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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) today issued a "consumer warning" about a firm of financial advisers in Kent after uncovering alleged problems relating to mortgage applications.
The watchdog said the warning was aimed at people who had taken out a home loan with The Financial Associate, based at 16 Halfway Street, Sidcup, Kent, or who were in the process of doing so.
An FSA spokesman said these customers should check the mortgage loan was for the amount they had applied for in their original application. He said they should also check whether they had received policy statements or letters from insurers about life cover they did not remember applying for.
The warning said: "The FSA has reason to believe that Mr Charalambous, the firm's director and adviser, has on at least one occasion applied for a mortgage on behalf of a client.
"The mortgage advance applied for was in excess of the client's requirements, and the mortgage advance was not paid to the client. At the same time as applying for mortgages for his clients, Mr Charalambous may have applied for life assurance policies without his clients' knowledge or consent."
Anyone who took out a mortgage via the firm should contact the FSA by email or telephone. They should contact Chris Walmsley (chris.walmsley@fsa.gov.uk or 020 7066 5894) or Joan Bailey (joan.bailey@fsa.gov.uk or 020 7066 1228). They can also ring the FSA helpline: 0845 606 1234.
Customers can also contact the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which may be able to consider claims for compensation in relation to premiums paid to this firm.
The FSA issues around half a dozen consumer warnings a year.
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