A Manchester-based company that claimed to be expert in pursuing compensation claims on behalf of members of the public for mis-sold endowment policies has been wound up after an investigation by The Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) of The Insolvency Service.
Vickers Anderson Consulting Limited purchased telephone leads from a marketing research company and used a telesales business operated by an associated business based in Spain to cold-call potential customers to establish if they had endowment policies with forecasted shortfalls on maturity and invited them to use the companyís claims facilities.
Customers were persuaded that in return for an initial fee of 495 paid in advance the company would recover compensation from the endowment providers for mis-sold endowment policies.
Misleading customers about the time taken to process compensation claims and poor financial controls that resulted in only 24 per cent of the income generated in advance fees being paid over to the company, led to the closure of Vickers Anderson Consulting Limited.
CIBís investigation also found that the company failed to make promised refunds to customers for unsuccessful compensation claims and was unable to pay its debts when they became due. Further irregularities included failing to keep and maintain proper accounting records. The court also wound up Vickers Anderson Limited, an associated company that had never traded.
Compensation trail ends for endowment consultancy
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