Nicola first met with a St James’s Place adviser in 2011 to discuss her retirement planning arrangements. She met with him again in 2018 and was advised to add a further lump sum and regular monthly payments. However, the rules regarding how advisers were paid changed in 2013. This meant that when Nicola was given fresh advice in 2018, part of the agreement between the adviser and Nicola was that in return for an Ongoing Advice Charge, she would receive a review of her personal and financial circumstances each year.

Nicola saw our ad on Facebook and contacted us asking if we could assist her regarding the charges she had been paying to St James’s Place. We reviewed the service she had been given and it was clear that since 2018 she was paying for a service she had simply not received.

We sent our claim to St James’s Place explaining why Nicola should receive a refund. After investigating the case St James’s Place agreed with our findings and refunded the fees paid from 2018 until now plus interest. Nicola received the amount of £1061.