General Comments Reviews

We have recently been looking at ways that we can pay off our mortgage more quickly as we want to be debt free as soon as possible, this would then open up opportunities to either make changes to our lives or to look at other investment opportunities like buying a rental property with another mortgage. Fortunately the most sensible ...  Read the complete review

If a person using an ISA to repay their Mortgage was to become Unemployed or off work due to Sickness or Accident they would NOT be entitled to Means Tested State Benefits if the value of the ISA was over £16,000. The reason for this is the DWP treat the ISA as Accessible Savings. The FSA being the Governments financial watchdog listed ...  Read the complete review

*** PLEASE NOTE: Nothing in this opinion constitutes financial advice. You should always seek advice from a qualified financial advisor who will take into account your individual circumstances.*** A mortgage is probably the single largest financial commitment that any of us are likely to make. Yet, surprisingly, it is one which many ...  Read the complete review

Hi all, I kind of am writing this piece after some serious thinking on whether I should buy my first property or not. What I am going to say may not be true for everyone but it definately requires some thought. With the current house prices / interest rate structure it is too difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ...  Read the complete review

If you're looking to put in an offer on a house, then you'll need a mortgage. You arrange a mortgage with a provider. The Estate Agent can help you with this (they get commission for it, so they're very keen on helping!), or you can do some research (through magazines such as Which Mortgage? or on the net) to find out what mortgage ...  Read the complete review

Currently, eight million homeowners have mortgages that depend on an Endowment Policy to pay off their loan. But Insurance Companies now reckon that up to five million of these policies might not grow enough to clear the mortgage after 25 years. In my opinion, if that is what the Insurance Companies reckon, then I conclude that the true ...  Read the complete review

Which? and Consumers' Association have created a website to help the estimated 5 million people that may have been mis-sold an endowment mortgage obtain financial compensation. http://www.endowmentaction.co.uk/ Thousands of people who were mis-sold an endowment have obtained compensation through the formal complaints ...  Read the complete review

If you hold an endowment mortgage, there is a reasonable chance that you have had a letter from your life assurance company suggesting that it may not succeed in getting the returns on your money required to repay your loan in full. Even Standard Life, who in 1999 issued a guarantee that all policies would mature to a level high enough to ...  Read the complete review

There are many types of Endowment policy, the ones I talk off are low cost or easy start - these are where the premium would be increased gradually over a specific amount of years. I have been exposed to only these policies & the details I will give refer to them (even though most policies have the same rules) Some policies have a guarantee ...  Read the complete review

This op explains the differences between endowment mortgages and repayment mortgages. It does not aim to recommend one over the other, simply to ensure a clear understanding so that a fair and rational decision can be made. This op is necessarily long, but hopefully valuable. First I will explain the key features of ...  Read the complete review

Being a first time mortgage customer, never moving mortgage or house since our first. I am discusted with the mortgage banks, just before Christmas we received a letter saying that it is foreseen that next year our endownment policy for our mortgage will be running at a deficit. Panicing we went down to our bank - the Abbey National ...  Read the complete review

Once upon a time there was a fairy princess. She had kissed many frogs in her time but at long last her handsome prince had come into her life. As time passed, they decided it was time to have a home of their own and buy their very own enchanted castle. Unfortuantly, things were a bit tight in fairy land and so a mortgage was called upon. ...  Read the complete review

Unhappy with the projected returns on your endowment policy? Complained about mis-selling? That won't improve the performance of your endowment. A lot of companies have reduced the bonuses paid - and this is the real scandal, not mis-selling. So get going, check out your policy statements and if bonus rates are low - COMPLAIN. Check ...  Read the complete review

****** UPDATE********** My endownment company have finally accepted defeat and have made up what the payments should have been. They have backdated them to when the policy started and will contribute for the rest of the term. We are the lucky ones,, we have our endownment company contributing to our monthly payments. If ...  Read the complete review

If you are being told by an IFA to buy an endowment you are almost certainly being misold a product in order to pay him a fat commission. Beware, as these things are expensive, inflexible and tend to be poor performers. Instead look at buying a Shares ISA through a discount broker - there are many online now and the money websites such as ...  Read the complete review

When we bought our first house in 1990 we took out an endowment policy to repay the mortgage. In the late '80s this was a very popular way to cover your mortgage. The idea was simple, you payed the interest on the loan for 25 years and invested into an endowment policy which would pay off the sum borrowed and hopefully also give you a nice ...  Read the complete review