My Aviva policy is one of a kind

In 1973 I invested in an investment bond which, over the years, was taken over by several financial firms, eventually ending up with Friends Life, now part of Aviva.

Three months ago I received only £75 instead of the £305 I was due. Since then I have made telephone calls and written, to no avail. Friends Life says it has updated its computers and can no longer cope with my bond. I will be 82 next month and really do not need this hassle. RB, SUFFOLK

Many readers complain that the financial institutions that are keen to take their money are less willing to answer legitimate questions.

You had been receiving half-yearly income payments based on an annual 5pc return of your fund’s underlying value.

You went to enormous trouble to get the shortfall paid but couldn’t.

Aviva now tells me the payment is unusual in that it is manually calculated and paid every six months.

There is a flag alerting the team when each payment becomes due. This time it was missed and the system reverted to a standard calculation that is more usual for this type of product.

I understand that your policy is the only one the insurer is aware of where the withdrawal amount is calculated on a current fund value.

Aviva has now paid the outstanding £230 and has also added a further £200 to apologise. Neither of these sums has been taken out of the policy.

It has been suggested that you could move to one of its standard payment options, such as a fixed income per year.

Meanwhile, Aviva says it has put additional controls in place to ensure that what happened last time isn’t repeated if you stay with the product.

You find it difficult to grasp how Aviva couldn’t have addressed your queries sooner and explained the mechanics of the product. It should, you

say, have told you it was having a problem and that your policy was the only one of its kind left.