Support for Missold Investments

21/11/2019

The case for mortgage misselling gets more interesting by the day. Previously we reported that interest only mortgages could have been missold if you consolidated your debts but had no way to repay the mortgage or or get a new mortgage at the end of its term. For example, if you are retired and have no employment income when the term ends.

Now it appears that any mortgage where this is true could also have been missold. Particularly if the agents who arranged the mortgage were paid a commission by the lenders and they did not tell you about it.

Even if you are not approaching retirement age, it is worth looking at when your mortgage term ends. If it ends AFTER you retire, it could have been missold. That means you could be owed compensation.

19/11/2019

Welcome to Support for Missold Investments. If you've ever been scammed out of money we want to hear your story. Let's get the word out and stop the scammers!!

15/11/2019

If you were advised to remortgage your home in order to clear debts from credits cards and other loans, this could constitute misselling.

According to Which, missold interest-only mortgage claims are on the rise. This is typically a result of poor advice given on whether an interest-only mortgage is suitable.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of reasons why your interest-only mortgage could have been missold.

1) Repayments in which were not affordable resulting in repossession
2) If the mortgage concludes past retirement age
3) You remortgaged a property to consolidate debt and at the time of receiving financial advice you were not meeting the repayments or the remortgage made your debts more expensive
4) Your mortgage has an ordinary redemption date after the state retirement age
5) You remortgaged a property on terms that are inferior to your previous mortgage
6) The mortgage has proven unsuitable or inappropriate based upon your needs
7) You remortgaged to raise capital for the purposes of investing in a buy to let or foreign property
8) You were asked to self-certify but were only received employment income at the time of applying for the mortgage
9) You took out a part-repayment and part-interest-only mortgage to consolidate and repay other debts
10) You do not have the means to pay off the mortgage in full at the end of the term (even if the paperwork you signed confirmed that you can

Importantly if you suspect you have been missold, you need to act. There is a limitation of three years from the date you became aware of misselling or suspected it for the purposes of filing a claim. The Financial Ombudsman can help with any questions you may have.

Do you have reason to believe you were mis-sold your mortgage? Find out what constitutes mortgage misselling with this Which? guide.

14/11/2019

If you have switched your pension in the past 6 years to a provider offering more than 10% p.a. returns, we would like to hear from you.

- Are the returns offered actually paying out?
- Have you tried to switch pension providers again?
- Were there any excessive fees for transferring your pension pot in or out?
- Did you lose money by investing with the new provider?

14/11/2019

If you have been promised high rates of returns for an investment, there is a good change you have been missold. High rates of return mean more risk taking and even if the investments appear secured (e.g. airport parking, green energy projects, holiday homes) there is still a risk of your money may be lost.

In some cases victims of mis-sold investments can reclaim their money. This is particularly true if you are a pension holder who has been promised high rates of return in exchange for switching to another provider. In fact, the government has already set up a fund of £120m to provide compensation to those who have lost out.

If the investment was made through an FCA authorised business, then you may be able to claim through FSCS. They have set a maximum sum of £50,000 per claim, although this is set to rise in the future with the value of claims.

Average compensation claims are currently sitting at around £25,000 for private pensions and at £50,000 for final salary pensions. Claiming through a solicitor is an option but in many cases these firms will take a percentage of any compensation awarded. Make sure to check the fees before you sign any agreements with a solicitor.

14/11/2019

Sophisticated bank transfer scams are on the rise. Over £204m was lost by individuals and small businesses in the first half of 2019 alone.

Although your bank may be able to help recover funds lost to fraud, they will not compensate you unless you can prove the fraud was not your fault. And there is a time limit placed on these payments for end of 2019.

So if you have been the victim of a bank transfer scam this year, contact your bank now before time is up.

Fraudsters stole more than £208m through bank transfer scams in the first half of 2019 – and only a fraction was ever returned to victims.