In May 2008 Russell had managed to accumulate a lump sum from his work in the Emergency Services by saving regularly from his salary. He agreed to meet with a financial adviser to discuss the various options he had for these savings.
Russell was advised to invest a lump sum of £7,200 which was the maximum that could be placed into a Stocks and Shares ISA at the time. Despite having no investment experience he was recommended to invest this significant amount the first time he met with the adviser, without being able to take time to think about the fact he was taking risks with the money he had carefully built up over a period of time. By the time he had time to reflect on his decision just 9 months later he had lost nearly £1,750.
After hearing our radio advert Russell contacted Goodwin Barrett and we discovered he had been advised to invest into funds which were much too high in risk for someone having never invested before – particularly having been encouraged to sign up straight away. We sent our claim to Halifax explaining that Russell should not have been advised to take this level of risk with his savings.
Halifax investigated the advice they had given to Russell over 10 years previously and agreed that it was not suitable for him at that time. They refunded the money he lost and paid him what he may have got had the advice been correct. In addition interest was added for the time he was without access to his money which resulted in a payment to Russell of £2,633.