Claim rejected because financial advisor used.

bilbo1957

After many months , indeed years, of heartache filling in the multitude of forms and template letters provided by this site i have just been rejected by the ombudsman and told my claim does not fall under their remit.
The reason they say is because my endowments were arranged by a financial advisor , who is no longer trading, who was regulated by a body called FIMBRA , which itself is no longer in exisitance.
So does this mean that all of us who arranged our mortgage through advisors are now left high and dry with nowhere to go?
Has any one else suffered this way , your comments would be much appreciated.

Dan_Collins_2

Could well be. Big D is normally very with this type of post so I guess he will be aloing soon. ALthough I dont think it is the advisor just the regulating body as if you go direct you may not be able to claim as advice may not been given.

Good luck though

EdInvestor

bilbo1957 wrote: »

The reason they say is because my endowments were arranged by a financial advisor , who is no longer trading, who was regulated by a body called FIMBRA , which itself is no longer in exisitance.So does this mean that all of us who arranged our mortgage through advisors are now left high and dry with nowhere to go?

No.Most advisors were regulated by the PIA, and if they have closed down, complaints will be dealt with by the FSCS.

bilbo1957

thanks for your comments Dan much appreciated .
when i first went on to the FSA site and filled out the initial questionaire to test for acceptability it came back and said it looked like i could claim.
i also made several phone calls to them , primarily to find out the advisors id number , which they gave me , but at no time was it ever mentioned there would be a problem because it was an advisor and not a Bank or Building society.
Do you think this applies to all advisors or just thosed registered with this now defunct FIMBRA ?

EdInvestor

You can't claim from any IFA for sales pre 1988. Otherwise it's just those under FIMBRA. It can be very difficult to claim for mis-sales by law firms.

dunstonh

If the accountant or what is now an IFA was a member of FIMBRA and ceased trading before 1994 (and therefore never joined the PIA, which is now the FSA) then you have no consumer protection.

Only if the IFA or accountant (from memory a lot of accountants were FIMBRA rather than PIA) went on to obtain PIA authorisation are you then protected under the FOS or FSCS. The FOS and FSCS will not consider complaints from anyone that was authorised by FIMBRA and did not join the PIA. So, its end of the road if that is the case here.

bilbo1957

thanks for the info regarding the PIA DunstonH.
is there a way i can check if this advisor ever became a memeber of the PIA before he went out of business , or do i just have to belive the FOS?

thanks

dunstonh

is there a way i can check if this advisor ever became a memeber of the PIA before he went out of business , or do i just have to belive the FOS?

www.fsa.gov.uk/register will have all firms that are currently registered with the FSA and have been registered since 2001 (including those no longer registered). It will not cover any history prior to 2001.

Every firm that that was SIB/PIA and now FSA registered has an SIB number. FIMBRA firms did not unless they went on after 1996 and joined PIA. They had no choice in 1996 as FIMBRA was closed and to carry on you had to join the PIA. A large number of firms gave up at this point so it is quite normal to find FIMBRA firms do result in the outcome you have had.

If the company was a limited company, you could check companies house online which will tell you if the firm is defunct or not and when.

Remember though that it is not the adviser that you are complaining against. It is the firm they were responsible to. If the firm ceased and the adviser went on to join another firm then that is no good for you.

turbobob

The FSA online register does not contain much historic information but if you phone the FSA Consumer Helpline they should be able to check for you.

Dunston, I've seen some correspondence from FIMBRA member companies who had SIB authorisation numbers (as well as a FIMBRA member number). This is on correspondence dated well before 1994. Any ideas why?

dunstonh

Firms had to move to the PIA by 1996. (FIMBRA was revoked in 1994 but IIRC there was a 2 year transitional period). That was the final date. So, many of them would have moved before hand. The minute they were PIA authorised, all their past history post 1988 falls under the remit of what is now the FSA, FOS and FSCS.

I have had a look back and the FIMBRA firms would have had an SIB number as FIMBRA did report to the SIB (along with PIA). So the SIB number isnt a help other than idenitfying the firm reference number.

wymondham

dunstonh wrote: »

Firms had to move to the PIA by 1996. That was the final date. So, many of them would have moved before hand. The minute they were PIA authorised, all their past history post 1988 falls under the remit of what is now the FSA, FOS and FSCS.

I have had a look back and the FIMBRA firms would have had an SIB number as FIMBRA did report to the SIB (along PIA). So the SIB number isnt a help other than idenitfying the firm reference number.

you forgot the MI5, CIA and MFI !