Time Bar Challenge

Time Bar Challenge

It is reported that Brunel Franklin, an endowment claims specialist, has raised a legal challenge to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service over time bars on endowment mortgage complaints.

Brunel Franklin believe that the policy is "inconsistent", and hope to change the current time bar deadline for endowment policy holders to make a complaint.

The FSA rules sate that insurers are within their rights to impose a deadline, but that this must be three years from the date the policyholder received a 'red' letter warning of a potential shortfall.

It is estimated that one million people have already been time barred to date.

Brunel Franklin claim that the red letters were misleading and did not state all the facts.

Claims director Ian Allison is quoted:

"Many did not explain to policyholders that their endowment may have been mis-sold and that they had the right to complain about its sale.

As such, a policyholder could not reasonably have expected to know that they were mis-sold the endowment or what to do about it."

All of this could be so easily resolved, if the life assurance companies underwrote these useless underperforming policies.