Narinder believed her father, Mahesh, didn’t fully understand the terms of the lifetime mortgage an equity release company had sold him.
What happened
Mahesh took out a lifetime mortgage with an equity release company. His daughter, Narinder, thought he was vulnerable when he bought it.
Narinder thought Mahesh hadn’t understood how the interest would add up, and that a family member should have been at the meeting with the adviser.
Narinder complained to the equity release company and, unhappy with the response, she brought her complaint to us.
What we said
We saw that Mahesh had taken independent legal advice. The solicitor confirmed that she’d explained the arrangement to him. And the equity release company gave him paperwork that clearly illustrated how the mortgage worked. It had told him that it could involve family members in discussions about the mortgage, but Mahesh hadn’t felt that was necessary.
We thought the equity release company had taken appropriate steps to make sure Mahesh had understood the arrangements, and there wasn’t anything to suggest it ought to have been aware of any vulnerability.
We appreciated that Narinder was upset, but we explained that the equity release company hadn’t done anything wrong. We did not uphold her complaint.