Expat Life Insurance News

Latest 10 news items tagged Life Insurance

11 Jun at 6 PM 2020

Lawsuit against FPI IOM and Quilter set to expose illegal IFA techniques

The multi-million pound lawsuit against Isle of Man insurers Friends Provident and Quilter International may open up a huge can of worms involving illegally working, unqualified IFAs across most major world expat destinations. The scam which is now unravelling in the world’s financial media is linked to the crash of Australian property investment LMIM and its spectacular failure during which thousands of expats lost their entire life savings. For some time before the crash, online financial experts in Asia were warning the so-called...
5 Jul at 6 PM 2019

Good mortgage news for expat property buyers in Spain

Spain’s new laws on mortgages are great news for those wishing to purchase property and those who’re already homeowners. Up until now, the popular expat destination’s mortgage laws favoured the banks in a manner which penalised borrowers, but new EU rules intended to align member states’ laws have forced the Spanish government to adjust its position in favour of buyers. One rule in particular is long overdue, as it protects homeowners in temporary financial difficulties from having their homes repossessed as a result of late...
13 Jun at 6 PM 2019

Rogue IFAs now illegally targeting British expats in Cyprus

In spite of the seemingly unending official and unofficial warnings against dodgy IFAs, rogue financial advisers are now swarming around Cyprus’s expat community. Most British expatriates living in Cyprus fall into two categories – retirees and small business owners. Both groups see the need to invest their pension pots or capital in order to get a reasonable return whilst keeping the cash safe in case of emergencies. Sadly, a good number are financially naive, and are falling for every trick in the unregistered, unregulated...
6 Jun at 6 PM 2019

US expats in France demonstrate over hated FATCA

US expats living in France who were born in the USA and emigrated as young children are up in arms and demonstrating against FATCA. Some 300,000 ‘accidental Americans’ as they’re now known, live and work in France, and are all liable for US taxation, even if they left their place of birth as tiny babies. Protest groups are now forming across Europe as well as in France, in protest against the sheer unfairness of FATCA and its affect on their lives. A recent report by French lawmakers demanded more should officially be done to...
10 May at 6 PM 2019

Expat owners of UK property warned over inheritance taxes

As property prices in the UK continue to soar, expat Brit who own homes or buy-to-let investments back home are being warned about liability for inheritance taxes. During the last financial year, rising house prices have meant thousands more taxpayers have been dragged in the inheritance tax net, even although a good number had no idea they’d become liable. As a result, the British taxman was richer by a record haul of some £5.2 billion, and this amount is set to go on rising as property becomes ever more expensive. Last month,...
15 Apr at 6 PM 2019

Mega financial scammer IFA boss fails to attend Spanish court hearing

The boss of a failed financial advisory company in Alicante is in hiding, having failed to attend a Spanish court hearing. Darren Kirby’s Alicante-based Continental Wealth Management financial advisory company folded in 2017, leaving hundreds of investors out of pocket to the tune of millions. Continental Wealth Management’s Denia office in the Marriott Hotel was an upscale setup aimed at impressing future clients, with the company also managing up to 10 telesales staff dealing with expat clients across Europe. Its modus operandum...
18 Apr at 6 PM 2018

Spanish Banco Sabadell refuses storm damage insurance payment to Brit pensioner

A British pensioner living in Malaga’s Alhaurin el Grande has been refused an insurance payment for her storm-damaged gate. British expats moving to Mediterranean retirement hubs are often concerned about the reputations of European insurance companies, whether for health, home coverage or life insurance. There’s the language problem to be dealt with, and making a claim is often a nightmare for elderly expats. Even using insurers linked to or recommended by a local bank can go wrong, as 80-year old Sylvia Rush found when her gates...
31 Jan at 6 PM 2018

Misselling of financial products by dodgy IFAs still rampant in the UAE

In spite of UAE regulations on compensation for financial irregularities involving investments, expats in the UAE are still at risk from dodgy IFAS. A recent report in Dubai’s English language media confirms many expats living and working in the Emirates are losing tens of thousands of dirhams to unprincipled independent financial advisors. One British lawyer who’s lived in Dubai for 11years tells it like it was when, around a year after he’d arrived, he was mis-sold a regular savings pension plan by a rogue expat presenting...
9 Nov at 6 PM 2017

British expats in Spain lose €20 million after IFA firm collapses

The British boss of a failed pension advisory company has fled to Australia after losing his British expat clients some €20 million by the use of an all too familiar scam format. The 300 Brits who’d invested with Alicante-based Continental Wealth Management are mostly expats living in the popular Spanish resort of Alicante, and are now struggling to retrieve their lost money after the IFA firm closed its doors in September and its CEO Darren Kirby left for Australia with his ill-gotten gains. Those affected, spread across Spain...
6 Oct at 6 PM 2017

What to do when a UK expats dies abroad

With retiring outside the home country becoming ever more popular, it’s common sense to be aware of protocols needing to be followed when a UK citizen dies abroad. Death isn’t considered a suitable topic of conversation for many, including elderly expats, but according to the old saying it’s as inevitable and unavoidable as income tax. At least for the sake of their friends and families, older expats should at least leave a list of must-dos in the event of their demise. After all, there are only two options to be decided,...