We believe strongly in a regulated environment designed to protect the consumer.
It starts with us by making sure that we have a really good understanding of our clients both in terms of their financial position and their goals and objectives.
It then flows through to us using our professional skills, knowledge, experience and judgment to ensure that any course of action we recommend (including any financial product solutions) to our client is suitable.
Behind our work stands the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who set out the rules and guidance they expect an authorised and regulated firm to follow.
If something goes wrong and we cannot agree a solution with a client then they can take their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) an independent arbitrator whose decision is binding on us.
In the worst possible circumstances we have a “triple lock” of Capital Adequacy, Professional Indemnity Insurance and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to ensure a secure level of financial protection for our clients.
Complaints though are rare.
At a regulatory level any expression of dissatisfaction is deemed to be a complaint and we have to have a robust process for dealing with such matters.
As I said though, complaints are rare. But just occasionally one comes to light where understandably we get very frustrated.
Readers will be well aware of the huge amount of press coverage and compensation paid in respect of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
This was an “add-on” product designed to ensure that in the event that a borrower was unable to make the repayments on their loan because of unemployment the insurance would kick in and pay it for them.
Long-story short, it was inappropriate for many borrowers who were sold the cover.
Hence regulatory action and compensation paid to many (you would have to be very unusual indeed not to have received phone calls and text messages, from so called Ambulance Chasers, suggesting that you were eligible to claim many thousands of pounds).
Waiver of premium is a policy benefit often added to protection insurance, such as life assurance and critical illness cover.
In the event that a policyholder is unable to carry out their occupation because of illness or disability then the insurance premium is waived (often after a waiting period of say 6 months) until the policyholder returns to work or the policy comes to its end date.
Such a benefit is both valuable and often quite inexpensive. It is not though Payment Protection Insurance.
However, to some Ambulance Chasers (they call themselves Claims Management Firms to try to add a degree of professionalism to what they do) waiver of premium looks a bit like Payment Protection Insurance.
Let me repeat though it isn’t Payment Protection Insurance.
One letter we received recently is telling.
The clients had taken out a mortgage and had decided (sensibly) that they needed life assurance cover. This was duly arranged and it included waiver of premium benefit.
Unfortunately the particular provider of the life assurance cover calls its waiver of premium benefit Premium Protection. You can see where this is going I suspect!
The client (influenced we suspect by the massive publicity around the PPI subject) put in a formal letter of complaint to us that they had been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance.
They hadn’t of course and this was explained to them, after a thorough investigation of their file (269 pages) from just under a decade ago and a cross check back to the suitability of the recommendation.
Of the £14.10 per month premium waiver of premium (Premium Protection) in this case was £0.14 per month. An incredibly valuable benefit at very low cost.
Consumer protection is vitally important but understandably I do from time to time think that a request for information is somewhat better than a complaint!
