A High Court ruling which allows a couple to pursue their adviser through the courts for half a million pounds after having already received £100,000 via the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) shifts the balance too far in favour of consumers, according to the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA).
Chris Hannant, policy director at APFA, said the ruling unfairly gave consumers "two bites of the cherry". "The fairness around the FOS system is that it is free for consumers to use but that is coupled with the capped limit. Now it seems as though the deck is being stacked against advisers," he said. Hannant said APFA would be speaking to the FOS about a "rebalancing" of the rules if the Court of Appeal upholds last week's decision. Legal clarification is needed as the ruling contradicts an earlier decision made in 2010 that found an investor could not pursue their adviser through...
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