Case studies

A few years ago, Bob and Janet took out a 10 year savings bond. They both had good jobs, so they could afford to put some money away for their future. Unfortunately, Bob was made redundant so the couple had to look around to see where they could make some savings. Their first thoughts were to stop paying the premiums into the savings bond but before they made any decisions, they spoke to an independent financial adviser that Phoenix Customer Care had put them in touch with.

She told them that they could cash in the bond before the 10 year investment period had ended, but they might not get back all the money they’d already paid in. She told them that they would also lose the valuable life cover offered by the bond, that would pay out if either of them were to die. Their financial adviser also made Bob and Janet aware of the option of making the policy "paid up" but again, this might have meant that they would not have received the amount that they had planned for from this policy. Bob and Janet took her advice and made savings elsewhere, such as by changing their utility providers and looking for better credit card rates.

The financial adviser was right – not long afterwards, Bob got a new job and the investment bond matured into a very welcome lump sum. Bob and Janet used some of the lump sum to help put their son through university and the rest to pay for a well-earned holiday.

The case studies in this section of the website are fictional representations of people’s experiences. Everyone's circumstances are different and you should speak to a financial adviser before making any decisions.