Outcome 6
Consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by Firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint.
There is no financial incentive for the Firm to change product or switch provider. The incentive to change is only ever motivated by the client’s best interests because the Firm’s best interests are so closely aligned to those of the client.
Clients do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers to submit a claim or make a complaint because there is no financial gain to the Firm to do so. On the contrary, it is in the Firm’s financial interests to respect and deal with any claim without delay in order to demonstrate to the client that they are being taken seriously and that excellent service is being provided as promised. Because of this strong relationship, even if the adviser has made a mistake, it is clear that the original motivation for sale was not financial gain and that the adviser is doing everything possible to rectify the matter for the client’s benefit.
A complaints file is open and exists for any future case, but to date, in nine years, the firm has only received one formal complaint which went to independent adjudication and was not upheld.