When I bought my flat two and a half years ago I decided to start a savings plan at the same time. I had seen AXA Sun Life's bonus cashbuilder plus plan advertised a lot on both TV and in the national press at the time and although endowment plans in general have had a lot of bad press I went ... Read review
Advantages: Lump sum after 15 years Disadvantages: Low returns at the moment
...time. I had seen AXA Sun Life's bonus cashbuilder plus plan advertised a lot on both TV and in the national press at the time and although endowment plans in general have had a lot of bad press I went for this one as I reckoned I would not be as likely to save anything otherwise.
*****WHO ARE AXA SUN LIFE?*****
Sun Life opened its doors for business almost two hundred years ago in 1810 and at one time declined the chance ... ...
AXA Equity & Law formed in 1844 and within a few years of formation the company had funds of £500,000 which was an amazing amount of money at this time.
The two companies merged in 1997 and AXA Sun Life was formed making one larger company which is part of the global AXA group.
*****HOW DOES THE BONUS CASHBUILDER WORK?*****
The bonus cashbuilder plus plan from AXA Sun Life is an endowment ... more
When I bought my flat two and a half years ago I decided to start a savings plan at the same time. I had seen AXA Sun Life's bonus cashbuilder plus plan advertised a lot on both TV and in the national press at the time and although endowment plans in general have had a lot of bad press I went for this one as I reckoned I would not be as likely to save anything otherwise.
*****WHO ARE AXA SUN LIFE?*****
Sun Life opened its doors for business almost two hundred years ago in 1810 and at one time declined the chance to insure the life of the famous author Charles Dickens on the basis that he worked too hard!
AXA Equity & Law formed in 1844 and within a few years of formation the company had funds of £500,000 which was an amazing amount of money at this time.
The two companies merged in 1997 and AXA Sun Life was formed making one larger company which is part of the global AXA group.
*****HOW DOES THE BONUS CASHBUILDER WORK?*****
The bonus cashbuilder plus plan from AXA Sun Life is an endowment plan which you pay a monthly amount into for fifteen years after which time you will receive a lump sum payment.
1) What you pay:-
You choose how much you want to pay each month up to a maximum of an initial £100 per month. Your payments then increase each year for the first five years for instance if you choose to pay £30 a month in year 1 you will then pay £36 a month in year 2, £42 a month in year 3, £48 a month in year 4, £54 a month in year 5 and then £60 a month for the last ten years of the plan.
2)What you will get back:-
When you take out your plan you are given a figure which is a guaranteed sum that you will get back after the fifteen year term has finished assuming that you make all of your payments. Each year the company will issue a bonus which will be added to your plan depending on how well the company performs over the year. These bonus's are based on the company's profits, so if the stockmarket performs well the bonus's the company can offer will increase. This bonus is added to your guaranteed payout increasing the amount you will then receive at the end of the fifteen year term meaning you will receive fifteen yearly bonus's. At the end of the fifteen year term, assuming you have paid all your premiums, you may also receive a terminal bonus as well boosting the value of your payout further.
*****OTHER BENEFITS*****
1) Life Insurance: -
The bonus cashbuilder plus plan also gives you some life insurance meaning that if you were to die within the fifteen years that the plan runs for your relatives or whoever you have chosen will be paid a lump sum. This is a relatively small amount and I would not take out this plan just for the life insurance. I personally would take out a seperate life insurance policy.
2) Free Gift:-
After paying your first premium you will receive a free gift. When I started my plan the free gift that I received was a set of his and hers watches. My fiancee who started a plan at the same time got a DVD player as her free gift. Again I would not take the plan out simply for this reason, I reckon the value of the free gift that you will receive is somewhere around the £30-£40 mark. I think the free gifts at the moment are either argos vouchers, a cheap looking digital camera or a mystery gift.
*****MY OPINION*****
At the moment I have to admit that the performance of my bonus cashbuilder plus plan has not been anywhere near to being as good as I would have hoped for. I have had two yearly bonus's added to my plan so far and if the rate of the bonus does not increase in future years then it looks like I will probably get less of a payout than what I have paid into the plan. In saying that the stockmarket has now had a couple of very good years, so I would expect the bonus's awarded to my plan to increase significantly as a result of this starting with the bonus for the 2005 year.
