Professional Negligence Claims

Financial Advisor Negligence

Financial advisor negligence typically occurs when the advice given by a financial advisor is unsuitable or involves too much risk for your circumstances. Products and services include pension transfers, investment products, tax mitigation schemes, secured loans, and equity release schemes.

If you have been advised to take out a product or investment and the professional has not fully explained its suitability, or if they are unqualified to advise in this area, then you may be able to claim compensation for your financial loss as a result of negligent advice.

Professional Negligence
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Professional Negligence

If you suffered a loss because a professional was negligent, download our free professional negligence guide now. Designed by our professional negligence legal team, our guide walks you through the 6 steps to making a professional negligence claim.

Obligations of a Financial Advisor

When you put your trust in a professional, especially with something as important as your pension or life savings, you expect that professional to act properly and treat your money with care and attention.

Financial advisors and other professionals are under a regulatory duty to make sure that the pension, investment, or financial product they recommend or sell you is suitable and appropriate for your personal needs and objectives.

Understanding Risk

Risk level is very important. Some products, such as property funds, can be more high risk than you think. It is important that you understand exactly where your money is being invested. Financial products can be complicated and it is not always easy to tell whether a pension or investment is too high risk or just not suitable for your needs. That is why you put your trust in a professional.

If you have been advised to put your money in a product that is too high risk or not suitable for you, there is an increased likelihood that you will lose money and miss out on the opportunity to have your money grow in the manner it could have if you had been advised properly.

Suitability includes recommending investments that match your appetite for risk. An assessment of risk includes considering the likely term of the investment and how volatile it might be and what other investments you have.

What can you claim for?

If you have been the victim of financial mis-selling, you may be able to make a claim for the money you have lost, the money that you could have made had you not been mis-sold the financial product in the first place, and interest on that money.

We can advise on claims relating a wide range of investments including:

  • Unregulated collective investment schemes (“UCIS”)
  • Commercial property funds
  • Guaranteed investment bonds
  • High risk investment portfolio
  • Off shore investments
  • Derivatives, including
    • Contracts for difference (CFD);
    • Options; or
    • Futures
  • Tax mitigation schemes, including
    • Stamp duty land tax schemes (SDLT Schemes)
  • Interest Rate hedging products
  • Self-Invested Personal Pension (“SIPP”) claims including green energy investments
Don’t Delay

Although there is always a temptation to wait to see if the market might pick up, this is a risky strategy. Strict time limits apply to any claim you bring and you should act as soon as you believe there is or there may have been negligent financial advice. Once you see, or suspect you might see, something that concerns you or you don’t understand, make sure you obtain proper professional advice or you may well find yourself out of time to do anything about it. Time limits can be surprisingly short and delaying can find you without a remedy.

Your Initial Consultation

As soon as you think you may have been mis-sold an investment or received poor advice from your financial advisor, contact our Litigation team. Our first step will be to schedule your consultation to talk through your situation. At your consultation, we will discuss:

  • Your position and the loss you have suffered.
  • How realistic your claim is and the next steps so that you have a clear action plan.
  • The law around your case.
  • Whether you can make a claim and how best to obtain it.
  • How we can help in the most time and cost effective way.

Alex Williams

Alex works in professional negligence, contentious probate, and court of protection litigation. He also has a particular specialism in negligence claims in the financial services sector, including cases against financial advisers and pension providers relating to negligent mis-selling and mismanagement of both pensions and investments.

Read More About Alex
These are intelligent sensitive people who work with skilful diligence in support of their client. They are legal advisers of the highest calibre, accurately meeting your business needs while remaining cognisant of the delicacies involved when dealing with highly personal matters.
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