Upheld: Investment mis-selling complaint against Quilter Financial Services Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6391796 of 2026-06-25T00:00:00+00:00. Investment mis-selling complaint against Quilter Financial Services Limited. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6391796 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-06-25T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Quilter Financial Services Limited |
| Product | Investment |
| Claim type | Investment mis-selling |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | Quilter must compare the performance of each investment (Foresight and Time IHT Plans, Octopus and Blackfinch ISAs) against the FTSE UK Private Investors Income Total Return Index from the date of investment to the date of the final decision. For each investment, Quilter must calculate the difference between the actual value and the fair value (what it would have been worth using the benchmark return). Quilter must pay the total compensation within 28 calendar days of Miss P's acceptance of the decision. If payment is not made by the deadline, 8% simple interest per year applies from the deadline to settlement date. |
Summary
Miss P, in her late seventies with a £2.2 million estate, sought inheritance tax mitigation advice from a new adviser at Quilter in March 2022. The adviser recommended investing approximately £908,000 across BPR IHT plans and AIM share ISAs, requiring Miss P to shift from a balanced attitude to risk to a dynamic one. The investments performed poorly, and by 2025 Miss P moved the AIM ISAs to cash, subsequently complaining that the advice was unsuitable. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that the recommendation placed over 40% of her estate at a risk level considerably beyond her established attitude to risk, the suitability letter inadequately disclosed the risks of AIM share investment, Miss P did not fully appreciate the extent of her AIM share exposure, and the adviser failed to consider alternative blended strategies using trusts, gifts, or insurance that would have been more suitable.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that while Miss P had a legitimate desire to mitigate her IHT liability and her circumstances supported using a strategy involving some degree of loss, the recommendation was unsuitable because: (1) it placed over 40% of her estate at a risk level considerably beyond her established attitude to risk and what she was accustomed to; (2) the suitability letter did not adequately emphasize the significant risk of heavy loss, particularly from AIM shares; (3) Miss P was clearly under the impression that the proportion of AIM share investment was less than it actually was; (4) her quick move to cash when values fell demonstrated a lack of appreciation of the risk at the outset; (5) insufficient consideration was given to alternative blended approaches using gifts, trusts, and/or whole of life insurance that would have addressed her concerns about giving beneficiaries access while reducing overall risk to a suitable level; and (6) the adviser failed to ensure the recommendation was consistent with Miss P's understanding and acceptance of risk/loss.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Quilter Financial Services Limited, all decisions | 49 | 40% |
| Investment mis-selling, all decisions | 14,163 | 37% |
| Investment, all decisions | 14,180 | 34% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website