Endowment misselling compensation saga

chunkyferret

First time I have posted on any forum, but wanted to share our difficulties in chasing up compensation for misselling of our endowment mortgage 13 yrs ago. We took on our financial advisor for misselling. The ombudsman and FSA have upheld our case and agreed we had been missold our endowment. After writing to him on many occasions he has ignored all letters from the FSA. The FSA have washed their hands of it and say there's nothing else they can do, except advise us to go down the legal route......there begins a new problem. We have since found out that while the FSA were writing him letters to pay up, they also 'struck him off' for his lack of integrity (they didn't tell us this at the time). We have had to send him a solicitors letter, threatening to take him to small claims court, but have also found out that he has changed the name of his company and has set up in a completely different place. His new limited status may prove problematic according to our solicitor.
We have no idea where he is, or whether our letters are reaching him......help!!!:mad:

dunstonh

The FSA do not handle consumer complaints. They dont get involved. Do you mean the FOS when you say FSA?

His new limited status may prove problematic according to our solicitor.

not unless he was limited company before. Self employed and partnerships carry the liability for life. Limited companies carry the liability for as long as they exist and have assets.

If the FSA revoked his authorisation then they would not allow him to set up again under a new name. Every adviser has an individual FSA number. So, their history follows them.

chunkyferret

Thank you so much for very prompt reply!! I guess I do mean FOS. Its the financial ombudsman service......where the process ends? He definitely wasn't a limited company when he advised us on the endowment, we have paperwork proving this. He has now set up a new limited company in a new name. We only know this as we have recently cashed in a small investment he set up for us, many years ago and it details the 'agent' who set it up for us, with his old and new company name.

Annisele

It sounds as though you mean both FOS and the FSA The FOS deals with complaints from consumers. The FSA regulates advisers - so if any striking off was done, the FSA would have done it.

Has the FOS issued a "Final Decision" on your complaint? (It would have been headed "Final Decision" and signed by somebody with the job title "Ombudsman" - if you've got something signed by an "Adjudicator", that's not it).

If the FOS has issued a Final Decision, and if you accepted it in time, then it's legally binding on the adviser.

If he won't pay, then there's nothing FOS can do and you need to sue him - but keep talking to FOS, as they may still be able to provide useful information, and they can report him to the FSA for non-payment. (You can report him to the FSA too - and you should - but a FOS report might have more weight).

If he can't pay, then you should approach the FSCS - they are responsible for dealing with cases where the adviser doesn't have the money to pay compensation (they won't necessarily agree with FOS as to merits, but they usually do). You can search FSCS's website for your adviser - if it has already investigated and found that your adviser can't pay, he will be listed on their website as 'in default'.

chunkyferret

Thanks for the advice. We have had a final decision in our favour and a calculation of the redress that he ought to pay us. I only found out that he'd been struck off by the FSA by looking online myself and came across a copy of a letter which had been posted to him.
He clearly doesn't intend on paying as he hasn't responded to their letters. It is difficult to know whether he has moved house/company and indeed not even received them.
We have started the sueing process by asking our solicitor to write him a letter, giving him the opportunity to pay up, but have had no response as yet. I'm not sure how long we give him before we report him, as you suggest for non-payment. He understands this process is going on as he corresponded with the FOS two years ago when this saga started! I will check on the FSCS's website and see what it says.
So its a bit of a waiting game and we hope he will make contact soon!

dunstonh

If he has been struck off then he shouldn't be able to start again with a new company as the FSA registrations are individual.

As he was not a limited company, then any legal action should be against him as the individual. Not the new company.

magpiecottage

If he still working in financial services, the FSA register will have a contact address for him.

But as DunstonH says, if the FSA struck him off they would be unlikely to let him start up again as a Limited Company.

Annisele

How long ago was the Final Decision issued?

chunkyferret

Hi,
We had the final decision in January. Since posting on the forum and following up the advice given by yourself and others, I have had a peek on the FSCS website and entered his name. All it says is that he as an individual is 'inactive', it doesn't mention any disciplinary action when I click on that tab. Interestingly, it says he last operated in July, when he was 'struck off' by the FSA. What confuses me is that he is now working with another financial management company (we know this because of the small investment we cashed and his details as the agent was on the literature), however, when I type in this company into the same website, his name is not connected with it at all. Indeed the address the FSA have on him is in a different part of the UK to where he is now 'operating'. Its reassuring to find out that we should be able to take him on as an individual as he was definitely not part of a limited company when we used him. I'm not sure if he has set up this new limited company or is just working for it? Think I may have to drop the FSA a line!

Annisele

If the Final Decision was in January, then you presumably accepted in February. He really should have paid by March/April - so he's more than six months late. I think it's definitely time to think about legal action!

I'm surprised that the FSCS website said that the adviser was inactive - usually the FSCS will only mention a business if it is in default. Did you get that information from the FSA? If he's actually in default, then you need to talk to the FSCS.

When did you last contact FOS? If they know that the compensation is six months late, then I'm surprised that they haven't given you any help as to what to do next.

Does your solicitor know the exact name of the legal entity the Final Decision is against? (It seems a bit odd to me that the solicitor thinks the new limited status might pose a problem). I think that you probably need to go back to your solicitor and chase matters up.

chunkyferret

Yes, we accepted the decision straight away, but unbelievably the FSA write series of letters which gives him every oppportunity to respond but he didn't. The advice then was to seek legal advice or advice from the Citizens advice bureau, and that they could do no more. I contacted CAB in April/May and they said we had to wait for a calculation of the redress before we could proceed legally. A long wait later, we finally got the calculation in August and this is really where we are at now.I have to say that the FSA have been very slow to respond in all matters. The redress calculation took weeks, plus lots of chasing up, calls, emails etc.
I beg your pardon, he is classed as inactive on the FSA website....what exactly does that mean? This was a search I did to find out registered individuals in the FSA (a link from the FSCS website). There was no mention of him on the actual FSCS website at all. He has not defaulted according to the search engine.( I'm getting my acronyms mixed up!)
I don't think any of us know what to do next. I guess, call our solicitor and chase it up and also contact the FOS to let them know the current situaution. We will do this on Monday for sure.
Thank you so much for your advice and interest, much appreciated!