The already fractious relationship between the Personal Finance Society (PFS) and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has been ‘blown apart’ again.

The CII announced yesterday (1 October) that its chief executive Matthew Hill and three other executives – Trevor Edwards, Mathew Mallett and Gill White – have been appointed to the PFS board.

The move has further increased tensions between members of the PFS and its parent body, the CII.

The debacle started with the ‘Christmas coup’ in December 2022, when the CII imposed its own directors on the PFS board in a highly controversial move.

At the time, the CII said it took action due to “serious and significant” governance failures at the PFS.

The PFS immediately hit back, slamming the CFII’s decision, with former PFS president Sarah Lord condemning the CII’s “aggressive” behaviour.

She also described the move as “disingenuous” and said it had been done without prior consent or warning.

Caroline Stuart resigned from her roles as PFS president and member director of the PFS board on 5 January 2023, saying the pressure was affecting her health.

There were also a series of resignations and appointments in the 12 months that followed.

Last year, the PFS and CII appeared to have resolved the dispute and both parties said they were working together.

However, this week the CII took action to flood the PFS board with its members once again.

In a statement, campaign group Our PFS, set up to ‘save’ the body following the Christmas coup of 2022, blasted the CII’s actions.

“It has been around a year since the last actions of ourpfs.co.uk, with a general feeling that issues between CII and PFS were in the process of being resolved,” it said.

“Unfortunately, this has been blown wide open again thanks to incredibly questionable actions taken by the Chartered Insurance Institute on 1 October 2024.

“OurPFS is urgently investigating and will be writing out with more details as soon as they are known.

“October 2024 may well turn out to be the month that defines the future of our professional body.”

Money Marketing has contacted representatives of the PFS for a comment.

MARTIN Lewis has issued a warning for customers of a major high street bank.

Santander has cut the rate on its easy-access savings account by 1.1%.

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The account paid 5.2% interest when it first launched, but was cut to 4.20% in May and has now been reduced to 4%.

This means customers will get 4% interest on balances between £1 and £250,000.

It applies to customers who have a Santander’s Easy Access Saver Limited Edition (Issue 3).

The deal is no longer open to new customers.

When the deal fist launched last September, it was one of the most competitive on the market.

However, experts from the Martin Lewis MoneySavingExpert blog are urging customers to think twice.

They said: “You can easily beat this new rate by switching elsewhere – which you’re allowed to do without penalty.

The blog stated that even though this account has a 12-month term the rate is variable.

This means that savers are not locked into this account and do not have to stick with it.

They explained: “This account works in a slightly unusual way – it initially had a 12-month term, but the rate wasn’t fixed for this period

“Instead, what happens at the end of the term – which has since been extended by 10 months – is that the account ‘matures’ and your money is transferred to one of Santander’s other easy-access accounts with a much lower interest rate.”

“You can ditch and switch,” they added.

The MoneySavingBlog named two saving accounts for customers which offer higher interest.

These include:

Trading 212’s Cash ISA

This is a type of savings account which offers tax free interest on savings up to £20,000.

There is not mimiumn you have to pay in to receive the interest.

You must be at least 18-years old to open this type of savings account.

Trading 212’s deal offers savers 5.1% AER Variable on customers savings.

An AER Variable rate means that your rate is not guaranteed and that it can change over time.

On this deal, savers can withdraw their cash at anytime without any impact on their savings rate.

The interest is also paid daily.

If you want to read more about ISA’s check out our article here.

Oxbury saving account offer

This bank is offering an AER interest rate of 4.76%.

However, the interest will only on balances above £25,000 and up to £500,000.

It is also worth noting that if your balance falls below £25,000 after opening the account, you will not receive interest on the balance.

You will only receive interest on balances above £500,000, where those balances have resulted from interest being accrued to the account.

Unlike Trading 212’s Cash ISA, where interest is paid daily, here it is only paid one a month.

What other options are available for savers?

There are several types of savings accounts available to customers, so you need to make sure you select one that suits your circumstances.

Easy-access accounts and regular savings accounts, which allow greater flexibility when it comes to withdrawing your cash, but they tend to offer slightly lower interest rates.

If you’re happy to leave your cash in your account for longer then you can consider a fixed-bond or notice savings account.

Before opening a new savings account it’s always worth having a browse on price comparison websites.

Moneyfactscompare, Compare the Market, Go Compare and MoneySupermarket will help save you time and show you the best rates available.

These sites let you tailor your searches to an account type that suits you.

Advisers need to be in contact with clients more than ever, whether that be to meet regulatory requirements or simply because we’re all expected to be more accessible these days.

This regularity of contact keeps us on top of changes to clients’ financial situations – but it also puts us in a prime position to notice any changes to their mental and physical wellbeing, too.

These sorts of changes used to be picked up by doctors, but you only get 10 minutes with them nowadays, and it’s very rare you see the same one over time.

Ok, ok, we’re not going to be getting a stethoscope out, but we can give the little nudge a client needs following some simple observations.

What good is a pile of money and plans detailing a long and well-lived life, if you end up in poor health, unable to fulfil your dreams?

Some reading will think this goes beyond their remit of needing to make clients money. But who will those clients thank and stick with for engagement in their wellbeing? Who are they going to tell their friends and family about?

