The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) will press the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) to pass on details it holds on endowment mortgage policies, following claims that up to two-thirds of such policies may be unable to fund their associated homeloan at maturity.
The move comes after the Consumers' Association of Ireland (CAI) claimed to have seen an IIF survey revealing that half of the endowment policies held by Irish homeowners would fail to clear their mortgage at maturity, even with 8 per cent annual growth.
Even if annual growth comes in at 6 per cent going forward, two-thirds of endowment-holders could be in trouble, according to the CAI. The association believes that up to 50,000 policyholders could be affected but the IIF declined to confirm this figure.
Endowment mortgages comprise two separate products: a mortgage and an insurance policy. The consumer repays just the interest on the mortgage, while simultaneously contributing to the policy in the expectation that it will rise to a value sufficient to repay the principal originally borrowed.
After three successive years of stock market declines however, the endowment model has proved less than successful, with most policies having registered declines.
"We would be very interested in seeing this survey, if it exists," an IFSRA spokesman said yesterday. "What we would be interested in would be information that would have implications for the consumer and also potentially for the industry," the spokesman said.
"We would then, if necessary, probably contact the industry and discuss any issues that might arise," he added.
It would be likely that any ensuing investigation would be headed by IFSRA's recently appointed consumer director, Ms Mary O'Dea.
A spokeswoman for the IIF said she was not in a position to comment on "a leaked document", but acknowledged that current returns on endowment policies are lower than they were previously.
She said the IIF had written to its members, advising them to contact endowment policyholders more often and advise them on their financial position.
Under existing legislation, insurance companies are required to provide endowment customers with a review every five years.
The IIF now believes that reviews should be sent to customers annually.
"The issue is about trying to make people properly informed as to how their policy is progressing," said Ms Jennifer Hoban, life assurance manager with the IIF. She added that current growth rates, if maintained, could leave "quite a few" endowment policies unable to fund consumers' mortgages.
"It makes sense to start thinking about it now," she said.
A number of insurance companies contacted by The Irish Times yesterday, including Irish Life and Standard Life, confirmed that they have already moved to an annual review system, but one, Hibernian, said it offered customers their first review at ten years, and followed with biennial reviews thereafter.
Most insurance companies stopped selling endowments in the early 1990s.
