Prudential Time Bar

Prudential Time Bar

The Prudential is, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the last major life assurance company to introduce time bars to their endowment policy holders wishing to complain about shortfalls on their endowment policies.

The ABI last year estimated that around 2.7 million households in Britain have an endowment policy that is needed to pay off all or part of a mortgage, and that over 80% face a shortfall.

ABI spokesman Malcolm Tarling said that:

"Time-barring will help focus people's minds. The longer people wait to file a legitimate complaint, the harder it is to establish the facts."

The Prudential says that it will write to 110,000 customers to tell them about the new, six-month deadline for complaints.

Legal & General and Nationwide Building Society have also introduced time barring in the last two months.

Not surprisingly the insurance companies want to bring the matter to a close, as they are the ones who are being hit by the claims from their endowment policy holders.

This sorry pathetic mess could be sorted out at the stroke of a pen, if the insurance companies acted responsibly and underwrote these useless underperforming products which they foisted on the British public back in the 1980's.