Not upheld: Pension transfer advice complaint against Quilter Mortgage Planning Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs N complained that Quilter misled them about the availability of a £10,000 drawdown facility on their mortgage, claiming this took away their choice in deciding whether to purchase the property. They sought £10,000 compensation. Quilter acknowledged the adviser's error and offered £500. The ombudsman found the adviser genuinely believed a drawdown facility existed but the mortgage offers did not guarantee one. Since the complainants' storm damage repairs were covered by insurance and they were not financially worse off, and given More2Life was their only available lender, the ombudsman upheld Quilter's £500 offer as fair compensation for the loss of expectation rather than financial loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Quilter made a genuine error, there was no financial loss to Mr and Mrs N. The mortgage offers clearly stated that further borrowing would be subject to lending criteria and did not guarantee a drawdown facility. The complainants were able to repair storm damage through insurance, leaving them with additional equity. The ombudsman was not persuaded that had the complainants known about the lack of drawdown facility, they would have declined to purchase the property, given that More2Life was their only available lender option. The loss was one of expectation rather than financial loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website