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Treating Customers Fairly |
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We welcome the Financial Services Authority's 'Treating Customers Fairly' (TCF) initiative. West Riding's fundamental ethos is very simple - we aim to give the best obtainable advice to all our clients in a way that all will find both affordable and readily understandable. We always put our clients’ interests first and we live up to the motto on the sign outside our main office - 'Honest Advice in Plain English'.
Every IFA firm is required by the FSA to embed the TCF initiative in its procedures and we have done this folowing an in-depth review of everything we do. We've then gone a stage further than the FSA requires, by setting out our TCF policy here on our website. This means that our clients can see what we promise and hold us to it. Here then are some of the specific things we do to ensure that we always treat all our customers fairly -
Empathising With Customers
'I actually have a pretty simple method of constantly self-checking my own advice, which I modify depending on the circumstances. So with young clients in their early twenties say, I ask myself "what would I advise if this was my son or daughter?” For clients around my own age the question becomes "If this was my best friend or his wife, what would I advise him or her to do?" or "If this was my money I was spending, what would I do?" For more elderly clients I ask "If this was my mother or father, what would I advise them?" And this is what we train our consultants to do, so we can always be proud of the advice we give.' - Neil F Liversidge, West Riding's Managing Director.
Explaining Products and Risks
All investment involves risk, so we explain thoroughly and in very straightforward terms the type and extent of risk you might face. As with everything else we do, we aim to deliver risk warnings in plain English. We'll ensure that you get all the relevant literature supplied by the product provider - the insurance company, lender or investment house - and because they've not all got the plain English habit yet we'll provide 'translations' where appropriate.
Access to Advice and to the Owner of the Business
Our business is built around the needs of our clients, so we offer meetings at your own home, or at our premises, at whatever time suits you, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In this way our clients can access advice even if they work unsocial hours or if their mobility is limited, by disability for example. We have very experienced and highly qualified consultants here at West Riding, but every client has direct access to the owner of the business, Neil Liversidge, should they need it. Neil's home number out of normal office hours is 01977 808601, mobile 07904 332531. During office hours contact Neil via our normal switchboard number, 01977 808600.
Our Remuneration - No Commission Bias
Like anyone in any business, we are paid for what we do. That payment can be by way of a fee (you write us a cheque) or by us being paid commission by the product provider, or a combination of both. In any case, we will illustrate the comparative costs of similar products so you will know that the contract recommended is the one that is in your best interests rather than being the one that pays us the most. Where investment contracts are concerned, we will limit our commission so that we are paid the same regardless of the contract type. Any excess we rebate to clients by enhancing their investment from the outset.
Trained Advisors - No 'Hard Sell'
You will never have to worry about high-pressure sales tactics by West Riding. We will give you honest advice in plain English and leave you to make up your own mind in your own time. (Actually, we don't like pushy in-your-face-and-camp-on-your-doorstep salespeople either. Who does?) Our advisors are trained and qualified to a high standard and we ensure that all undergo continuous professional development so they stay fully up to date.
Only the Best
We will offer you the best solution we can find for your needs and we will explain why it is so, with the relevant evidence and research, so you can make up your own mind. We use a structured and in-depth Fact-Find document to ensure that we 'know our clients' and we use expensive research software to analyse the information we gather, assess risk, obtain quotes and illustrate solutions.
Holistic Advice
Unless you ask us to limit advice to a particular area we will look at your entire circumstances to see how we can help you. If all you want us to do is organise a mortgage or some life cover for your family then that's fine - you're the boss. But we'd rather give you proper, full, holistic advice every time. It's amazing how useful a proper and full financial review can be. One client we saw stands to be, potentially, £500,000 better off later in her life, all as a result of a review we carried out on her in early April 2007. It's all about finding out the facts and knowing what to do with them.
Financial Promotions
We don't actually advertise very much, as most of our business these days comes by referral from existing happy clients. When we do advertise though we have third-party compliance consultants check our material to ensure it is all true, fair and accurate.
Protecting Clients - From Themselves!
