AWD Chase de Vere pays out £1.5m in complaints and redress

AWD Chase de Vere spent more than £1.5m settling complaints and paying customer redress last year, and expects the figure to be even higher this year.

The company's accounts for 2010 show it paid £1,519,627 on complaints. The figure includes an amount which is understood to be part of its ongoing customer redress programme after the FSA ruled it had mis-sold pensions between 2006 and 2007.

A total of £600,000 related to 'particular types of complaints', which were unspecified but which it said "currently have a high profile in the financial services industry".

The group had a complaints provision, as at 31 December 2010, of just under £5.2m to deal with redress payments associated with its past business review as well as 'business as usual' provisions.

Meanwhile, the company made an operating profit of £3.18m last year, up from £1.05m in 2009. This was from a turnover of £35.18m.

Average 'productivity per adviser' was up from £82,000 in 2009 to £118,000 in 2010, due to what it said was the 'active performance management of underperforming advisers'.

In November 2008, AWD Chase de Vere was fined £1.12m by the Financial Services Authority for "serious failings" in its pension transfer, pension annuity and income withdrawal business that resulted in mis-selling.

The firm estimated that as many as 800 of its customers may have received unsuitable advice in relation to 1,200 sales between February 2006 and October 2007.

AWD said it has reviewed past business and is compensating customers where appropriate.