Finacial Advisor Bogus Charges

lillboy

Hi
i would like some advise on who i should try to recoupe charges from.

My fiancial advisor who acted for me for several years was adding charges to the remorgaging process and saying these where charges that had to be paid to the lender. Payment was always cash or cheque made out to the company that he was employed by, or so we thought.
on our last remortgae we notice that the copmany lending the money had stipulated that no fees would be incurred. so we rang the company advising us to ask for a refund of fees paid. After several phone calls (because the actual advisor in question was on an 8 week sailing trip) it became apparent that the advisor had infact set up another Bank acount using the same name as the company but minus the IFA so his account was XXXXXX but the company account was XXXXXX IFA. At this time the police was notified and he was charges we obtaning money by deception on his arrival back to the UK.
The false account was frozen after he had withdrawn all the money from it.

He was charged in march 2005, now i have been imformed that the CPS no longer want to proceed with the case, I am just one of over 30 people who had to give statements, and it was agreed with the Company that he worked for that my previous remortgages had been subject to these false charges. spanning over 2 years. How Much had he made

The actual company have helped us gather evidence to submit to the police and i continue to use them as my advisors.
if i take this to the small claims courts who do i file the case against ?
The Company which he represented or the individual.
Does anyone out there Know of any lawers that deals with this kind of legal dispute or should i just find out where he lives and smash his head in.

He continues to work in the finacial sevices sector working for another company. I am told he can do this because he is employed as an introducer not advisor. This makes my blood boil.
Thanks Lillboy

dunstonh

If he was an employee, then the company who employed him is responsible for his actions. They should be the ones you deal with.

He continues to work in the finacial sevices sector working for another company. I am told he can do this because he is employed as an introducer not advisor. This makes my blood boil.

Introducers do not give financial advice and do not need authorisation. You could become an introducer with no training or qualifications.

MortgageMamma

What a git, he should be behind bars in my opinion.

lillboy

Hi there
he was actually a director of this company. thats why i thought i should be pursuing the company not him.
Thanks Lillboy

lillboy

Hi here is a copy of a letter i intend sending to the company,
Copied bit from the bank charges letter hope it works.


Dear Directors

I have just officially been notified from the police that the Crown Prosecution Service are no longer pursuing the case regarding Mr XXXXXX.
I have obtained legal advice on recovering the losses I incurred whilst being advised by Mr XXXXXX for my financial matters.

Therefore because Mr XXXXX was representing and employed by XXXXX you are responsible for the refunding of the money.

I am therefore requesting refund of the £299.00 paid to Mr XXXXXon or around 4th Nov 2004 for the setting up of the mortgage with XXXXX Building Society.
On you obtaining copies of all my financial documentsfrom me, after Mr XXXXX had gained entry into your offices and removed my files, one of the directors identified that there was extra charges levied on the previous Mortgage with XXXXXand that these extra charges where not applicable to this mortgage application and therefore should be refunded.
I am also requesting refund of the £200.00 paid to Mr XXXXX on or around 18Th October 2002 for the setting up of Mortgage with XXXXX Bank.
In earlier conversations one of the directors indicated that the company could not afford to reimburse all the people who where duped into paying the false charges levied by Mr XXXXX, since seeking advise I now understand that your company would have professional indemnity insurance covering such claims, also you will still be receiving commission for the products sold to me by Mr XXXXX.

Should you decide that you will not be refunding a total of £499.00 I will be pursing this through the County Courts System.
I understand that when making a County Court claim, then I can claim interest on the money the defendant owes me, that is that the claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% a year, I will be adding this interest in accordance with this act should you decide to defend this claim.

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

If you do not respond or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

After that will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a County Court Claim at the expiry of the second deadline.


Yours truly,

lillboy

Please could anyone add any other info i should include or remove before posting this to the company

i Have also put this on Bank Action group furum hoping for any positive advise.

lillboy

Hi everyone
Sent a letter similar to above and now an update

I had phone call today from one of the directors stating that his legal team are still trying to recoupe the money from the false fees of the defendant alltough police have dropped the charges.
He stated that he would not be able to refund my charges untill this is complete !
I have told him to pass my letter to his legal advisor as i would be continuing with the claim.
Questions
1. do i continue with the claim and submitt a "letter before action 14 days after sending origional letter.
2. if i get a letter from their solicitors do i need to get my own solicitor to reply to the letter.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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