Groundhog day
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Barclays has been forced to pay out thousands of pounds to clients it advised to invest in unsuitable funds, but is it learning from its mistakes?
A popular sales practice used by most high street banks for some time is to monitor customers’ current accounts and recommend that they speak to a bank adviser if they have a sum of money that could be invested.
Sue Murton was one of these clients. She was encouraged to speak to a Barclays adviser and as a result, saw her £52,000 investment more than halved to £21,000.
In a battle with Barclays that has lasted over a year, Mrs Murton finally got her money back, but not before Barclays rejected two separate Financial Ombudsman Service adjudications.
An ombudsman looked at the case and said the fund was too risky for Mrs Murton and awarded a final decision for compensation in her favour.
Barclays issued a cheque to Mrs Murton, who took it down to her local branch to deposit into her current account.
The friendly teller recommended that she speak to a Barclays adviser, as there may be a better way to invest her lump sum…
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Readers' comments (4)
David McCabe | 2 Jul 2010 9:42 am
The situation will not change until there is some sort of personal responsibility placed on those in banks & a proper regulatory review of their practices & standards of advice.
Banks will always find a way to make a quick buck.
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Julian Stevens | 2 Jul 2010 10:00 am
Nothing will change until the FSA starts to regulate the banks and gives the IFA sector a bit of well earned respite.
Given that the whole regulatory system is skewed in favour of the banks, there's little prospect of that happening, is there?
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Sean | 2 Jul 2010 12:12 pm
And after all this she still had her bank account with Barclays. This is why this situation arises so often - people still trust their banks even when they lose them money. Thats the power of advertising - until Financial Advisers have the same advertising opportunities as banks we are fighting a losing battle.
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Exasperated me | 6 Jul 2010 12:42 pm
Every company needs to make a profit and ever individual expects to earn a living but ‘pyramid selling’ where the grunts at the bottom are encouraged to abuse the trust of elderly customers, or the fear of everyone else, in order to fund the big fat bonuses and pensions at the top should be made illegal.
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