Henderson Carter

Henderson Carter Associates entered liquidation in February 2017, following a demand from the FCA.

Between 30th October 2013 to 8th July 2015, 879 customers switched or transferred their pensions into a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension) based on the advice given to them by Henderson Carter Associates.

This resulted in over £35 million being switched or transferred from customers’ pensions to SIPPs investing in high risk, illiquid assets that were unlikely to be suitable for them, thereby exposing them to a significant risk of loss.

In September 2016 the firm was asked by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to stop all pension switching or transfer business and told not to dispose of their assets ‘without the prior consent of the FCA’.

It was also instructed to restrict its business with introducers Hennessey Jones (its appointed representative and a lead generator), Holistic Wealth Management and City Administration Limited.

The FCA discovered that Henderson Carter Associates were receiving introductions from Hennessey Jones and others to facilitate customers moving their pensions into SIPPs investing in high risk, illiquid assets that were not regulated by the FCA, in which Hennessey Jones had a material financial interest.

This interest was not disclosed to customers and Henderson Carter Associates turned a blind eye to the obvious conflict of interests that this created.

The FCA held that Henderson Carter Associates had failed its customers in a number of ways:

• Exploited its customers for its own financial gain and put its own interests before those of its customers.
• By accepting introductions from unregulated introducers;
• By acting dishonestly and miss-leading their customers into thinking that they were providing bespoke, independent investment advice based on a comprehensive and fair analysis of the whole market;
• By failing to disclose the financial interest that the introducer had in the customers investment in Loan Notes with Hennessey Jones;
• By failing to carry out any due diligence on the advised Loan Notes to ascertain their suitability or risk profile;
• By advising customers to transfer their pension into high risk and illiquid investments which were unsuitable for their needs

If you are concerned that you may have been mis-sold an investment held within your pension, then do not panic. It may be possible to pursue a compensation claim against the IFA involved in the investment or the provider of your SIPP.

The first step should be to contact a specialist firm like Oakwood Solicitors who will investigate your pension FREE OF CHARGE and advise you if you have a claim. If you have a claim then Oakwood Solicitors will handle the whole claims process for you and will offer advice, support, and guidance every step of the way.

Oakwood Solicitors will act on your behalf on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis, giving you complete peace of mind that you will only pay a fee if your claim is successful.

If after investigating your pension we confirm that there is no loss, then you will have the reassurance that your pension is safe and secure and will have obtained this reassurance completely free of charge.

If you prefer, you can raise an initial complaint with the IFA or SIPP provider yourself but many people prefer to instruct a specialist firm with experience of handling SIPP complaints to ensure they achieve the best possible outcome in the shortest timeframe.

If the adviser who sold you the investment is no longer trading or does not have the financial means to pay you compensation then the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (‘FSCS’) assumes responsibility for the adviser and will be responsible for the payment of compensation.

Pensions are complex. To be able to identify a problem with your pension, first of all you have to know what you are looking for. Once you have identified the issue, you then need to be able to articulate the problem with reference to any legal or regulatory frameworks.

By using a solicitor who is a specialist in pension mis-selling you will ensure that you put your best case forward and maximise your chance of success.

We have seen numerous cases in the past where mis-selling victims have pursued a legitimate claim themselves, only to have it turned down due to a technicality or because key grounds have not been particularised.

You have a higher chance of success by working with a Solicitor, who will ensure that there are no technical grounds for turning down your claim and put you in the best possible position to receive what you are owed.

We are a Regulated firm of Solicitors with over 15 years’ experience in financial mis-selling claims

We have successfully recovered in excess of £1.6 Million in the last 12 months

We take the hassle out of the claims process as we do all the hard work for you. We will complete all the necessary paperwork and obtain all the required documentation to support your claim

You will be allocated your own experienced pension claims handler who will keep you fully informed throughout the whole process

It is important to note that not all SIPPs are mis-sold. If you are unsure if you were mis-sold a SIPP then check out the common mis-selling features below.

It is likely that you were mis-sold a SIPP if you:

As the claim is being made against the FSCS then we would expect the claim to be concluded within 6 months.

As each case is unique it is difficult to provide a generic timeframe for conclusion of the claim however Oakwood Solicitors will give you an indication of how long your claim is likely to take to conclude as part of our initial review.

We operate on a Damages Based Agreement (“DBA”) more commonly known as a ‘no-win, no-fee’ agreement. If we fail to secure you a settlement, you will not be charged.

We cannot provide an exact figure for how much compensation you will receive until we understand more about your claim.

The general purpose of a claim is to put you back in the position you would have been in, had you not received the negligent pension advice.

As your claim is against the FSCS then the compensation cap is £50,000.00 per person, per advisor.