Mystery Shopper: Birmingham
This week the shopper, a student, is considering joint life assurance and critical illness policies for herself and her husband, who has recently lost his job.
IFA (Independent), A & Z Finances Ltd, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12
Speed of response: Time of call: 16.07. The call was answered after the first ring by a pleasant receptionist. She asked what the shopper was after and then put her on hold for about 30 seconds, when an adviser came on the phone. 3/5
Telephone manner: The adviser was helpful and engaging, asking the shopper lots of questions. 4/5
Relevant qualifications: He said he and the other advisers have full CeMAP, or mortgage advice, qualifications, as well as a licence from Sesame to sell and advise on insurance. 3/5
Payment method: An initial meeting would be free. After that, the adviser would be paid purely in commission for protection products. 3/5
Guidance given: The adviser asked whether the shopper and her husband were homeowners and tried to sell them mortgage protection insurance. He said he would recommend level term assurance, and a level of cover at four times the shopper’s salary. He offered to take the shopper's details and go away to do some research on the best policies available 3/5.
Knowledge: The adviser was very helpful, talking the shopper through different options of critical illness cover and explaining that these would be quite a bit more expensive than simple death cover. He also mentioned the possibility of a policy that pays income on the partner’s death. 3/5
Email/web presence:
Email: Andrew@aandzfinances.co.uk
Website: The adviser explained that the website is still in development. 4/5
Verdict: The adviser was friendly and asked a lot of questions about the shopper’s circumstances. However, the numerous products he mentioned, especially mortgage protection, gave the impression that he was more interested in selling than advising. 23/35
IFA (Independent), Premier Planning plc, St Paul’s Square, Birmingham B3
Speed of response: Time of call: First call at 16.14. A receptionist answered after two rings and said no adviser was available. She asked the shopper to call back in 15 minutes. The shopper called a second time at 16:45pm. The phone was answered after three rings by a seemingly different receptionist. 2/5
Telephone manner: The second receptionist had no knowledge of the shopper's initial call. She said the adviser was on holiday until next Thursday, and asked the shopper to call back then. 3/5
Relevant qualifications: When asked about the adviser qualifications at the firm the receptionist said she would not give out that information over the phone. 0/5
Payment method: The receptionist was unable to say whether there would be a charge for an initial meeting, or to give any details of the firm's charging structure. 0/5
