Not upheld: Investment mis-selling complaint against FIL Investments International

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that he was misled about fees when opening a stocks and shares ISA with FIL in April 2014 through a third party website. He discovered a £22.50 investor fee in July 2015 that he was unaware of and claimed he would not have taken out the ISA if he had known about it. FIL refunded the fee as a goodwill gesture, but Mr P remained dissatisfied. The ombudsman found that FIL was not responsible for the third party website's content and that FIL had adequately disclosed the fee on its own website, concluding the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that FIL was not responsible for the third party website's content and that FIL had provided adequate disclosure of the investor fee on its own website through a 'broker version' link. Although Mr P was unfortunately directed to a link that did not set out the fee, this was not FIL's failing. The ombudsman noted that FIL had already refunded the fee as a goodwill gesture and that Mr P could have transferred the ISA rather than closing it. Therefore, no further action was required.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website