Gail Thibert from Loughton got back £17,800 from Barclays

Gail inherited some money from her late mothers estate back in 1998 and Barclays suggested she should meet with a financial adviser to discuss the options she had.

She was advised to invest a total of £30,000 into Barclays Managed Growth Fund. Gail had never been in a position to invest previously and she was happy to accept the financial adviser’s recommendation. Gail kept her investment in place for a number of years, taking withdrawals when she needed to for home improvements. When she cashed it in she got back £27,650, resulting in her losing money across the 5 years she had invested.

Gail contacted Goodwin Barrett after hearing our radio advert. Gail was classed as a cautious investor as she wanted to limit the risk she was taking and this was appropriate for someone investing for the first time. However, the Managed Growth Fund that was recommended to her was totally invested in shares and contained much more risk than a cautious investment.

We sent our claim to Barclays explaining that Gail was advised incorrectly to take this higher level of risk.

Barclays investigated the advice they had given Gail over 20 years earlier and agreed with our findings paying out £17,830 in compensation.