maths for mine is...
£3.32 x 52wks x 10yrs = £1726.40
I have only ever received £1639.00 when mine have matured and that IS WITH some bonuses!

Now i used to (before the HMRC malarkey last year) do one every year.
The example i've used above is from 2004 others after that are still sum assured of £1,500 but only cost me £3.22 a week which comes out at £1674.40 without charges taken off and bonuses put on.

I have come to the conclusion (A personal opinion for those watching in and the figures don't seem to lie do they)that although it's good the payments come straight out of my wages and the loan facality which is also good that i have done myself over by saving with this mob.

Now my figures may be slighty out but any fool can see that i'm being done...
"£3.32 x 52wks x 10yrs = £1726.40
I have only ever received £1639.00"

But if i pull them then i will lose a lot more that if i let them run,i need to do some figure work to see what's best.

With regard to the life insurance thing i do remember my salesman (1998) telling me that it was best to have it at least on the 1st one.
When i saw him again for another policy a year later he did say i did not need another one as i already had one with the 1st one.
Never saw the salesman again so i done the rest of my business by phoneing up The CWFS,i tell them i want sum assured for £1.5k they sent me the forms and i signed none the wiser.
I have no idea whether there is any life cover in them.Although the one i took out in 98 to mature when i'm 60 has 'Initial Additional Premium' of 41p a week? Not sure whether that is the one with life cover or the 10 year one i took out the same day.

I'll contact CWFS and see what they say.

[superdriver]

My sum assured is £7,000.00

So as you can see the first £800 in bonuses is only paying back my own money before i make a profit.

And i think at the rate its going i won't even make my own money back and even if i do, i would have saved for 15 years just to have the same amount of money even though it has paid a bonus every year.

[POSTMAN]

Exactly,now while i would say that is not a mis-sell,i would call it me not looking into it properly and i've done myself.

[The Grass]

I do not think that their salespeople have been misselling but I do think that we deserve much better returns on our policies than that which we are getting.