What is an endowment policy?

An endowment policy is designed as a means of making regular savings with a part of the premium being used to provide life cover. Under these contracts the policyholder makes a regular payment (premium) usually monthly or annually to the Life Assurance Company. At the end of the term of the policy a lump sum is payable to the policyholder.

Do you buy unit linked or unitised policies?

No, we are currently not in the market for purchasing unit linked or unitised policies. Your policy documents will state if your policy is unit linked or unitised.

Should I keep hold of my policy or sell it?

Surrenda-link operates on an ‘execution only’ basis and so we are unable to offer any advice to you. If you need advice you should speak to your Independent Financial Adviser. If you do not have an Independent Financial Adviser the Financial Conduct Authority can provide you with a list of qualified advisers in your area. Their telephone number is 0845 606 1234.

What information do you need to provide a quotation?

To enable us to produce an accurate quotation you will need to provide the following information.

• Commencement & Maturity Dates
• Policy premium
• Name of original issuing Life Insurance Company
• Type of endowment policy
• Basic Sum Assured
• Total Declared Bonuses & Declaration Dates
• Surrender Value and Date (must be quoted within the last 30 days)

This information can be found on your endowment policy schedule and your most recent bonus statement.

How long does the process take?

Having made the decision to sell your policy through Surrenda-link, you could receive payment in as quickly as 10 days subject to us having received all the requested documentation. However, we are largely dependent upon the turnaround times of the issuing Life Assurance Company, which may vary. Average completion times for 2013 have been 16 working days.

Will Surrenda-link charge me for this service?

Surrenda-link does not charge you a fee for carrying out this service.

Who is buying my policy? Is it Surrenda-link?

Surrenda-link is acting as agent to the purchaser. Purchasers are large institutional investment specialists. We provide a service to arrange the purchase of your policy on an execution-only basis; we offer no financial advice as to the suitability of the sale of your policy. It is the purchaser who is buying your policy not Surrenda-link.

Why do you want to buy my policy?

Endowment policies are bought by the purchaser as a stable secondary investment. After purchase, our purchaser maintains the premium payments on the policy and claim full proceeds upon maturity.

What are the risks of selling my endowment prior to maturity?

By submitting your endowment policy details to us we are simply providing you with a quote for the amount we are willing to offer you for your policy. It is entirely your decision whether you then choose to sell your policy to us.

By selling your policy you may receive less money than if you were to hold the policy to maturity.

By selling your policy you will lose the life insurance cover that the policy offers. The purchaser of your policy will be entitled to claim any benefit on the policy in the event of the death of the named life assured(s). If you would still like to own life insurance cover we recommend you speak to an independent financial adviser.

By selling your policy you will be giving up the right to any windfall payment due should the issuing Life Assurance Company demutualise.

For further details of the risks of selling your endowment policy please click here

What happens when I accept your offer and send you my policy documents?

We will acknowledge receipt of your documents and send to you the Deed of Policy Assignment which we require you to sign, witness and return.

Surrenda-link will approach the Life Assurance Company to confirm the policy details that you provided. Our Offer is subject to confirmation of the policy details you provided being correct.

Upon receipt of the policy details from the Life Assurance Company and your documents, a series of due diligence checks will be carried out. If anything further is required we will contact you.

Prior to issuing payment for your policy we will confirm with the Life Assurance Company that you have paid all premiums up to this date. You are responsible for payment of premiums up until the point you receive payment for your policy. Failure to pay these premiums may result in our withdrawal.

Payment will be issued directly into the bank account.

Will you process an identity or credit check in my name?

We do not carry out a credit check, however we carry out electronic anti-money laundering verification and bankruptcy searches on all persons associated with the policy. In both circumstances we may require further information from you in relation to this search. If so, we will contact you to obtain these.

Would my offer price change at any point during the purchase process?

We base our offer on the policy information supplied to us in your enquiry. The surrender value provided by your Life Assurance Company may fluctuate during the purchase process. If upon checking the details we find that the information provided is incorrect or has changed, we reserve the right to revalue your policy. This may result in you receiving a revised offer from us or we may withdraw from the purchase.

How do I contact Surrenda-link if I have any questions about the progress of my sale?

You can contact Surrenda-link by calling

. Please note, to help improve our service your call will be monitored and recorded.

What if I am not satisfied with your service?

It is always our aim that a policy purchase is completed as efficiently as possible, if however, you feel that your experience when dealing with us has not reached your expectations, please contact us on

to discuss your dissatisfaction and we will provide you with a copy of our complaints procedure.

If you’re not happy with the decision we’ve taken on your complaint and wish to take it further, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to look into your complaint for you. This is a free, independent service for resolving disputes between customers and financial services institutions. You’ll need to contact them within 6 months of the date of our final response letter, and they’ll ask to see the letter as summary of our investigation of your complaint. Their details are as follows;

Telephone: 0800 0234 567
e-mail: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk