Endowments - srrender, freeze or sell?

[charlie5]

We are now mortgage free (happily) but still have an endowment policy with Friends that is seriously under-performing. Latest statement (Nov 2010) = Duration 11 Nov 1997 - 2019. Death benefit £55k. Premium £129.15 per mth. Sum assured £29425. Declared bonuses £3724. Surrender £18192.
Having paid in £1550 in the last 12 months, the guaranteed cash sum has increased by £9.29. Even taking into account the life insurance premiums and management fees, this is not a good performance.
Does anyone have any advice please?

[factor-fiction]

Things to consider:
1) The prospects for future growth are not great

2) I'm not 100% certain but I think that if you surrender and cash it in now there may be some tax to pay whereas there will be no tax if you let it run to maturity.

3) If you surrender you will lose the life cove rso may need to replace it.

4) You may get a betters urrender value on the open market. You may want to get a quote

[Captain Spod]

This is a with-profits policy and it is always possible to get more than the surrender value by selling on the open market. There will not be any tax to pay on sale or surrender as you haven't made a gain (and anyway it's more than 10 years old).

[charlie5]

Many thanks for your comments/feedback. I will investigate alternative life cover and see what the likely return would be if we sold the policy.