Terace Walkling from London got back £4,660 from RBS/NatWest

In 1998 Terace’s father died and left her with a small inheritance. She put this money into her NatWest account and she was then invited to speak with a Financial Adviser to discuss what she could potentially do with it.

Terace was advised to invest a lump sum of £6,000 into an ISA in the Safeguard Trust. She didn’t want to touch this money and left it in place for over 10 years. She eventually surrendered the investment in 2010 when the value had grown to £7,091.

Terace listened to our advertisement on the radio and decided to get in touch with Goodwin Barrett about the investment she had previously held. We discussed Terace’s personal and financial circumstances when she invested and believed that Terace had been wrongly advised.

Although the Safeguard Trust was a low risk investment which was suitable for first time investors it was clear that the adviser had recommended Terace to invest too much of her money. In addition to this she was still grieving over the loss of her father and in an emotionally vulnerable state. It is sensible to make recommendations to potential investors only when they have overcome significant and traumatic events and Terace was advised to invest too soon after her loss.

Goodwin Barrett wrote a Letter of Claim to NatWest making the above points. Even though the investment grew by over £1,000 we requested that NatWest should calculate what Terace could have received if she had not invested into her ISA and pay interest from the time the ISA was surrendered.

NatWest agreed they had given unsuitable advice to Terace and paid her a total of £4,663 in line with Goodwin Barrett’s instructions.