I would also say that it depends on what you are looking for. At the end of the day I will be happy as long as I get back more than what I have paid into my plan as it is money that I would probably have spent otherwise. I also like the way that your payments increase in the first five years as it means that your payments are starting low and you don't really notice the gradual increases.
Finally I would say that I would recommend you only start a plan like this if you are prepared to see it through for the full fifteen year term as if you cash it in early you are likely to be hit with severe exit penalties meaning you will get back a lot less than what you have paid in. In fact, on looking at my policy documents I have read that if you cash the policy in within the first three years you will get nothing back.
If you would like more information either phone 0845 7322223 or go to www.axa.co.uk
Advantages: A Guaranteed Tax FREE lump sum. Disadvantages: None
...gave me the details of AXA equity & law, who were very helpful and gave me really good advice and worked out an affordable monthly payment for me, which was brilliant. Then in 1997 AXA Equity & law became part of AXA Sun Life group, both of these are trading names of AXA SUN LIFE DIRECT LIMITED, which it is known as today. So my policy was transferred and I was invited to join a savings account which also had an extra life insurance cover and it ... ...about, as it is ideal for 18 year olds that maybe still live at home as it is more of a savings account than anything else.
IT IS CALLED THE BONUS CASHBUILDER PLUS:
The cash builder account has been advertised widely by the well-known TV personality Carol Smillie. This savings account actually runs for 15 years and you are guaranteed a good return on the maturity of the policy. I will list the other benefits separately:
1. A special low start ...
Deni 30.05.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Axa Sun Life
Advantages: Great Gurantee of building up a tax free lump sum Disadvantages: None
...limited offer only available at certain times of the year and by phoning AXA sunlife on the customer services number which is 0800 31 600 39
My advice is go for the BONUS CASHBUILDER PLUS IN THE HARSH GLOBAL ECOMOMIC CLIMATE AT THE MOMENT. I GREATLY RECOMMEND IT. ...
Jeser 04.08.2003 (05.08.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Axa Sun Life
Advantages: At least you're saving something Disadvantages: Low return, high penalties for getting out early
...simple explanation of how the Axa cashbuilder policy works, is as follows: The plan runs over 15 years, with initial contributions of ten pounds per month, increasing by two pounds annually, until your monthly contributions have gone up to twenty pounds, which you continue to pay for the last ten years. Each year a bonus is added to your savings and at the end of the 15 years, you receive a tax free lump sum. It sounds good in theory, but personally ... ...Axa about five years ago, thinking that ten pounds a month sounded like a reasonably small amount to save and even when it did go up I wouldn't mind the increase, as long as I got a nice pay out in the end. Unfortunately though, I didn't really thinking the implications through; I foolishly assumed that my earnings would go up over time so that it wouldn't be difficult to keep up with the increased monthly amount. 15 years is however an incredibly ...
unever 14.02.2006 (24.02.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Axa Sun Life
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Quick review of Axa Sun Life
what a rip off takin money then wont let u cash in ignoring customers requests disgusting how u treat people is rediculous customer for three years. due to change of bank details cancelled plan and for past year after severall letters and phone calls have been messed about and nothing has been returned to me i thought this company had a good reputation i would have had better return from a money lender
PATHETIC!!!!!!! ...
angrycustomer 29.05.2007
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Axa Sun Life
Advantages: Easy to set up Disadvantages: very very poor customer service when you need them most
...insurance for several years with axa - it was more expense but I had a number of other insurance policies with them (life ete).
Never claimed - but this winter had a burst pipe during the cold spell. Insurance detailed that I would be covered for pipes damaged as a result of freezing. Thought I would be okay, contacted Axa and was made to feel like an insurance fraudster -cross examined for 40 minutes (worse than facing a barrister), told it wasn't ... ...you wish to make a claim. An extraordinary experience as a customer awaits if you try. The extra cost of the Axa policy is not worth it - take my advice and move to another company, which cover burst pipes at a fraction of the premium. ...
GERRY192 13.03.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful Review of Axa Sun Life
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