Investment turns out to be an annuity plan

It was with shock that I learnt of my investment being an annuity plan of which I made it clear when I took it out in 2007 that I need an investment plan to withdraw funds from when needed.

So obviously I was never informed that this would be annuity as I instructed my financial advisor to get me an investment plan. How many of the clients were also affected.

When I stopped it in 2015 I didn’t see any growth and reserved the money so that I could withdraw for emergencies at a later stage of my life.

Well, I now have an emergency and now Old Mutual is telling me that I cant access the funds before the age of 55 as this is an annuity. What??? Seriously I never signed up for an annuity.

I just feel that from the beginning Old Mutual advisor did not explain adequately the restrictions on the policy and in addition to that l was offered the wrong policy completely.

I feel that a product with more flexibility would have better suited my needs. If I knew of all the restrictions I would never have agreed to the terms and conditions set out in the policy wording.

As a customer l am entitled to express my discontent when necessary. I have a financial crisis which requires funds and l am now stuck as l cannot access my money which I have been saving for all these years whilst Old Mutual is spinning it around and making money with money whilst l suffer and draw me into debt.

Now l'm told about restriction period - why would I save money to be restricted when needing it. I am now forced to discourage anyone not to even consider investing with Old Mutual at all. It doesn't serve its purpose. There should be other companies offering us better products that suites our needs better.

All I want is just my money.