The complainants were advised that their 15-year mortgage would be repaid after a period of 13 years and seven months if they selected an endowment mortgage. After a period of 14 years, the complainants received a notification that the proceeds of their policy would not be sufficient to discharge the mortgage debt.

The complaint was that the financial service provider that sold them the policy failed subsequently to assess the performance of the policy or at any time to report on its performance until 14 years of the 15-year term had elapsed.

However, on investigation, the ombudsman was satisfied that the complainants had indeed been updated on several occasions.

The ombudsman considered that the complainants' allegation that they did not know the potential shortfall of the fund was not justified and he did not uphold the complaint.