Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Murphy Wealth Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Murphy Wealth Limited increased his ongoing advice fee from a fixed £5,000 per annum to a variable 0.75% fee in March 2023, contrary to his agreement. MW's initial email in July 2020 stated the ongoing advice fee would be fixed at £5,000 per annum, which was a key reason Mr M selected the firm. Although a Service and Fee Agreement signed in March 2021 included a two-year review clause, email exchanges before signing gave Mr M the impression the fee was fixed for life. MW later accepted this and agreed to honour the £5,000 fixed fee for life. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding MW's offer to maintain the fixed fee for life was fair and reasonable, as it restored Mr M to his original position.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that multiple documents from July 2020 onwards consistently referred to a fixed fee of £5,000 per annum for ongoing advice. Although the Service and Fee Agreement signed in March 2021 included a two-year review clause, the email exchanges before signing gave Mr M the clear impression that the fee was fixed for life. MW's later acceptance that these communications created this impression was significant. The ombudsman concluded that MW's offer to honour the £5,000 fixed fee for life puts Mr M back into the position he would have been in had MW not proposed the change, which is fair and reasonable. While Mr M's loss of trust is understandable, his choice to engage a different advisor is his own decision, and the initial advice fee was for services already provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website