Dodgy Financial Adviser?

abergirl

:mad:

Hi, I wonder if someone could advise me.

I was recommended a financial adviser by a friend to assist in remortgaging my house. Prior to contacting him, I asked my friend if he charged. She said, no he was paid by the mortgage company but that he would ask for a "drink" of around £100. Even though I knew this was not right I did not query it.

I contacted the guy and he managed to get me a good deal. The only mention he ever gave of this "drink" was "When the remortgage is complete, we will discuss a little something for my trouble".

I have no complaints about the actual work he did.

However, he has just called to say that we needed to sort out his fee. He said that we discussed that I had been quoted 2% by another f.a. and that we agreed £500. I told him we had no such discussion, which we didn't. He said, "Oh sorry, my mistake, I thought we had". Can I come round and collect the cash (I prefer cash) tonight? I was so shocked that all I said was that I could not draw out £500 in one day on my bank card. He asked me to ring him later in the week when I had sorted the money out. I must add here that when I signed all the paperwork for the building society, he gave me a key facts sheet from his company stating that they do not charge a fee for remortgages/mortgages as they are paid a commission by the building society/bank.

I have two questions:

1. Have I been very naive and should I have insisted on something in writing?

2. Should I be paying him anything?

Many thanks in advance.

silvercar

sounds very dodgy. ask him to point out on the key facts sheet where his fee is stated.

abergirl

I was thinking of emailing him tomorrow attaching a copy of his key facts sheet. I have shown colleagues this document and they agree that it categorically states that I do not pay him a fee.

Does anyone else have any advise?

Thanks.

ConsuelaBananaHammock

This is shocking!!! If there were any fees to be charged these surely should have been made very clear when you had your first meeting with this so called advisor. Hes behaving in a very unprofessional way and has obviously caused you some upset and made you feel like you are under pressure. Personally I wouldnt pay him a penny his behaviour is appauling IMO if he comes round to your house demanding money Id show him the key facts leaflet he had given you :mad:

dunstonh

Dodgy as hell and if he is employed (which he probably is as he's asked for cash) it could be a sackable offence. Its certainly an FSA breach (more than one) and initial disclosure and fees/commission is something the FSA are focusing on at the moment.

FSA regulation on mortgage advice hasnt been round that long and it appears that some idiots dont actually understand what regulation means. The first mortgage advice company has just been fined under the FSAs TCF rules and the actions of this cretin would certainly be under scrutiny if the FSA were made aware of it.

I wouldnt pay him a penny. For him to enforce payment he would have needed to issue you with the key facts document and a fee agreement which you should sign. This would also involve an invoice as VAT could potentially be involved. None of this has happened so you could threaten the FSA and HMRC (for income tax and possibly VAT evasion).

abergirl

Thanks for the reply Dunstonh. As I said in my original post, he did provide me with a key facts document that said I do not pay a fee. I did not sign any fee agreement.

I am quite worried as he knows where I live and also that I am single.

I am not sure how to go forward. I do not want to ring him. Should I just send him an email attaching the key facts document, and say that his telephone call today confused me as the document quite clearly states that I do not pay a fee. And then see what he replies with? I am quite sure he will ring and not reply by email because then I will have it in writing whereas at the moment everything is just his word against mine.

I meant to add that he is employed but from what I can gather there is the director and himself.

danjberry

I would not pay him a penny but understand you are slightly scared and I dont want to sound like im encouraging you to cave into bullying but you were aware of this "drink" before hand so maybe the best thing to do is pay him this drink of £100 hat you expected to pay and no more. You stated you knew this "was not right" so would obviously not be something he declares on his tax returns so would not be on the KFI. Basically learn from your mistakes and when you know something is not right run a mile.

Rick62

Do not pay him. people like him should not be in the business - they give the vast majority of honest brokers a bad name. You have his Key Facts document, that clearly states no fee.

You have nothing to worry about. To be a mortgage broker you have to be approved by the Data Protection Act, Office of Fair Trading, FSA and FOS. The FSA would be very unhappy with the way he is behaving, and he risks losing his authorisations and being out of business. He has a lot to lose.

regularsaver1

Looks like he is trying to double his earnings

can't believe he even had this nerve and called it a "drink"

I'd love to know his reaction when you stated about the key facts

toonfish

don't pay him a penny if it's not on the key facts. Any aggravation and I would be straight on to his compliance officer.

If he insists on a drink - send him the cheapest nastiest bottle of wine you can find.

People like this are a disgrace.

abergirl

Thanks for all your replies. I will let you know what response I get when I send an email to him this morning.