Your guide to selling endowments in the UK.

If you are looking to surrender your endowment policy, we can offer you an online valuation for your policy in SECONDS, from up to 10 leading TEP buyers.

A traded endowment policy, or "TEP", is a with-profits endowment policy that has been sold by the original policyholder to another investor before the end of the agreed term of the policy. These policies are legally assigned to the new owner who continues to pay the premiums. They are also known as 'second hand endowments'.

The traded endowment market is expanding, largely due to the increase in public awareness and education.

In the majority of cases a better surrender value can be obtained on the traded endowment market, compared to that offered by a life assurance company. The difference is typically 15% but can be as high as 40%.

One of the reasons why life assurance companies appear to offer poor value is because the policyholder incurs "early surrender penalties", which are effectively charges deducted from the current value of the investment. These additional costs are incurred because the charges levied by the life assurance companies are based on the assumption that the policyholder will maintain the policy for the agreed term. A high proportion of the company's costs are incurred when the policy is first set up, though the charges to the policyholder are then spread over the life of the policy.

Consequently, selling a policy via the traded endowment market is an attractive solution for policyholders.

Each policy is individual and the amount you will receive will depend on the start date, the maturity date and the surrender value at the time you obtain a quote.