Financial Planning?

Greyhound9

Hi, I've been reading the forums for years, but for some reason never actually joined! So Hi!

I've been given the task of going through my in laws parents finances (Balance transfers changing companies etc etc).
I have sent off a claim for packaged bank account fees and I think I have come to the conclusion that they can't claim for PPI (the accounts, they think, were paid off about 8/9 years ago with barclays and have no paperwork for the loans, they just show up as payment received from Barclaysloans)
I'm not sure if this question is in the right thread, but I found something on their bank statements (Current account with Barclays) it's a direct debit to "Financial Planning" for about £36 a month which they paid for a good 10 years or so, their bank statements go back to 1994 or so. They can't remember what that was for and wondered if anyone else had a clue?

Many thanks.

antrobus

Greyhound9 wrote: »

.... They can't remember what that was for and wondered if anyone else had a clue?....

The Barclays Financial Planning service?

The Barclays Financial Planning advice service is no longer available and was withdrawn on 18 February 2011. Your existing investments are not affected by these changes.

http://www.barclays.co.uk/BarclaysInvestorZone/BarclaysHowtomanageyourinvestment/P1242582461474

Greyhound9

I think that might be it. What exactly was it for, what should they have got for £36 a month, could they claim it back?

DevCoder

It was for advisory services provided by the bank to your parents on how to best invest their savings/wealth/assets.

This can be research on products, access to barclays own structured products, general advice on such matters as tax and also fine tuning any assets/portfolio to match the risk criteria that your parents may specify.

Greyhound9

Oh dear, from what they can remember they don't think they ever used it, or known what it was for, as they had an accountant that guided them through things. I take it the bank would have recommended they had it? My father in law was self employed and they didn't have big savings.

dunstonh

Oh dear, from what they can remember they don't think they ever used it, or known what it was for, as they had an accountant that guided them through things.

Unlikely an accountant would be able to do that as since around the mid 90s, most accountants ceased to hold the necessary regulatory permissions and qualifications.

I take it the bank would have recommended they had it?

It wasnt mainstream that is for sure. Most people used commission method via the bank.

Greyhound9

Thank you. I think then they were paying for a service they didnt use. Cheers for clearing up what it was. £36 in the '90's was a fair dent in their wallet!