Independant Financial Adviser problem

Domino_Mac

Hi everyone,
Please be gentle with me as I'm new.
I've been following these threads for a while and followed the advice of using an IFA who was fee free/whole of market etc to arrange my mortgages in March. I was recommended an IFA by my sister, she's used them a few times (for mortgages) and has been happy with the service and has recommended them to a few friends.
I needed two mortgages, one to remortgage a rental property I already had on a small mortgage, to raise equity to put towards a house I was buying to live in on a second mortgage. Sorry if that sounds confusing.
Everything went to plan on both mortgages and the house purchase right up until the last minute when out solicitors phoned to say that we were approx two thousand pounds short. We paid the money in the haste to complete on the property, without really thinking of how this could have happened.

I saw my sister recently and she told me of how she had recommended the same IFA to a colleague. The colleague has the same experience as us and ended up having to pay 2-3 thousand pounds at the last minute as there was not enough money to complete. This left them seriously out of pocket (as we are too) and she made a verbal complaint to the IFA directly, who gave them a cheque for the money when they thrreatened to lodge a complaint with the FSA.

I have the distinct feeling that I should be doing the same thing myself. I need some advice about how I should word a letter to the IFA. I have phoned her to ask about how we could possibly have had to pay 2 thousand pounds on top of our agreed deposit and expected soliciors fees etc. There was no reason that we can see for the extra expense. She phoned me back and left a message on my answerphone to say that 'we might not have borrowed' enough and she could approach the mortgage lender to add another 2 thousand onto our mortage to sort that out. I feel that is she got her sums wrong in the first place then it is her responsibility? I have not returned her call as yet as need to know what to say.

Any support or advice would be great. We really could do with that money back.

Thanks in advance...

dunstonh

I have the distinct feeling that I should be doing the same thing myself. I need some advice about how I should word a letter to the IFA.

Going straight to complaint is not the approach you should take until you know if there is a problem or not. Complaints against advisers are lodged on their file which follows them for life whether they are upheld or not.

Whilst genuine complaints deserve to be there, putting in a complaint without knowing if there is an issue or not is harsh.

Any support or advice would be great. We really could do with that money back.

You need to find out why the extra amount was required. I would suggest you contact the solicitor to ask them for a breakdown of the payments that were made as you cannot see why you were £2000 short.

Until you know that, you dont know if there is a complaint against the adviser, solicitor or no complaint at all.

I am an IFA, not a mortgage adviser and as such do not get involved in mortgages (IFAs are investment advisers) but I cannot see how the money could be short. My initial thoughts are that it could be solicitors fees. I dont think it would be adviser fees as you would pay those if there were any and the solicitor could only pay them if they had evidence that you were due to pay them (such as fee agreement/contract). It could also be the difference in the mortgage interest depending on where you are in the month.

I would have thought your solicitor would have given you a list of payments made so you could check that but if you havent got it, then ask them for a copy.

Once you know where the extra money went, then you can decide whether it is something to complain about or not.

homer_j_3

Being frank, its your responsibility, together with the solicitors to ensure their are sufficient funds in place before exchange to financially complete the transaction.

I don't see where your complaint is, other than possibly the fact that you felt that the adviser would have known to the exact penny what you owed. Your adviser should have advised you to obtain accurate figures for the purpose of what you needed to do. Advisers will try to determine as accurate figures as possible but its not uncommon for clients to say they owe X and its really Y.

You need to work out what your complaint is for any of us to be able to tell you how to word it.

Jonbvn

I do not understand how the IFA could be involved in the £2k shortfall? Surely the solicitor drew down the mortgage?

Before we completed on our house, we got a statement of account from the solicitor showing what money was owed (amazingly they initially forgot the £25k deposit!!!) Did you not get something similar from your solicitor?

MortgageMamma

If there was going to be a shortfall the solicitor, assuming he/she was dealing with both transactions should have informed you, and also the broker.

The broker probably didnt know there would be a shortfall. we can only work with the figures a client gives us during the advice process. Usually if there is a slight shortfall, affordability permitting a lender can usually issue a new mortgage offer within a day or two so its not the end of the world.

You need to find out exactly what has happened - I am not defending the adviser nor criticising the solicitor (though I have to admit they seem to think mortgage brokers should be scraped off the bottom of their shoes half the time and hardly ever communicate with us) - but until you have the facts you need to stay chilled.

Dan_Collins_2

I am finding things like this with solicitors are getting more and more common. They are having to do more work for less money to compete and service is dropping.

I have a solicitor on two cases request the funds on the day of completion, lucky for them the lenders had the funds but imagine if they had said sorry no money for you today!

Also unless the IFA is charging a fee without telling you I cannot see the complaint. It is yours and the solicitors job to ensure you have the funds to complete. The solicitor should have not let you exchange without being 100% I say moan at them!!