Hospitalised IFA left chasing insurer for his fee

Julian Pruggmayer, principal of Financial Risk Management, was dead for several minutes in October after minor surgery he was having under general anaesthetic went awry and doctors could not bring him round before his heart stopped beating.

He spent a week in hospital following his resuscitation and, after being discharged, has been convalescing at home for the past month, unable to work or to catch up with clients. He said his recovery is "going really slowly - taking far longer than I thought it would".

But his convalescence has been marred by having to chase Scottish Friendly for more than £3,000 in commission that should have been paid out at the beginning of October, when he put through a client's policy renewal.

He told FTAdviser he had chased the payment at the end of October, after he was discharged, and claimed he was told initially that it would be paid within five working days.

When it had not been paid, he claimed he called Scottish Friendly and asked where his money was, and asked if this could this be raised as a complaint.

I do not expect to be chasing providers when I am trying to recover from being clinically dead.Pruggmayer

He said he was told again his money was going to be paid, and that his call would be registered as a complaint.

But he heard nothing and, at the start of November, spoke with FTAdviser and said he had written to the operations director at Scottish Friendly. 

Pruggmayer said: "I have not had any acknowledgement of my letter to the operations director."

He said he called again last Tuesday (November 9), the day after he sent the letter, and spoke with a business development manager who told him not only that the money had not been paid out but also there had been no complaint raised on the system.

Pruggmayer was also told on Thursday November 11 that a senior manager would call him before the close of business that day. "This still has not happened", he said on Monday 15 November.

He added: "There is still no confirmation of my complaint being recorded and, finally no money in my bank account.

"While I am unable to work, I am not getting paid - but all my bills have to be met, and my business costs, and my son's school fees. Every time we sole traders have to chase providers for commission, we are basically being left out of pocket. If we did this to a client, we would rightly be hauled up before the regulator.

"Yes, of course I have savings to rely on. But it's the principle of the thing.

"Sole traders need to have regular income to cover those times when we are unable to work. I do not expect to be chasing providers when I am trying to recover from being clinically dead."

A spokesperson for Scottish Friendly said: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Pruggmayer for the delay in payment of his adviser fee during what has been an extremely difficult time.

"We have contacted Mr Pruggmayer directly and will be offering compensation for the distress and inconvenience this has caused.”

However, in the afternoon of Monday November 15, Pruggmayer told FTAdviser that no money had been put into his account but he had received a letter from the complaints division of Scottish Friendly.

He said: "The letter is addressed to Mr Lound at Financial Risk Management", adding: "You couldn't make this up."

Scottish Friendly has apologised for mis-naming of the adviser.

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com