What is the endowment surrender value of your endowment policy?

The endowment surrender value is the amount of cash that the endowment life office will pay to you if you decide to surrender the endowment back to them.

Note that if you go ahead you will lose the life insurance cover that is built in to the policy so should think carefully before proceeding.

The same applies if you decide to sell your endowment instead of the option to surrender it.

The endowment surrender value can usually be obtained over the phone simply by contacting the endowment company that is administering the policy. This may not be the original endowment company, as many have changed hands and been absorbed in to other life assurance companies.

Once you have obtained the endowment surrender value you can then go one step further and see if the endowment surrender value can be beaten by getting a traded endowment value instead. This is the price you would be paid if an endowment trader can find an endowment buyer that wants your policy.

Many companies have offered this facility in the past, although current economic condition have put quite a damper on the market, as the incentive to buy is governed by the projected future maturity value of the policy.

However, some policies are still sought after, so a bit of time filling in the form at the top link might pay dividends.

Historically the life offices have not told the person surrendering their endowment policy the alternative option of selling or trading the endowment, but the Financial Services Authority (FSA) are now the "financial watch dog" that regulate these institutions, and it is now compulsory for these institutions to inform the endowment policy holder that the "selling endowment" option exists as an alternative.

So before surrendering an endowment policy, click the FSA link above to see what Government information is at hand, and you can also use the link at the top of the page to have your endowment policy valued.

Stopping, surrendering, cashing in or selling an endowment policy should only be looked upon as a last resort, but if after taking independent financial advice the policy holder is determined to proceed, then alternative life cover should also be considered to replace the life insurance that will be lost to the policy holder when the endowment has changed hands.

Note: the policy holders life assurance will still be in force, but the new owner of the policy will be the one who collects on it, if the original policy holder dies before the endowment policy matures.

Selling endowments

Selling endowments to one of only six endowment policy traders that are  members of the Association of Policy Market Makers, can be achieved by using the "sell endowment" link at the top of the page, or by clicking here

The information on this web site is intended as "information only" and should not be taken as "advice".

If you are unsure about what to do, if anything, about your endowment policy, you should consider taking advice from an independent financial adviser who is regulated by the Financial Services Authority