Investment Bonds

An investment bond is essentially a lump-sum life insurance policy that is paid for by one lump-sum payment or single premium. An investor may withdraw a percentage from their bond annually or choose to withdraw a lump-sum at the end of any agreed term.

Investment bonds make a sound investment for many investors who seek to see their investment grow in value over a medium to long-term period, however, some investment bonds are mis-sold.

Financial advisers often have generous financial incentives for selling products such as investment bonds, which can sometimes result in a mis-sold product to an unsuitable investor.

While financial advisers may find themselves with a generous bonus, investors may find themselves at a financial loss following the purchase of a product that does not suit their needs.

Financial advisers owe a duty to their Client’s to ensure that the product that they are selling to them is both suitable to their needs and requirements and in accordance with the level of risk that the investor is willing to take.

Here are a few key indicators that you may have been mis-sold and may have a claim:

• Retail investor – were you an investor who only held basic investments, such as share and bonds in secure reputable companies or held no investments at all?
• Contact – where you contacted out of the blue, or “cold-called”, by a financial advisor?
• Knowledge – Did you invest into something that you didn’t really understand? Did you have little or no knowledge of how investment bonds worked or the product that you were investing into?
• Pressure – Did you feel you did not have time to get independent advice, research the investments or take your time to decide if you wanted to proceed? Where you pressured to act quickly or risk losing out?
• Risk consideration– did the advisor fail to explain the risks associated with the investment including the potential of losing your investment?
• Losses – as a result of the investment, have you suffered a financial loss?

• We will undertake a free investigation into your investment and advise you on whether you have a claim.
• If we identify that you have a claim and you decide to instruct Oakwood Solicitors to recover your losses, then we will act for you on a no win no fee basis.
• If we fail to secure you a settlement, you will not be charged.
• If we successfully recover your compensation on a no win no fee basis, then we will charge 36% plus VAT of any compensation award.

Upon receipt and review of your documents, we will calculate the losses that you have suffered and seek to recover any claimable losses in full.

As the claim is being made against the FSCS then we would expect the claim to be concluded within 6 months.

As each case is unique it is difficult to provide a generic timeframe for conclusion of the claim. However, Oakwood Solicitors will give you an indication of how long your claim is likely to take to conclude as part of our initial review.

• There is no financial risk to you – we will never ask for money up front, and if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be charged.
• We will calculate the claimable losses that you have incurred and seek to recover them in full.
• As we are a firm of Solicitors regulated by the SRA, we will provide a professional service, always keep you updated on the progress of your claim, and act in your best interest always.
• We have the experience – we have over 15 years of experience in financial mis-selling matters and have successfully recovered more than £5 million for Clients who have lost money due to negligent investment advice in the last 12 months.
• We do the hard work for you – we will gather all of the documents required to support your claim and complete all of the necessary paperwork.