Recent research conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) indicates that 13% of people who have received regulated advice in the past year were mis-sold a financial product.
There are a number of products out there which can be mis-sold. The most common are:
- Payment protection insurance (PPI)
- Mortgages
- Pensions
- Investments
Mis-selling could mean a number of things. You could have been given unsuitable advice for your current situation, or the risks weren’t explained to you. You also may not have been given all the information you needed. As a result, you ended up with a product that wasn’t right for you.
In some circumstances, it can mean you lose money. The loss could be through investments where the returns promised to you never happen. It may also be through paying for plans which aren’t the best option for you.
How do I know if I’ve been mis-sold a financial product?
There are many different ways you can tell if you may have been mis-sold a product. It’s also worth noting that you don’t have to have lost money for a product to be considered mis-sold.
Mis-sold SIPPs
Your self-invested personal pension plan may have been mis-sold if:
- An adviser didn’t take into account your individual circumstances, meaning you didn’t receive suitable advice
- Your adviser didn’t clearly explain what your pension plan could do for you
- The risks involved with a SIPP were not fully explained
- You didn’t know you would have to pay extra fees and charges
- An adviser pressured you into taking out a SIPP
Mis-sold Mortgages
Your mortgage may have been mis-sold to you if:
- An advisor didn’t explain all options available to you
- The mortgage you’ve ended up does not meet your needs
- An advisor didn’t make you aware of the broker fees you’d have to pay
- The situation you are in means that your mortgage won’t be paid off before retirement
- You weren’t asked to fill out a household budget analysis form
- You were told to take out a mortgage to pay off your existing debts
In these cases, you did not receive suitable and clear advice. You also should have known what you wanted to get out of the product.
Your adviser should have been able to explain properly what the product can and can’t do, as well as made sure you knew the risks before you took out the product.
Have you lost money as a result of poor advice? If you think you’ve been mis-sold a financial product, get in touch with our legal experts today.