If you invested in the EEA Life Settlements Fund you should consider making a complaint about the sale now.
We believe that some of you who invested in a fund called EEA Life Settlements are likely to have been mis-sold the product. As a result, you may wish to make a complaint to the firm which sold you the investment or make a claim against it.
However, there is only a limited time in which to do so and in some cases the deadline for making complaints or claims may start to expire from 1 December 2014 onwards.
The deadline will vary and will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case – particularly when the sale or advice occurred and when the investor realised there was a problem.
Those who wish to complain should do so before it may be too late.
What to do if you invested
If you were advised to invest in the EEA Life Settlements Fund and would like to make a complaint, you should contact the firm that arranged the investment on your behalf to raise your concerns and ask for the sale to be reviewed. Be clear that you are making a complaint.
Under our rules, the firm should have a procedure to follow to resolve matters with you in a timely fashion.
If you are not satisfied with the firm’s answer, or feel that your complaint has not been properly dealt with or are dissatisfied with the proposed resolution, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service[1].
If the firm has gone out of business, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme[2] (FSCS) might be able to help.
If you invested in the EEA Life Settlements Fund without receiving advice or you are considering bringing a claim through the courts, you may wish to seek independent advice on what your options may be.
Find out more about how to complain[3].
EEA Life Settlements
The EEA Life Settlements Fund is an unregulated collective investment scheme made up of traded life insurance policies (TLPIs), based in Guernsey and previously listed on the Channel Islands Securities Exchange.
TLPIs are investments in life assurance policies, typically of US citizens. We believe TLPIs are complicated products that are generally unsuitable for the mass retail market.
In April 2012, our review of sales in the TLPI market revealed high levels of unsuitable advice. As a result, we recommended that these products should not reach ordinary retail investors in the UK.
In January 2014, we imposed rules banning the promotion of TLPIs to most retail investors.