Time running out for victims of mis-selling

People who were mis-sold endowment mortgages could have just weeks left to lodge a complaint with an independent ombudsman, the Consumers' Association (CA) warned today.

The group claims that time is running out for people who received their first reprojection letter in 2000, as they only have until early 2003 to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The CA has criticised City watchdog the financial services authority (FSA) for failing to publicise this deadline, and has called on it to extend it by 12 months.

Under current rules, consumers who think they were mis-sold an endowment mortgage must initially complain to the firm that employed the adviser who sold them their policy. If they do not receive a satisfactory response within eight weeks they can refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, but this must be done within six years of buying the product or within three years of when they first became aware there was a problem.

The Consumers' Association says that this three year period will be up in 2003 for people who first received a reprojection letter in 2000, which was likely to be the first indication they had that their investment may not be large enough to pay off their mortgage. But it is concerned that many consumers may not be aware of this deadline.

Sheila McKechnie, director of the Consumers' Association, said: "The clock has already started ticking. If you are unsure about whether you were one of those mis-sold an endowment, you must act now, because this could be your last chance.

"The FSA must throw consumers a lifeline and agree to take action to change the rules to give consumers an extra year to make a complaint."

Around 100,000 complaints have been received by firms since April 2000 and just over a third of these have been upheld, with consumers receiving average redress payments of ?3,000.

An FSA spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the issue and we are committed to making sure consumers do not suffer as a result