Not upheld: Mortgage advice complaints complaint against 2 Plan Wealth Management Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F and Mrs M complained that 2PWML misled them about when a mortgage broker fee would be refundable and failed to provide the service they sought. They claimed an advisor said the fee would not be charged if 2PWML could not obtain a mortgage, but 2PWML sent an invoice with a written refund policy limiting refunds to circumstances where the firm was unable to obtain a mortgage due to disclosed personal circumstances. Mr F and Mrs M ultimately arranged a new mortgage product directly with their lender rather than through 2PWML. The ombudsman found that the written refund policy clarified any potential ambiguity in the oral conversation, and that contemporaneous documentation supported 2PWML's account that Mr F and Mrs M chose to deal directly with the lender, making them ineligible for a refund.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that even if the oral information in the phone conversation had been potentially misleading, any ambiguity was removed by the clear written refund policy provided in the invoice before payment. The ombudsman attached greater weight to 2PWML's contemporaneous point-of-sale documentation over the parties' recollections, finding it more likely that Mr F and Mrs M chose to deal directly with the lender rather than use 2PWML's service. Since they decided not to use the service, they were not eligible for a refund under the stated policy.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website