All 12 of the advisers working on Aviva’s Regulated Telephony Team, a tied offering, were suspended following the inspection, with disciplinary hearings ultimately leading to two of the 12 losing their jobs for gross misconduct, IFAonline understands.
The remaining advisers either escaped without punishment or received written warnings.
Aviva said it would not comment on individual advisers, though it said the service was included as part of its decision to cease providing direct advice in May, which led to many advisers, including those involved in the telephony team, being made redundant.
The Regulated Telephony Team, in operation since at least 2000, offered tied advice on annuities and equity release. The service sat alongside Aviva’s advised face-to-face offering.
An internal audit carried out at the beginning of this year suggested to case checkers that some advisers were not properly recording clients’ details following fact finds. The service was suspended on 20 March pending investigation, and customers requiring the provider’s over-the-phone team were passed to its face-to-face unit.
Two advisers lost their jobs – and, as it transpired, their pending redundancy payouts – following disciplinary hearings, IFAonline understands.
Those who received written warnings, at least some of whom were not found guilty of mis-selling, were recommended additional training on Aviva’s newly-installed point-of-sale system, Axis, and were informed the outcome of their hearings would be noted on any financial services reference for the next five years.
No additional training was provided, however, as Aviva’s wider decision to stop providing direct advice, which it said was done to reduce costs, led to the closure of the telephony team.
However, IFAonline also understands some of the advisers were shocked by the speed and severity with which Aviva acted, particularly as they had received glowing reports into the quality of their work from supervisers.
Though admitting mistakes were made, some of the advisers are unhappy with the training they received, particularly on the Axis system, and feel Aviva should accept some accountability for what happened.
A spokesperson for Aviva said: “A number of advice workflows were adjusted as part of our preparation to cease providing full advice. Customers seeking a telephony full advice service were managed by our face to face full advice service from the end of March in the run up to all full advice ceasing in May.
“We don’t comment on individual staff members, but have regular processes in place to ensure all our procedures meet FCA regulations.”
