9:34am Tuesday 27th July 2010
By Daniel Howlett
A BANK has apologised after it mis-sold an investment opportunity costing a North-East woman nearly £19,000.
Patricia Allen, 74, from Darlington, has been a customer of Barclays for more then 40 years and trusted advice given to her on a low-risk investment.
Mrs Allen put nearly £60,000 into the Morley/Aviva fund in 2007. When she cashed it in 2008 she had lost more than £18,000.
A group has now been set up – the Barclays Investment Victims’ Club and – together with a 69 other investors, Mrs Allen travelled to Westminster to lobby her MP last week.
Paul Clark is the solicitor representing the lobbying group and he claims that there could be up to 5,000 people across the country who are entitled to compensation from Barclays.
Mrs Allen said: “I’ve been with Barclays for more than 40 years, and of course I trusted them implicitly when they sold me the investment.
“I jumped at the chance when I heard about it because it was going to increase my monthly income, but instead I have lost more than £18,000.
“I cannot afford that. I am just a pensioner who had a legacy to invest with.”
The group has won a recent victory, with Barclays agreeing not to challenge any decision made by the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Paul Cooper, the lawyer working on the group’s behalf, said: “Anyone who invested with Barclays in either of the global income funds should realise that their losses are not just the result of bad timing. They were both high-risk funds that should never have been sold to retired people.
There are about 5000 people who bought this fund and have not yet complained.”
Speaking last night, a spokeswoman for Barclays said: “We are sorry for the stress experienced by some of our customers who invested in the Morley/Aviva funds.
“We have listened to the issues expressed by those customers affected and where mistakes have been made. We are dedicated to resolving these cases swiftly and fairly.
“It is clearly evident that in some instances relating to these funds, we have failed to meet the high standards that our customers expect from us and for this we are sorry.
“We treat all customer concerns seriously and we continue to work hard to ensure the banking experience remains positive for our customers.”
Customers with questions can call the customer relations department helpline on 0845-3002677 to ask about their investment.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/trade_directory/