My parents were mis-sold ISA's

margaretclare

comeandgo wrote: »

I don't think they have been fleeced. You seem to be concentrating on the fee charged not the fact they got £500 interest which seems, while not great about average.

'Back in 2012' but depending on when in 2012 this was, it's not even 2 full years.

You just cannot tell what your lifespan may be in advance. This lady died at 66. My daughter didn't even see her 40th birthday. My first husband didn't see his 60th. DH and I, should we live a little bit longer, may see our 80th.

I don't know what the answer is to 'investments/savings suitable for pensioners'. Surely everyone is different?

Me, I gave up on cash ISAs some while ago and have gone over to S&S ISAs.

I too have gone into a bank branch and been urged to 'do a financial assessment'. I'm fully aware that the people at the other side of the desk are getting paid for their salesmanship and they can only sell products of that bank or BS. I'm not sure if any of these salespeople could be said to be 'unscrupulous'. There is always a 'cooling-off' period and all charges must be declared in writing.

dunstonh

Martin300 wrote: »

Which leaves the original investment amount at a £120 deficit.

You said they invested £10k and they are now worth £10,500. So, where is this deficit?

atush

Martin300 wrote: »

Thanks for (almost) all the replies to my question. It seems as though my parents were fleeced by this unscrupulous salesman. I suppose they should have asked about the fee before going ahead with this. After, when they discovered how much they had been charged, I suppose they were embarassed that they'd been taken for mugs. I remeber them telling me about this, and I told them there is a cooling off period, but they didn't want to talk about it.

From this I ask myself, what is more unfortunate - that there are some people who are too trusting to ask a person, when told that "there will be a fee", how much will this fee be? Or that we live in a society that we cannot walk into a bank, or similar high street institution, without fear of being ripped off?

I have read this thread and I don't think anyone was rude to you. You though, as a newbie, have been rude to the respondents either directly, or by not reading the replies and taking on board that we don't think your parents were fleeced.

Yes, the charges were on the high side, but this tends to happen when you use banks for financial products.

And your parents hav suffered no financial loss that I can see, as they have a 500 return whereas cash would have gotten them 200 less.

So, go back and read through the thread and replies and tell us why you still think they were mis sold?

tomtontom

I agree with the majority, I cannot see a complaint for mis-selling. The return on their investment is not bad at all and higher than a standard savings account. They could have had a better return but that would have involved far greater risk, something that would not have been suitable on the information given.

jimjames

Martin300 wrote: »

Which leaves the original investment amount at a £120 deficit.

It would probably help if you could give some more info as it does all seem rather confused.

1) how much did they each invest?
2) what is the current value?
3) what exactly is the investment- fund names etc
4) how much income have they received from it?
5) was the fee paid up front or is that the total over a number of years?

With some more details you may get some other ideas but if the primary grounds for complaint are the fees then if it was the right solution I think you will struggle.

PeacefulWaters

Martin300 wrote: »

Which leaves the original investment amount at a £120 deficit.

If you're going to progress with a complaint, I strongly advise working with facts and accuracy. You'd previously said:

"The initial investment amount was £10,000. We received correspondence from AXA today saying that this ISA is now worth £10,500"

Which is it? Profit or loss?

It might not be relevant to the nature of the complaint, but it's very relevant to there being a compensation payment possibility or not.

The post I've quoted below will help those with expertise better assess your chances of success.

jimjames wrote: »

It would probably help if you could give some more info as it does all seem rather confused.

1) how much did they each invest?
2) what is the current value?
3) what exactly is the investment- fund names etc
4) how much income have they received from it?
5) was the fee paid up front or is that the total over a number of years?

With some more details you may get some other ideas but if the primary grounds for complaint are the fees then if it was the right solution I think you will struggle.

As for this:

"It seems as though my parents were fleeced by this unscrupulous salesman"

I don't think you've provided a single fact to support it. There's many reading this thread who think the fleecing left them £1,000 in profit, tax free.

comeandgo

Finance industry, not me, people are trying to get you to see that your parents were not fleeced and I agree with BigJock. My dad died last month and the last thing my mum needs right now would be family members telling her dad had been made a fool of and their financial advisers in the bank had ripped them off.

PeacefulWaters

Martin300 wrote: »

I wonder how many of these folks with their quippy remarks on this forum work for the finance industry, trying to put people off doing what they are perfectly entitled to do.

Based on what you've said there's no point pursuing a complaint because there's profit. You can unwind it yourselves and crack on with other things in the world.

Assuming there isn't a profit you need to establish reason for complaint. You have been asked to provide more information. You will get far more relevant support then.

Having an ISA, being over 60 and a Guardian article don't even begin to show any grounds for a complaint succeeding.

jimjames

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Having an ISA, being over 60 and a Guardian article don't even begin to show any grounds for a complaint succeeding.

As far I can see from following posts the grounds for complaint are the cost. Not that the investment was wrong especially as it has performed better than cash so there is no loss.

The op needs to realise that if there is no loss there is no compensation so a complaint might be upheld but it would make no material difference. Obviously that depends on knowing answers to the key questions.

margaretclare

Martin300 wrote: »

I wonder how many of these folks with their quippy remarks on this forum work for the finance industry, trying to put people off doing what they are perfectly entitled to do.

Not me, don't work for anybody now, have worked in healthcare for many years, but have made many mistakes and lost money through being stupid. Never blamed anybody else for it. Just wish there had been the amount of information freely-available years ago that there is now. I'd be a wealthy woman now.