Financial services in England and Wales are heavily regulated – and rightly so. The range of financial products on the market is enormous, and financial advisors are entrusted with crucial arrangements such as savings, pensions and investments for the security of you, your family and your business. Despite regulation, things do still go wrong, and bad advice from financial advisors can cost you dearly.
Suing your financial advisor can seem daunting due to the technical nature of the financial industry. Your independent financial advisor (IFA) needs to have taken account of all suitable products on the market at the time you were advised. If you believe your financial advisor has been negligent, you may be entitled to compensation.
The Claims Against team offers extensive expertise in dealing with professional negligence claims of this kind. If your case relates to a mis-sold mortgage specifically, please visit our dedicated page here. In order to start your claim, the case must have arisen over the course of the last six years.
Case Study 1
Mrs. G. was a highly skilled medical professional who was obliged to retire due to a disability with her hands. Many years prior she had set up an insurance policy through a firm of financial advisors, which she expected would provide her with a specific level of income in the event that she could no longer practice.
Upon making a claim against the policy, it was discovered that the financial advisor had sold her a policy which was not fit for the purpose. The policy would not pay whilst she was capable of other types of work. Mrs. G. had intended that the policy would cover her if she could not carry out her own profession.
Mrs. G. fought the decision for many years. Her complaints to the financial advisors were rejected and a decision from the Financial Ombudsman failed to support her case. We arranged for a leading Barrister to review her case, who rated her prospects of success at 70%. This enabled us to enter into a No Win No Fee agreement. As a consequence, we have been able to launch court proceedings seeking payment of the insurance payout which Mrs. G. ought to have received but for the negligence of the financial advisor.
Case Study 2
A group of individuals, all of whom were retired, had known their financial advisor for years. They entrusted him with their life savings to ensure a comfortable retirement income. They would meet with their financial advisor annually to discuss their needs. Although the advisor often changed the financial wealth management companies for whom he worked, his clients would move with him.
One year, the advisor contacted his clients out of the blue and told them he had an excellent investment opportunity which would yield them a high interest rate over a short, fixed period and that they could have their investment back after that time if they chose. He told them that the investment was in gold and that it was so good that he had decided to invest in the scheme himself.
The advisor persuaded each individual to close the investments which he had previously arranged for them and which were held by the wealth management company that he worked for at the time. Once they had withdrawn all of the money, he then gave them instructions to pay over the monies to variously named bank accounts which he claimed were connected with the gold investment company. The clients lost all of their money as it transpired that the gold investment opportunity was a scam.
We were able to obtain an assessment of the cases from a specialist Barrister who advised that there were grounds to sue the financial wealth management company. By this time, the advisor had fled overseas. The wealth management company notified its insurers, who in turn appointed lawyers. They denied liability for the claim. On behalf of our clients, we were able to obtain insurance to cover the risks of losing the court case; risks which often stop private individuals from taking court action. We were also able to arrange No Win No Fee funding for the group’s legal costs. Court action ensued.
