Which? launched its endowment action campaign in September 2002, aiming to make sure that people mis-sold an endowment mortgage received compensation.
Which? research showed that five million people could have been mis-sold an endowment mortgage, but hardly any were complaining or claiming compensation.
The launch of the campaign unveiled a website with tips and information on the complaints process, and a letter generator to help people write their own letters of complaint.
The website, now part of Which?’s wider website www.which.co.uk, has been enormously popular. Around 350,000 people have complained since the campaign got underway - a massive surge in complaint numbers.
This sheer volume of complaints exposed the poor readiness of the financial services industry to cope, and some companies - for example Friends Provident - have even been fined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for poor complaint handling.
We sent a formal complaint to the Treasury about the handling of the endowment issue by the FSA, and while the Treasury declined to investigate, the FSA's handling of endowments has been consistently in the spotlight in the past few years.
The Treasury Select Committee heard evidence from Which?, the FSA and big insurance companies about how millions of people ended up with the wrong product to pay off their mortgages. The committee chairman even suggested the FSA was 'asleep on the job'.
Thanks to our campaigning, pressure from MPs, and the hundreds of thousands of complaints people have made, the FSA and the financial services industry have had to amend the information being sent to people, including giving people a much clearer timetable for how long they may have left to complain.
From the feedback we've received, we know the difference it can make to people's lives when they win their complaint and receive compensation. It can help pay off the mortgage, and stop people worrying so much about the projected shortfall.
The endowment mis-selling saga has also shown that the financial services industry needs to do a lot more to ensure that consumers are at the heart of its business. Which? continues to campaign for a financial services industry which meets consumers needs and treats customers fairly.
Endowment compensation calculator We've heard of many offers of compensation being wrongly calculated. If you are unsure whether your offer of compensation is correct, you can now check this using an external online calculator. The calculator has been produced by the same company that supplies the redress calculation package to the Financial Ombudsman Service, The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the Law Society and over 95 per cent of the industry. A fee of £52.50 applies.
