Standard Life has announced that ninety-seven per cent of its endowment policies would not pay off customers' loans, in a move that shocked investors.

However, Standard Life said the figure showed that a slightly better than last year’s figure of 98 per cent.

An individual who paid 50 pounds per month into a 25-year mortgage endowment would obtain a pay out of 26,869 pounds as compared with 31,066 pounds in the previous year, representing a decline of 13.5 per cent.

A 20-year pension plan of 200 pounds per month maturing today has a value of 82,301 pounds as compared with 87,095 pounds in the previous year.

The company said a majority of its with-profits customers would see an increase in the value of their policies as compared with last year.

However, some investors would suffer disappointment as returns they have received might not match FTSE 100 index’ rise of 22 per cent last year.

Earlier this month, Britain's leading insurer Aviva announced that it would hold and for some policies even reduce regular bonus rates for its savers.