Act now on mis-sold endowments: new article

kaznelson

Firstly thanks for your previous help... but I still seem to be getting no where!!

Originally wrote to Friends Provident in the summer, they referred us to the Accountant that sold us the policy. After my accountants ignored my previous 3 letters, I wrote to them demanding a reply or I would be reporting them to the FSA, as advised.

Today I have received a reply from the accountant saying they have no reassuring information on our policy and telling us to contact FP or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme???? HELP!!!!

dunstonh

kaznelson wrote: »

Firstly thanks for your previous help... but I still seem to be getting no where!!

Originally wrote to Friends Provident in the summer, they referred us to the Accountant that sold us the policy. After my accountants ignored my previous 3 letters, I wrote to them demanding a reply or I would be reporting them to the FSA, as advised.

Today I have received a reply from the accountant saying they have no reassuring information on our policy and telling us to contact FP or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme???? HELP!!!!

Friends Provident have no responsibility here as they didnt sell it. Your accountant did. However, the accountant may not have been regulated at the time and no consumer protection may exist for you.

The FSCS is only for firms that were regulated and have gone into default. That is not your accountant.

When did you sign up for the endowment?

dreamylittledream

dunstonh wrote: »

Friends Provident have no responsibility here as they didnt sell it. Your accountant did. However, the accountant may not have been regulated at the time and no consumer protection may exist for you.

The FSCS is only for firms that were regulated and have gone into default. That is not your accountant.

When did you sign up for the endowment?

Unless the policy was sold after 2001 when investment advice by accountants came under the FSA its irrelevant.

The RPB (Recognised Professional Body) who regulated accountants prior to the 2000 Financial Services and Markets Act, the Insitute of Chartered Accountants never had any powers to award compensation for poor investment advice.

As a result the accountant can fairly safely ignore your complaint as you effectively have no route of appeal - the ICA can investigate your concerns but it can not make any award of redress.

Your only option I'm afraid is legal action if it was indeed an accountant who sold you the policy.

treliac

If you change from I/O to repayment, the mortgage is extended for so much longer. Should the calculation of redress for mis-selling take into account the fact that much more interest will have to be paid on the loan over the extended life of the mortgage, particularly if the redress is calculated some years after the changeover?

kaznelson

dreamylittledream wrote: »

Unless the policy was sold after 2001 when investment advice by accountants came under the FSA its irrelevant.

The RPB (Recognised Professional Body) who regulated accountants prior to the 2000 Financial Services and Markets Act, the Insitute of Chartered Accountants never had any powers to award compensation for poor investment advice.

As a result the accountant can fairly safely ignore your complaint as you effectively have no route of appeal - the ICA can investigate your concerns but it can not make any award of redress.

Your only option I'm afraid is legal action if it was indeed an accountant who sold you the policy.

The policy was taken out in 1994. The accountant claims that it was sold by there Independant Financial Advisor? But FP say the Accountant sold the policy to us? At the time we were both young, 20, and about to get married and buy our 1st home! I do recall that it wasn't the actual accountant who visited us, but a gentleman we believed to be his employee.

dreamylittledream

kaznelson wrote: »

The policy was taken out in 1994. The accountant claims that it was sold by there Independant Financial Advisor? But FP say the Accountant sold the policy to us? At the time we were both young, 20, and about to get married and buy our 1st home! I do recall that it wasn't the actual accountant who visited us, but a gentleman we believed to be his employee.

Ask FP for a copy of the commission roll, the proposal form and confirm the SIB reference of the selling agent.

That should confirm matters.

mayb_2

If the accountant is covered by the fact he wasn't regulated why doesn't he just write and tell you so? Why avoid answering your questions in this way? Why not ask for copies of all the paperwork both FP and the Accountant's hold on your policy and its purchase. Do you have a name for your visitor and is there some way you can check whether he was a chartered accountant or working for the company in some other capacity - a mate who was looking for some way to up his commission that month perhaps? What paperwork did he give you at the time? It should have given some information about his role in this.

If they balk, ask for it under the Data Protection Act. You must make it clear in writing that you are making a Subject Data Access Request and require copies of anything they have on file relating to you. Make a nuisance of yourself and make it clear you are not going away without concrete answers to your questions. Happy hunting - it is too expensive to give up on it yet.

mayb_2

ps send everything recorded delivery so they can't later say they didn't get them.

mayb_2

Thanks dreamy I think that might have been what I was trying to say - but just didn't have the words!

dreamylittledream

mayb wrote: »

If the accountant is covered by the fact he wasn't regulated why doesn't he just write and tell you so? Why avoid answering your questions in this way? Why not ask for copies of all the paperwork both FP and the Accountant's hold on your policy and its purchase. Do you have a name for your visitor and is there some way you can check whether he was a chartered accountant or working for the company in some other capacity - a mate who was looking for some way to up his commission that month perhaps? What paperwork did he give you at the time? It should have given some information about his role in this.

If they balk, ask for it under the Data Protection Act. You must make it clear in writing that you are making a Subject Data Access Request and require copies of anything they have on file relating to you. Make a nuisance of yourself and make it clear you are not going away without concrete answers to your questions. Happy hunting - it is too expensive to give up on it yet.

The accountant still has to respond to the complaint or ironically you could complain to the ICA about his complaint handling process.

The problem is that if he rejects the complaint (which is the likely situation unless he feels like handing out money), if you refer the complaint to his regulator at the time, the ICA they have no powers to force him to award redress if they agree you have a valid complaint.

Its a similar situation for Scottish Solicitors as unlike The Law Society, The Law Society of Scotland was never granted powers akin to the FOS and its predecessors to enforce an award of compensation for mis-sold investments.

If you really push the matter you may be able to get an award for distress and inconvienience (known as a D&I payment) but these are usually capped at about £250.