Adrian Leman from Maidstone got back £890 from Barclays

In 1999 Adrian was not working as he was looking after his family at home. He had built up a lump sum in his account at Woolwich and was persuaded to meet with a Financial Adviser to discuss the various options he might have for his money.

Adrian was advised to invest into a With Profit Bond with Prudential as this could provide him with a monthly income. This seemed a good idea as he was not working and wanted to invest £30,000. The Woolwich adviser talked him into investing a further £2,000 taking the amount to £32,000.  A couple of years later in 2001 he met with the adviser again who suggested he added to his bond. Adrian felt he could commit to a further £8,000 but was once again encouraged to increase the amount to £12,000. By the time Adrian closed the investment in 2005 he had got back over £49,000 taking into account the income that was paid out to him. Adrian heard Goodwin Barrett’s ad on the radio and contacted us to see if we could help even though it seemed he had a reasonable return.

We discussed Adrian’s personal and financial circumstances when he invested and believed that he had been wrongly advised. Although the Prudential With Profit Bond was a low risk investment which was suitable for first time investors it was clear that the adviser had recommended Adrian to invest too much of his money. This was particularly the case because he wasn’t working at the time and he should have kept more money outside the investment in case he needed to access cash.

We contacted Barclays, who bought Woolwich and are responsible for their advice, and explained why we felt Adrian was advised wrongly. Barclays agreed and admitted Adrian should have invested half the amount he did on both occasions. As such Barclays agreed to pay Adrian £890 calculated in accordance with the regulatory guidelines.