Beware If You Are Asked By Your Bank To Attend A Financial Review

Geoffo_M

A friend of mine went for a financial review at a high street bank a couple of months ago. She earns little more than £5,000 a year and has to watch every penny. The bank were aware of this, yet they recommended she upgraded her current account from one that was free to one that would cost her £7 a month. In return, they provided her with:-
*Mobile insurance (worth £96 they claim) on a mobile that cost less than £60!
*AA Breakdown cover (worth £65). After reading the small print, we found that this was for JOINT cover – this despite the bank knowing that my friend is single and would not require joint cover!
*Card protection insurance (worth £20), yet she has only one card and never travels abroad
*Interest free overdraft (worth £9) – she is very rarely overdrawn
*Shopping Discounts hardly worth mentioning

She was also persuaded to buy the Bank’s own Home Contents Insurance – not a bad idea, except that the policy cost her £97 and I have already found two others with equal benefits at under £40.

She signed several disclaimers saying the bank had explained everything to her. She was given details as to her “right to cancel”, but it is clear to me that the bank did not have my friend’s interests at heart. I will be very surprised if she gets any return on any of this outlay.

I would warn everyone to be very careful if you are asked to attend a review. If you are unsure, ask a friend to go with you. These sharks are after your money!

Geoff

trets77

wouldn,t be LLOYDS TSB would it by any chance ??? sounds very familiar lol

they love doing this. i.e give you red carpet treatment for five mins to lure you in then try and sell you anything they can.

on my last vist they tried home+contents insurance, mortgage, hospital cover, life cover, private health cover, , a loan and paypemt protection insurance if i should lose my job ect. errr no thanks to all of the above .

i have the Platinium Account. which to be fair if you use ALL of the stuff that comes with it to the FULL isn,t a bad deal. however i was going to cancel it and move it to first direct with my joint current account and wifes current account. however the £10 account charge rumour has left me in limbo about my options.

my advice if your bank is being nice to you it,s cause they are rubbing thier hands at selling you something with a juicy commission for the staff member thats sells. they don,t have your best intrests at heart they have sales targets to meet.

The_Boss

There's no problem attending a financial review - you just need to make sure you are not talked into anything unless it actually benefits you. They try to sell all these benefits, but if you sit down and think about them, as you did, then they're not really worth it. They are persuasive as that is how they are trained to be, but you just need to make sure that you are firm and not 'upsold'.

Geoffo_M

You've guessed right, and yes they did put out the red carpet. It's ok to say that you must be resolute and be prepared to say no to anything they offer you, but not everyone is financially savvy or confident. In my friends case, they clearly missold as they knew of her personal circumstances, and used their position to sell her products that she clearly does not really need.

It wasn't so long ago that you could approach your bank manager and expect to receive sound impartial advice.

Turning_into_scrooge

A certain high street bank sold me an illegal insurance policy knowingly when i was a student at college about 7 years ago. When i looked into it with the help of a family friend who was a FA he said i could get into a lot of trouble with it and to cancel it ASAP, which i did do. I also wrote a letter of complaint to them stating i had been financially disadvantaged but they refused to even acknowledge the letter, which i sent 3 times. I gave up in the end, these days i would of pushed it all the way. This was sold to me on one of their of reviews.

catsneel

knew it was lloyds tsb , we went to one the other week, he couldn't beat us on our house & car insurance, couldn't do anything for us infact, a waste of time , if you ask me!

trets77

i didn,t go to last one i was "invited" to.

to be honest what is the point. i would not buy a product off them on the day without checking here to see if i could get it cheaper. first. and i have all my bases covered at the best prices anyway.

and it costs me to go down there and park for 2 hours.

they are like sitting in a mini timeshare sales thingy but without the freebie at the end.

.:cool: :cool:

Geoffo_M

Most people using this website probably wouldn't be caught, but there must be thousands who haven't got the time to research, who through their own naivety still trust banks.

They must make pots of cash on these products

KTF

I thought that everyone knew that the reason they 'offer' a financial review is so they can flog you some more of their (probably uncompetative) products.

dwileflunker

Geoffo

Why not try writing to the financial sections of one of the National Daily papers (eg Daily Mail) and get them to take up the case on yout behalf. They love to take up misselling and highlight the institutions that try it on. It's worth a try.

Geoffo_M

Thanks dwile, but I don't think I would stand a remote chance of winning. Believe me, you should see the detailed disclaimer I'm looking at now - covers all the angles e.g.

Product 1 (quote)
YOUR DEMANDS AND NEEDS
You want to ensure you are covered for ....
You have not advised me of any existing cover to meet your needs
I have recommended this product for the following reasons
You have said the cover is required for ...
You have not advised me of any personal circumstances ... (unquote)

Any misselling claims would quite rightly be met with "well everything was pointed out to your friend; why did she accept the recommendations" - and I would have to agree with that. But the real point I am making is that some / many people would still accept that if a bank - no THEIR bank was making these recommendations, then it must be good for them. Yes, naive I know in this day and age. The banks themselves should be more responsible and genuinely look after their customers needs. Just a strong rant - sorry

Geoff