The FSA has banned Aaron Nickols, trading as Warwick Finance (Warwick) for not being fit and proper to run a mortgage and insurance business.

The regulator’s investigation found that Nickols failed to ensure his customers were treated fairly and failed to prevent his staff using high pressure sales techniques.

The high pressure tactics included making unsolicited phone calls to the public, falsely claiming to represent well known high street financial service providers and questioning the stability of customers` existing policy providers in order to encourage the purchase of a new policy through Warwick. Staff also obtained direct debit details from potential customers and set up insurance policies in their name without permission.

Nickols also failed to have appropriate systems and controls in place, meaning that staff were not monitored appropriately, customer’s specific needs were often not taken into account and training for staff was inadequate.

Also, during the investigation Nickols failed to deal honestly with the FSA by making incorrect statements to the FSA and not making the improvements he had promised to make to improve the firm’s treatment of customers.

Tom Spender, FSA’s head of retail enforcement, said: “By failing to treat his customers fairly