Advice on trail commission reclaim please!

spannerdavies

I saw an article in the Sunday Telegraph this weekend that says you can claim back commission on your existing investments through a company called Investsmart. I am dubious about giving my details on line and wondered if anyone had any experience of using this Company. Is it legit? It sounds too good to be true.

Thanks for any help!

dunstonh

I saw an article in the Sunday Telegraph this weekend that says you can claim back commission on your existing investments through a company called Investsmart

You cannot claim back trail commission already paid. Assuming there is trail commission (and many investments dont have it) the it is documented as part of the initial set up. So, you cannot claim back money that has already been paid.

However, there are DIY investor platforms that allow DIY investors to arrange their own investments where not trail is taken (or is refunded either partially or fully and replaced with an explicit charge). The investment section has a number of threads on this subject already. So, you can change going forward. However, any changes you make will remove any consumer protection you get from using an adviser as you move from advised to DIY.

Looking at the Investsmart website, they do state they cannot claim back commission already paid. They look at it going forward. However, I would not recommend such a service as:
1 - trail commission ends in 7 months time. So, from next Jan, any fund switch or purchase would not include trail.
2 - Investsmart are only refunding half the trail and none of the platform cut. You can get better options if you want to DIY.

If you still use an adviser then you should not use this sort of service as it will prevent your adviser from accessing your details and will effectively end consumer protection that exists as you move from advice to DIY (where you decide your actions). If you DIY then take a look in the investment section and find the alternatives.

Bennyboy101

When commission is banned next year, I feel the public's awarness of excessively high trail commission will grow, you just have to look at the PPI scandel in recent times. There will be many more punters in the next few years without advisers, at least some of these rebate sites are offering to provide a review along with rebating the commission. Looks like being an IFA is going to get a whole lot tougher....

dunstonh

Responded to Beenyboys duplicate post on another thread. So wont repeat here other than to say RDR is a threat to these companies rebating some commission as there wont be commission to rebate on new business from next year. Existing business can be changed. So, why would someone only want to get 50% of their commission rebated when they can get all of it?

spannerdavies

Thanks to dunstonh for detailed reply. Although I am sure you are are a very good adviser I am dubious about using an IFA again as my experience has been of long on promises and short on delivery. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has actually used this service...or a similar one as I have found though a google search for commission rebates that there are a few offering this service.

sarahjaneedwards

Just saw this thread. I signed up with InvestSmart last week, and sent off my signed form literally one day ago!! I did quite a lot of research before I decided to go with them, looking at companys like paymemy and commfreefunds, but for me I went with InvestSmart because they offer a free annual review, even if they pay slightly less commission back. I guess its really up to you, either you want slightly more money or you want to keep on top of how your investments are performing.

Hope this helps!!

sarahjaneedwards

Also, not sure if I'm allowed to post links as a newbie, but the main guys are:

investsmartuk.co.uk
paymemy.com/mission/
commfreefunds.com

spannerdavies

Very helpful, thank you. I know this is a bit of a cheek, but seeing how you have taken the plunge, can you let me know how it goes!

sarahjaneedwards

Haha, that's okay! I've completed the sign up process now and had my first review pack. All going really well at the moment and they seem v. professional. Will let you know how my over the phone review goes - its booked in for next week!

Have you decided which company to go for?

Bill_Parish

The financial services always claimed that trail commission was there for the financial adviser to "look after" the client, ie, to keep an eye on the client's investment.
Many people have bought financial products, pensions etc, through financial advisers.
Many people have not heard from their adviser since being sold the product.
Many financial products have performed badly, but the adviser still gets the trail commission.
If they have been paid and done no work for it, the commission should be refunded. Trading Standards and the courts regularly prosecute rogue traders who effectively pull the same scam.
The bottom line is why is the FSA stopping commission, and more importantly why did it take so long to do so?
Someone needs to take their adviser to court.

magpiecottage

Bill_Parish wrote: »

Someone needs to take their adviser to court.

For what? The reality is that if trail commission was not paid the insurer simply put it into its coffers - so the policyholder was no worse off.