Anna Charles from Colwyn Bay got back £2,280 from HSBC

In April 2000 Mrs Charles retired from her job with the Local Authority and received a lump sum payment. She banked with HSBC and they arranged a meeting with a financial adviser.

Mrs Charles explained her personal circumstances to the adviser and she was advised to invest £10,000 of her money into a Stocks and Shares ISA and a unit trust. This investment was spread across UK and European shares. She agreed with the adviser but when she cashed in her investment the following year she received £9,571.

Anna saw our Internet ad and contacted us asking for our assistance. We examined the advice she had been given and identified that Anna shouldn’t have been advised to invest so close to her retirement and that the funds recommended to her contained far too much risk, particularly so for someone who had never invested before.

We sent our claim to HSBC explaining why Anna was advised wrongly.  After investigating her case they agreed with our findings and paid Anna £2,282 covering her £429 loss together with interest n line with Financial Ombudsman Service guidelines.