Q: Why do I need to use an advocate to seek compensation?
A: You do not need to use an advocate like us to help lodge a complaint to seek compensation.
What we have found is that most clients are not familiar with the language used by the financial planning industry, ASIC and AFCA. We have found that clients who have come to us for help as their initial attempt to seek compensation themselves was rejected due to the client not understanding the process of providing advice and missing documents and evidence required.
Q: Who is AFCA?
A: AFCA stands for Australian Financial Compliants Authority, this replaced FOS, the Financial Ombudsman Service after the Banking Royal Commission as an external financial services complaint scheme.
Q: Who is ASIC?
A: ASIC stands for Australian Securities and Investment Commision. ASIC is the corporate regulator and one of its role is to oversee the financial planning industry to protect consumers and has the power to ban advisers for inappropriate advice.
Q: Does AFCA charge a fee to lodge a complaint?
A: No, AFCA does not charge a fee to lodge a complaint
Q: What if my Adviser contacts me to drop the complaint?
A: This should not happen, however it may occur. Once you have lodged your complaint with AFCA, the adviser mentioned in the complaint is prohibited from contacting you.
Q: Who pays the compensation? What if my adviser has gone bankrupt or is no longer in the advice industry?
A: The adviser's Professional Indemnity Insurance company will pay the compensation payout. The adviser's AFSL (the Licensee holder) is ultimately responisble for the adviser's advice to you, it does not matter whether they are still in the industry or financially solvent.
Q: Is there a time limit to make a claim?
A: Yes, AFCA do not investigate cases greater than 6 years from when you initially realised your loss.
Q: If my complaint fails, do I have to pay the defendants (adviser) legal fees?
A: No, If the complaint is lodged through AFCA, you do not have to pay the other parties legal cost.
We use cookies to enable essential functionality on our website, and analyze website traffic. By clicking Accept you consent to our use of cookies. Read about how we use cookies.
Your Cookie Settings
We use cookies to enable essential functionality on our website, and analyze website traffic. Read about how we use cookies.
Cookie Categories
Essential
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our websites. You cannot refuse these cookies without impacting how our websites function. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings, as described under the heading "Managing cookies" in the Privacy and Cookies Policy.
Analytics
These cookies collect information that is used in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are.