Responding to a surge in client complaints of overcharging by St James’s Place, a Northern law firm is establishing a new division and expanding its workforce by up to 20 staff to address claims against Britain’s largest wealth manager.
Barings Law, based in Cardinal House, Manchester, is expanding its headcount as part of a new division under its pensions and investments department.
St James’s Place has recently been publicly criticised for charging customers advisory fees to provide annual reviews of their investments and not actually providing the service.
As a result, the company has hired more than 90 new staff members and set aside £426 million to pay for complaints.
While St James’s Place is anticipating complaints will date back to 2018, Barings Law is looking at cases dating back to 2013 and says it is receiving multiple enquiries daily by those potentially impacted.
Craig Cooper, Managing Director of Barings Law, said: “There is no telling just how far this is going to go.
“There could potentially be hundreds of thousands of people affected by the actions of St James’s Place.
“Everyone at Barings Law is passionate about helping as many people as possible and we welcome any clients who require assistance in potentially recovering fees paid for services that have not been delivered.”
The new division was created after Barings Law was inundated with enquiries thanks to its established status as a market leader in this space, having handled over 10,000 mis-selling claims to date.
The firm has been pioneering the use of legal-tech in assisting with large caseloads.
This is something it hopes to utilise to speed up the justice process and for its clients and seek redress at scale for the potentially thousands of people impacted by the mis-selling scandal.
The firm is exploring whether other major financial institutions engage in similar overcharging practices and is prepared to handle additional cases as they emerge.
Having closely followed the Financial Conduct Authority’s review in relation to the ongoing advice charges applied and the services delivered, Mr Cooper added: “Now more than ever it is essential for financial institutions to be as transparent as possible in respect of fees charged for any ongoing services and to ensure that they are acting in the best interests of their clients.
“We’ve become well-known for our work in respect of financial mis-selling, and due to our experience and resources, we have opened a new division which will primarily focus on St James’s Place claims.
“I have every faith that the team we have already and are putting together will be able to achieve the best outcomes for our clients who have been affected by the actions of St James’s Place.
“We are eager to hold financial institutions accountable that take advantage of people who use their services.”
Barings Law operates on a no win no fee basis and is one of the most competitively priced law firms dealing with this action by charging a 25%+VAT success fee.
Founded in 2009, the firm is well established with a successful track record of helping claimants achieve the best outcomes.
Contact [email protected] if you think you’ve been affected.
