{"id":126798,"date":"2025-09-10T04:37:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/126798\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T04:37:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:37:22","slug":"complete-madness-readers-hit-out-after-ifa-told-to-pay-over-27yo-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/126798\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Complete madness\u2019: readers hit out after IFA told to pay over 27yo advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advisers have rallied around a retired adviser who is battling with his former and now defunct network over a complaint brought relating to advice given 25 years ago.<\/a><\/p>\n

FT Adviser has been reporting the story of John Nightingale, who is being hounded to pay \u00a3155,000 to his former network Tenet. <\/p>\n

On top of this he must also pay legal costs after the adviser\u2019s application to strike out former network Tenet\u2019s long stop claim was unsuccessful in court.<\/a><\/p>\n

This is after an ex-client had his claim upheld for advice that took place 27 years ago – a claim brought about through a claims management company against advice to transfer into a S32 pension to preserve his GMP element.<\/p>\n

This had protected the client through subsequent market turmoil. But unknown to him at the time, the CMC took the case to Tenet in 2022 and originally the network dismissed the claim. <\/p>\n

you\u2019re on the hook until you die<\/p>\n

FT Adviser reader<\/p>\n

The CMC pursued it to Fos, which found against Tenet. After this, Tenet paid the client \u00a3155,000 redress, and then, after it fell into administration, Tenet started chasing the IFA to recoup the money.<\/p>\n

As reported last year, the administrators of Tenet Group<\/a> are Ed Boyle, Howard Smith and Rob Spence of Interpath.<\/p>\n

On top of this, Nightingale must also pay legal costs after the adviser\u2019s application to strike out former network Tenet\u2019s long stop claim was unsuccessful in court.<\/a><\/p>\n

FT Adviser readers gathered in the comment section to show support to the adviser.<\/p>\n

One reader called the situation \u2018complete madness\u2019 while another said: \u201cWhat an absolute shambles – what other industry treats their professionals like this?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no wonder we can\u2019t encourage younger people to join this industry, you\u2019re on the hook until you die.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What have advisers been saying about Tenet Group?\u00a9 FT Adviser<\/p>\n

Another reader said the selling point of joining a network was always the protection they offered but said this case questioned that.<\/p>\n

They said: \u201cAnother IFA recently highlighted the risks of being pursued by the networks insurer. <\/p>\n

\u201cHere we see there\u2019s no reason for a firm to be in a network because that\u2019s where the real risk lies. Directly authorised and in control of any complaints, PI and liabilities is the only route.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018What a waste\u2019<\/p>\n

The situation has also made a recently qualified adviser question whether this is a profession they should join.<\/p>\n

They stated: \u201cI\u2019m newly qualified with a network one of the big four, FCA approved AR and I spent my day applying for jobs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be a brilliant adviser, with contacts galore, trusted adviser status, a pipeline and tons of tech skills but it\u2019s not worth the risk imho [in my honest opinion]. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll the networks \/ industry should be pushing back on this decision. What a waste of the last year of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nightingale has attempted to hit back at Tenet paying out on what he says is a complaint which should be time barred.<\/p>\n

He applied to strike out former network Tenet\u2019s long stop claim.<\/p>\n

The adviser argued an agreement he signed with the network when he joined did not mention the Limitation Act would not apply, especially not for 25-year-old advice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But last week (September 2), the judge decided this Act did not apply here and so dismissed the application in favour of Tenet.<\/p>\n

Nightingale must now add \u00a313,000 of Tenet\u2019s legal fees on top of the \u00a3155,000 bill looming over his head. <\/p>\n

He told FT Adviser he may have to sell his home to pay it, unless he can continue to pay his lawyers to take the fight to court against Tenet\u2019s request for redress.<\/p>\n

One FT Adviser slammed Tenet for this situation, saying: \u201cHappy to take fees from an adviser and then throw him under the bus when a case gets retro treatment, following what probably wasn\u2019t even a complaint but a slippery ambulance chaser.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another said they had left Tenet, saying: \u201cI think the PI insurance I was paying them, which was in excess of \u00a325,000 per annum, was not worth a carrot. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am directly authorised now, and should I retire and sell my business or shut it down, I wont have to rely on them to fight any claims, as they don’t seem to have a clue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint had been brought by a client after an ambulance chaser suggested that if he had ever had pension transfer advice, he could make a claim.<\/p>\n

Back in 1997, he was advised to transfer into a S32 pension to preserve his GMP element.<\/p>\n

Recommended
\n <\/p>\n

\"Recommended<\/p>\n

Adviser battling Tenet launches crowdfunder for legal fee help <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The claimant decided to convert this into an annuity in 2008, when rates were around 8 per cent. <\/p>\n

However, the client had done this subsequent annuity purchase on his own initiative, and his unadvised purchase resulted in a pension of around 5 per cent level basis.<\/p>\n

It is understood the client had not thought about bringing a complaint but after hearing from the CMC, he told his old adviser he thought \u201che\u2019d give it a go\u201d, and the CMC took the claim to Tenet.<\/p>\n

The adviser has since launched a crowdfunding campaign<\/a> to help him fight his battle and pay the costs.<\/p>\n

amy.austin@ft.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Advisers have rallied around a retired adviser who is battling with his former and now defunct network over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,10477,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-126798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-ft-adviser","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}