An endowment policy is a savings and life assurance policy for an agreed period. The minimum period is 10 years with terms commonly up to 20 or 25 years. A benefit is paid out on maturity or earlier death. The policyholder may even sell the policy on the traded endowment market instead of surrendering it before the end of the term, if cash is needed. Such policies can be divided into two categories:
With-Profits Endowments - Bonuses are added to the sum assured and once added cannot be withdrawn. These may be added annually (the reversionary bonus) and at the end of the term (a terminal bonus), depending upon the investment performance at the time. 
Non-Profit Endowments - A guaranteed sum is paid out at maturity or death, whichever is earlier. This policy is often very poor value for money as it does not take into account inflation, and as such these policies are rare.
Several versions of the above are available, one being the low-cost endowment. These products have traditionally been used as a method of paying back a mortgage, by combining a with-profits endowment with decreasing term assurance. They should be sufficient cover to repay the mortgage at the end of the term but this is not guaranteed, and the shortfalls of such policies have been highly publicised in recent months.  

If you are concerned about your endowment policy and would like independent advice on the best course of action, please do not hesitate to ifasw.co.uk. The advisers that we recommend all operate on a strict no obligation basis and are more than happy to help you. ifasw.co.uk are in a prime position to assist you - Just ask us by clicking here!