Mr Juhoor recommends professional advice.Q: What should I do regarding underperformance and mis-selling of endowment policies supposed to pay off mortgages? PS, Merseyside.A: There are no grounds for complaint just about the underperformance of an endowment which leads to a shortfall in repaying a mortgage. But whoever sold you the policy was required to ensure you were aware of risks of an endowment and that its returns depended on stock market performance.If they failed to do so, they mis-sold the policy and you should be eligible for compensation to put you into the same position as if you had been sold a repayment mortgage. Other grounds for a complaint of mis-selling include an endowment being sold with payments beyond retirement, or selling an inappropriate product.Any complaint for mis-selling should be directed in the first instance to the firm that sold you the endowment. If you do not receive a satisfactory response complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (020 7964 1000).Q: I read your article on Lincoln Financial Group (Misery piles on victims of the endowment trap, 8 February).I have a maximum investment plan and a FSAVC with Lincoln and I have stopped contributing to both because of the bad performance. Might Lincoln go bankrupt? Should I surrender the policies? SM, London.A: Lincoln is part of a very large and solid international financial group and we have heard nothing to suggest it will go bankrupt Many of its policies are bad performers. You do not provide enough details to suggest whether to surrender your policies.Donna Bradshaw of Fiona Price & Partners says although Lincoln’s charges are high, you will also have to pay surrender fees and charges for any fund you move your money to.

You need specific advice, but do not be surprised if the recommendation is to move.. Fraudsters are getting away with more than £1bn a year in fake claims on household and motor insurance policies, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) revealed this week. They are now warning customers they will not be duped and will make it more difficult for cheaters.There are 70 million motor and household insurance policies in the UK, which means the cost of fraudulent claims is £14.20 per policy. Churchill Insurance, among the UK’s largest insurance companies with seven million policyholders, yesterday said fraudulent claims added £30 to its average premium. It is investigating £10m worth of car insurance claims.In the ABI’s survey, 7 per cent of people admitted making a false claim and saw that on a par with stealing towels from a hotel. Nearly half, 47 per cent, would not rule out making a fraudulent claim, just above the temptation to knowingly buy stolen goods.The ABI found 40 per cent of people think it acceptable to exaggerate a claim and 29 per cent think it is acceptable to make up a claim, the same number that think shoplifting is acceptable.

One in four people said they would be tempted to use a stolen credit card. “People think insurance fraud is a victimless crime,” the ABI’s spokesman, Malcolm Tarling, says. “They cannot see someone at the end of the chain who is damaged by their actions or suffers in any way. But insurers have to fund the cost of fraud by putting up premiums for the other policyholders. Insurers agree most claims are genuine, but the dishonest few pump up the costs for everyone.”Five years ago, the ABI had reckoned fraud was costing between £750m and £800m a year. Now, premeditated fraud is increasing, including staged car accidents with vehicles bought for scrap.

The fraudsters employ accomplices to act as “independent witnesses” to verify their claims.But insurers are getting better at spotting fraudulent or exaggerated claims and work together to share claims information. “We were told of a case where a man had insured his car 10 times with different insurers, then claimed the car had been stolen from each insurer,” Mr Tarling says. “But the claim was picked up on a database shared by all the insurers and he was caught out.”We had a case where a man claimed £2,000 on his medical insurance for an emergency appendectomy that happened on holiday abroad. It turned out he had made similar claims on eight previous holidays with different insurers.”Insurers now employ specialist forensic experts to examine claim documents, and they have close links with the police to identify possible criminal activity. They can spot a forged document, such as a receipt that may have been doctored to bump up a stolen goods claim.