And, after all, what good is a pile of money and plans detailing a long and well-lived life, if you end up in poor health, unable to fulfil your dreams?

Bad luck can play a part, of course, but reducing the likelihood of poor health before it is too late is something worth sitting up for. Health is wealth.

There might have been a lot of sweat and sacrifice involved in getting your exams and building your technical knowledge, but most clients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

If you do not make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness

Wellness educator Joyce Sunada said: “If you do not make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness”.

The effect of loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Not addressing severe hearing loss increases the likelihood of living with dementia fivefold. Unhealthy living, such as stress, poor diet and lack of mobility increases the chances of chronic inflammation which, in turn, increases the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and bowel diseases.

The need to exercise our hunting and survival mechanisms are hardly met by punching buttons on a computer while reaching for a croissant.

Encouraging change is never too late. A study by Lars T. Fadnes et al, Nature Food (2023), found that 40-year-old men and women who changed from an unhealthy diet to eating healthier food consistently gained almost 10 years in life expectancy.

The need to exercise our hunting and survival mechanisms are hardly met by punching buttons on a computer while reaching for a croissant

Even those without the traditional assets to engage with a financial adviser could find a later opportunity for conversation when needing advice on a lifetime mortgage to help get by, for example.

Even 70-year-olds can manage to extend their life expectancy by four or five years if they make a sustained diet change.

Enduring frailty in later age is very frustrating. Advisers who can encourage some strength training to increase resilience and reduce the chance of fractures caused by bone-thinning conditions could make a big difference to people’s lives.

Just a little bit of wellbeing knowledge and a gentle nudge shows them just how much you care.

If you are concerned not just for your client’s finances, but also for their overall wellbeing, you will have an even better relationship with them.

Mel Kenny is a chartered financial planner at Radcliffe & Newlands Wealth

A HOMEOWNER has claimed he is unable to sell his £1million farmhouse because of an imposing council car park subsiding the property.

Andrew Ewart-James, 78 also said the facility has driven the Gloucestershire gaff’s value down by an eye-popping £600,000.

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The pensioner nabbed Home Farm in the sleepy village of South Woodchester in 1977 and claims he has had difficulties retaining wall in his garden since he moved in.

The council erected scaffolding to help support the car park wall until a long term solution is found – but Andrew says the wall has been crumbling for years.

Andrew’s wife recently passed away and the homeowner is eager to sell off the home so that he can move into a more modest home and his children can have his inheritance.

He has now issued a High Court proceeding against Stroud District Council over the wall.

“I feel trapped. I am fed up with the council – they never say anything, never respond to me and never say what they are doing,” he claimed.

“They say they keep the residents up to date but it is not true – they won’t disclose their plans, but I know they are doing the cheapest job they can and they do not really care when they get around to doing it.

“I’m too old to hang around so I have issued instructions to go to High Court proceedings against them for damages!

“I used to be a solicitor, so I know the process won’t be immediate but it will come along – when the council they get the message I’m serious, hopefully they will do something.”

”When we bought the home in 1977 there were only two cars in the car park – but now there are seven to eight!

“My wife died and I don’t want to live in this home on my own. We have been here 47 years and I want to sell it.

“I want to live in a smaller home and give my children the share they are entitled to under their mother’s estate.”

Andrew fears the current situation will drive down the property’s value.

He continued: “Nobody with half a brain would buy a house in this condition. It’s probably worth somewhere over £1m.

“I reckon the fall in the value of this house would mean only an investor would buy it in its current condition for around £400,000.”

Andrew said his surveyor told him in 1977 there was a large retaining wall with a 12ft drop.

The surveyor said at the time that the structure was fine but “retaining walls nearly always cause problems”.

“In 1986, we had a structural survey specifically of the wall because we noticed cracks developing. They weren’t following the outline,” he told the The Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The cracks were going through the bricks. We knew we had a problem.

“We have had to live through this problem since 1986 when we first notified the council there was an issue.

”At that time we put up marker tags to see if there was going to be any movement in the council’s wall.

“It showed slight movement over the years and then in January 2019, the wall lurched four inches being pushed by the council’s wall.

“We built buttresses. We were under the impression the whole thing was going to come tumbling straight down down.

“They are using our own wall internal to the land of the property to prop up their wall and its not working and they are all falling down.

“The council didn’t seem to take it particularly seriously and said there was no need for urgency.

“I’m afraid that has been their attitude ever since. They don’t tell us what they are doing and they do when they feel like it.

“I don’t think they are being directed by the elected representatives, it’s the paid officials who are deciding what, if anything, they wish to do, and I don’t think they are doing it properly.”

A Stroud District Council spokesperson said: “We have conducted essential preliminary work to identify the cause of the wall’s movement and determine the appropriate course of action.

“Comprehensive structural and geotechnical surveys are now complete and our structural engineers have finalised the design for the repairs.

“We are waiting for feedback on our plans from the residents’ own structural engineer.

“We understand that living so close to a construction site poses challenges, however this is an unusually complex case due to the scale, construction type and location.

“We have kept the owner of the neighboring property informed of our actions throughout the process.

“Ensuring the safety of the public remains our priority.”

The Sun has reached out to Stroud District Council for comment.

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