One of our clients was so pleased at the advice she received from Lowes that she wanted us to highlight it for the benefit of other clients who may find themselves in a similar situation.

Linda* was referred to Lowes by one of her friends, who was already a client, when Linda realised she needed to seek Independent Financial Advice around the possible ways to manage her pension, in light of the Pensions Freedoms that had come into force in April 2015.
After ringing in to arrange a free consultation, Lowes Consultant Craig Moffat met with her to discuss her pensions.

“Linda had had a couple of negative experiences with other financial advice firms which had made her wary of speaking with someone but I was able to put her mind at rest by explaining what Lowes was about and our ethos and philosophy of doing the best for our clients,“ Craig says.

“As for every client, we conducted a complete and thorough financial questionnaire to ensure we were giving the right advice based on her whole financial situation.

“In doing this we spotted a couple of immediate issues around the life insurance policies for herself and her husband. Neither of the policies were written in trust, which would mean on death the insurance payments would be deemed to be part of their estate and there would be a potential inheritance tax liability. By writing the policies in trust, the payments are kept out of the estate.

“During our discussions, Linda also mentioned that her husband had suffered an aneurism which had put him in hospital for a number of months but he was now well on the road to recovery and doctors had said he would suffer no long term damage.

“As part of the review of their pensions and their protection policies I noticed that one of the policies that the couple had taken out many years ago had a ‘critical illness’ element to it. I contacted the underwriters to see if this particular illness was one that was covered by the policy. They came back saying that it was but they would need a claim form submitting before they could say whether a claim would be valid in the particular circumstances.

Linda and her husband completed the forms although both were very skeptical about the possibility that the claim would be paid, especially when the insurer came back saying they needed more information from their doctor.

“I kept on the back of the insurer for them and about just over a month ago I received the really good news that the claim would be paid and they would be receiving over £100,000 from the insurer.

“At the time the doctors had said that there would be no long term damage so I thought we were on a hiding to nothing,” Linda says “If Craig hadn’t been persistent about making the claim, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Since then, Linda has used to money to pay off their mortgage.

Craig adds: “It was really fulfilling for me that Lowes had been able to make a difference to both their lives, which was all down to our experience and knowledge of dealing with these issues for clients over many years.”

*client name has been changed.