Bonds Decision Reference 2025-0141

• Case Outcome: Rejected
• Year: 2025
• Reference: 2025-0141
• Date: 08 October 2025
• Subject Matter: Bonds
• Finantial Sector: Investment
• Conducts Complained Of: Fees & charges applied ,Failure to provide correct information

Decision Ref:

2025-0141

Sector:

Investment

Product / Service:

Bonds

Conduct(s) complained of:

Fees & charges applied

Failure to provide correct information

Outcome:

Rejected

LEGALLY BINDING DECISION OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN

Background

This complaint relates to management charges for the investment funds linked to the

Complainants’ investment policy. The Provider is a life assurance company and the initial

investments into the funds were arranged by the Complainants’ bank on 11 February

2015.

The Complainants’ Case

The Complainants submit that they had agreed what they describe as an Annual

Management Charge with their bank at 1.4% for their investment funds. Correspondence

from their bank at the time outlined this charge. The investment is now managed by the

Provider, and the Complainants submit that the Provider’s annual statements show an

Annual Management Charge of 1.8%.

The Complainants say that they wrote to the representative of the bank that sold them the

product and requested a meeting to resolve the issue. At the meeting, they were told that

while the charge shown on the statements was 1.8%, “units or value were added to the

policy to reduce the charge to 1.4%”. They submit that they have had further

correspondence with the bank through the years without resolution.