Will your clients be combing through your advice? The answer is maybe. Here’s what you need to know.
Following the release of the latest FCA policy statement, the regulator has also decided to release an advice checker aimed at consumers to help clients identify whether they’ve received unsuitable transfer advice.
After publishing figures around unsuitable pension advice over the recent years, the FCA is also providing further guidance for consumers and their potential eligibility to claim against their adviser. In addition, they confirmed that they will be writing out to 7,700 British Steel Pension members who have transferred out, as they found from 192 advice instances to former BSPS member, only a worrying 21% appeared to be suitable, 47% appeared to be unsuitable and 32% appeared to contain information gaps.
The FCA’s advice checker contains a comprehensive list of questions that the advisers should have asked the client prior to giving advice. Looking through the list, although it may seem like a lot – it is the usual information I’d expect an adviser to gather during the KYC process. However, it’s easy to see how such a comprehensive list could easily lead to clients second guessing the advice process they’ve been through, especially because the checker states that if you agree with just one statement, you have the potential for a claim.
It’s also the timing of the checker that may cause potentially quite a few clients to re-visit their adviser’s advice. The recent drop in the markets may be an extra cause for concern for those who have recently given up a guaranteed sum.
Even if you are not advising on DB transfers, read up on the guidance. There’s a possibility you may end up seeing a client who has previously been given bad advice or read the guidance and has further questions.
If you have any queries regarding this, please get in touch.
Kim has spent the past 5 years working at The Verve Group. After starting out at sister company Para-Sols in a client relations role, Kim is now Director at Apricity Compliance, overseeing all client’s needs, and helping with the overall strategic growth of the business.
She holds a BA (Hons) degree in Accounting and Finance and has gained the Cert CII (FS) qualification.
