Not upheld: General financial advice complaint against Quilter Financial Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F complained that Quilter provided unsuitable pension advice and failed to deliver the ongoing advice service he paid for. In April 2014, Quilter recommended Mr F open a GIA within his SIPP to invest excess cash funds, with a commitment to provide annual reviews and quarterly investment performance reviews. Mr F ended the relationship in March 2018 and complained in September 2024. The ombudsman upheld the investigator's finding that the GIA advice was suitable but rejected the complaint about missed reviews as time-barred, since Mr F ought reasonably to have known by April 2015 that reviews were not occurring, making the complaint more than three years late with no exceptional circumstances to justify consideration.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the DISP time-bar rules strictly. While the advice to open the GIA was suitable and accepted by the CMC, the complaint about missed reviews was time-barred. Each missed review constitutes a separate event, with the first review due in April 2015. Since Mr F received clear documentation in April 2014 stating he would receive annual contact for reviews, he ought reasonably to have been aware by April 2015 (or at the latest by April 2016, 2017, or 2018) that reviews were not occurring. The complaint made in September 2024 is more than six years after the events and more than three years after Mr F ought reasonably to have become aware of the cause for complaint. No exceptional circumstances were identified to justify considering the complaint outside the time limits. The ombudsman noted that FCA guidance on proactive reviews was directed at businesses, not the FOS, and that businesses must still comply with DISP rules when handling such complaints.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website