OpinionJun 29 2016

Risks of not transfering

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We say: There has been a marked trend towards professional indemnity insurers failing to renew cover for advisers they have previously insured due to concerns over direct benefit (DB) transfers.

You say: bc1: What about the risks of advising not to transfer? Take a recent case: a 62-year-old man with a history of stroke and high blood pressure, his 51-year-old wife and young child. His wife’s benefit from her DB scheme is £10,000 a year (taxable), cash equivalent transfer value is greater than £750k and he has significant other assets. Would it have been less ‘risky’ for me to say, “Nah, leave it where it is and take the £20,000 a year.”

Courting controversy

We say: A High Court judgement, which rejected claims that Barclays had mis-sold an investment product, allegedly failed to take into account rules set out by MiFID and the former Financial Services Authority, a barrister has claimed.

You say: robertmorfee2: I am glad this is being pursued. The swaps mis-selling litigation has not gone well because the law has simply not been applied correctly. In this area of law it is not permissible for a bank to substitute its own contract for the duties laid on it by the regulator – a rule maker. Yet the courts have consistently, and wrongly, allowed them to do so.