Norwich Union is telling thousands of its customers, who had previously been told their endowment policy was on track to pay off their home loan, they might now face shortfalls.
The insurer has announced that around 75% of its 1.3 million policies ‘ around 975,000 policies ‘ are now expected to fall into the red and amber categories.
James Evans, head of media relations at Norwich Union, said: ‘We are just starting to send out re-projection letters. We mail on the basis of the anniversary of the policy, so not all will be mailed at the moment. We do not have any solid projections as yet but we believe our figures will be in line with industry figures, which are between 75% and 80% of policies in the amber and red categories. .’
Two years ago, the breakdown of endowment policies at Norwich Union was 36% green, 59% amber and 5% red. Norwich Union is not alone, Standard Life, Prudential, Eagle Star and Allied Dunbar have sent, or are about to send, a second round of letters to their policyholders. Recent research by the Association of British Insurers suggests that 6.2 million of the country’s 10.7 million policies are in danger of failing to meet their intended targets.