I have been a customer of Windsor Life for about 15 years so I thought it might be useful for me to share my experiences with you. I took out a private pension and a long term Additional Wealth Plan with them shortly after buying my home.
A little background on Windsor Life:
Windsor Life Assurance was purchased in 2004 by Swiss Re Group, which has been a well known insurer to other insurance companies since 1860. Its headquarters in the UK are in Telford and has managed more than 75 million in funds under management. It specialises in investments be they lump sum, regular savings, life insurance or pensions.
When I took out my policies it was with General Portfolio, however they then changed name to GAN and then were taken over or sold to Windsor Life.
My good experiences with the company:
I have been a customer for 15 years and in that time I general received a good level of service. My account was managed or so I believed in a quiet by professional way and I had little contact with them. When I needed to call which was rare I was treated well and my calls always got dealt with in a polite if sometimes vague manor. Usually someone would call me back with the information I required the same day.
In my time as a customer I also received half yearly statements. These were always on time and presented in an easy to read and clear forms, so I knew exactly how my accounts were progressing. I always kept these safe and rarely needed to question or ask about them.
Although I did not know at the time but they do have a wide variety of individual funds 1400 in total. So there is plenty of choice and variety for potential customers.
They also have a good web site that advises you of all their products and services they can provide This I checked on an occasional basis and provides information all funds on it have their current market price updated on a daily basis. The only problem I found was finding my fund because there are so many and because the fund on the web site was different from the name given on my statements. The web site is: www.windsor-life.com.
My bad experiences with the company:
My main issue I had with them was the fact that I did not feel they were managing my money as well as I would like and getting for me the returns I would have expected. When I looked at see how my fund was doing in comparison to other funds the results for me were disappointing. This made me start to question what exactly I was getting for my investments and in turn what was the company doing for me.
In the early years of my investments when it was General Portfolio and GAN I had regular review with and advisor. This however all stopped when Windsor Life took my business on. I did not consider this to be a major problem as I felt they were always try to sell me additional polices that I did not require. However, while they were doing this they were also advising me about my investments and when required moving with my permission my account to other providers who they believed would be performing better with my money.
What I decided to do and why:
As a result of the above I consulted both my Bank and an Independent Financial Consultant. Both told me a similar thing which in many ways scared me. That Windsor Life are a backroom organisation, by this I mean they simply buy up policies from other companies and administer them for you. So they do not pro-actively manage your money, they do not advise you of the best performing funds and neither do they try and sell your new investment opportunities. Basically all they do is answer the telephone queries, advise on current valuations and provide statements of your account and for this they take commission between one and two per cent of the fund each year.
I was very disappointed my account was merely being administered by Windsor Life and felt that had not been explained properly to me. I know I should have questioned it earlier and been more on the ball but sometimes you don't consider these things and you just get on with your own lives.
After seeking advice I decided it was time I pro-actively managed my accounts again and had profession support to do this so I put in motion my decision to close both of my accounts with Windsor Life.
I phoned them and they agreed to send through the forms. They never asked me why for tried to advise me not to change, I was surprised. I completed the forms and waited. It took two months for them to transfer the money into my Bank, which seemed a long time but at least they did it and did not charge me any fees for the transfer and closing of my accounts.
As a result my investments are now elsewhere, I have an independent Financial Adviser and I will be taking a more active role with him on my investments. I know the financial markets are volatile at the moment and no one really knows what will happen in the future and just feel more comfortable knowing that a professional is helping me to look after my investments.
Conclusion:
I am sad in many ways to no longer have investments and dealings with Windsor Life after being a customer for many years. I think they in general treated me with respect and in a professional way. I just do not feel between us we have done this best for my investments. I think they should have spelt out to all clients that they are just an Administration function which I never really understood until I investigated my options and looked in more detail at my returns.
I hope this review is of some help to people. Sorry if I have bored you or have gone on a bit. I just thought it might be useful to share my experiences so that you can make your own considered opinions once you know all the facts. I have tried to be balanced in my views of this company so you are aware of what they do well and also what in my view they do badly.
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Comments about this review »
carcraig 20.10.2008 17:53
E from me. Great review, Caroline xx
martinwi 19.10.2008 15:32
A great review. I was going to give this a VH but, thinking on this the point within is so vital. Dont just accept a company is doing its best, look and ask. This is so true nowdays. As this is so important and relevant to people, it really rings my bell, so its an E from me. Martin.
Zmugzy 18.10.2008 02:28
A review that will be very useful to many - nice one!
Sep 6th, 2008
exceptional by (22%):
very helpful by (78%):
