In March 2002 Ken had accumulated a lump sum and had agreed with a friend’s suggestion to meet with an Independent Financial Adviser to discuss the various options he had for these funds.
Ken was advised to invest a lump sum of £10,000 into an Investment Bond with Clerical Medical. Because Independent Financial Advisers can recommend investments from any provider, he was happy to agree to this, convinced the adviser would have done thorough research before giving any advice to him. Due to unforeseen circumstances Ken had to access his investment about 2 ½ years later and received back the amount of £10,575, making a small gain on his initial investment. This would have been more but for a penalty he had to pay on encashment
Ken spoke to Goodwin Barrett and discussed his personal and financial circumstances when he invested. It was clear that the adviser had recommended Ken to invest too much of his money, requiring the investment to be surrendered early and paying a costly penalty for doing so. Goodwin Barrett compiled a Letter of Claim and sent it to Sesame, the IFA network which represented the adviser. We told them we believed Ken invested too much of his money and also took unnecessary risks.
Sesame agreed and paid Ken £1,315 even though he had made a gain on his investment. This covered what Ken could have earned had he not invested, together with interest going back to when the investment finished in 2004.