It's a fact that clients often forget to disclose medical conditions when filling out application forms for life assurance or income protection. As a consequence though, insurance companies can refuse to pay out on a claim arising. We have very specific procedures in place to avoid this. First we take clients through the forms on a one-to-one basis to ensure all questions are accurately and completely answered. Then we give clients a written copy of their answers to review and check. We find that about one in five then supplies us with additional information. Yes it is extra work for us, but the peace of mind it provides is also a real extra benefit for you.
Processing and Records
If we have your authority to process a transaction then we will do so at the earliest opportunity unless you tell us otherwise. Normally life assurance applications are input on the day of receipt or on the next business day if received outside normal business hours. Any investments we receive are processed the same business day and suitability letters are always issued within a reasonable timescale. We will keep accurate and timely records of everything we do for you, so in the unlikely event that a problem does occur we can identify what went wrong, why and when. All our records are kept in accordance with the Data Protection Act and we back up all electronic records off-site to secure data servers within the UK as a part of our disaster recovery plan. This ensures that we can provide continuity of advice even if we suffer a physical disaster here such as a fire or explosion.
Disputes and Complaint Handling
The Financial Services Authority lays down fairly generous timetables for complaints to be dealt with but our policy is to deal with complaints instantly and at the highest level. This means that complaints are dealt with personally by Neil F Liversidge, West Riding's Managing Director. Our priority is to find out the facts and to then respond appropriately. As an aid to achieving this all our staff understand that the policy of the owner of the business is 'satisfaction, not crucifixion'. (Apologies to any Christians reading this; it's not meant to be offensive!) This means that staff are encouraged to be totally candid about any mistakes they may have made so that they can be rectified; they don't have to be frightened about getting into trouble. Our aim and priority is to satisfy the client, not to 'crucify' somebody who made an honest error. We also employ Simply Biz Services plc, an outside third-party compliance consultancy, to provide an independent view on complaints. If we think a complaint is not valid, before we reject it we will ask Simply Biz for their view. If they disagree and find it valid, we’ll take their view as correct and respond appropriately.
Regular Reviews - Keeping You Informed
As we said above, we won't camp on your doorstep, because we don't like pushy people ourselves. We will keep you informed though, by way of regular mailings up to three times each year, as to what is going on in the financial world, and we will offer you a personal financial review every year or two depending on your circumstances. If you want us to vary this then all you have to do is ask - we are very flexible.
In the wider sense, our ethos is that we run an ethical business. This means that amongst other things we treat our staff fairly and well and we pay all our suppliers promptly for goods and services supplied. (For details of some of our suppliers see the section of this site entitled ‘Businesses We Recommend’, and feel free to call them for a reference on us. They will all confirm that we do what we say we’ll do.) All our staff are under orders that they must always be polite and pleasant to the staff of the insurance companies, investment houses and other firms with whom we deal. Basically it is our view that you achieve much better results in your dealings with other people if you treat them decently and with courtesy, and all employees have a right to expect that in their daily work.
Thanks for reading this – and welcome to West Riding.
Neil F Liversidge
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
Integrity
A firm must conduct its business with integrity.
Skill, Care and Diligence
A firm must conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence.
Management & Control
A firm must take responsible care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively, with adequate risk management systems.
Financial Prudence
A firm must maintain adequate financial resources.
Market Conduct
A firm must observe proper standards of market conduct.
Customer’s Interests
A firm must pay due regard to the interest of its customers and treat them fairly.
Communications with Clients
A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients, and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.
Conflicts of Interest
A firm must manage conflicts of interest fairly, both between itself and its customers and between a customer and another client.
Customers: Relationship of Trust
A firm must take responsible care to ensure the suitability of its advice and discretionary decisions for any customer who is entitled to rely upon its judgment.
Client’s Assets
A firm must arrange adequate protection for client’s assets when it is responsible for them.
Relations with Regulators
A firm must deal with its regulators in an open and cooperative way, and must disclose to the FSA appropriately anything relating to the firm of which the FSA would reasonably expect notice.
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Treating Customers Fairly 
