Are You a Victim of Pension Miss-selling?

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) recently published details demonstrating the astonishing scale of the pension miss-selling scandal that is currently engulfing the financial services sector.

In total, during 2017-2018, the FSCS paid in excess of £112m to Claimants in compensation for negligent pension advice.

Adding fuel to this fire, the FCA (the financial services regulator) has also recently estimated that less than 50% of all pension transfer advice meets the basic standard of suitability set by the regulator and, shockingly, a further £10 Billion is likely to be paid out to customers in the near future by both pension companies and the FSCS as a consequence of poor advice.

The Consequences of Unscrupulous Pension Advice

This deluge of prospective claims comes as a result of the actions of unscrupulous pension advisers who took advantage of lax regulations to fleece unsuspecting customers into parting with their hard-earned pension pot.

Often the advisors were not even authorised to give the advice but still took substantial fees for arranging the transfer whilst also receiving commission payments from the provider.

When May I Be Eligible to Bring a Claim?

If you were advised to transfer your pension into a Self-Invested Personal Pension (‘SIPP’) in order to facilitate investment in the any of the following areas then you may be able to claim compensation for the losses you have suffered as a consequence of the decline in value of your pension pot.

Such Investments Include:

• Agro-energy.
• Off-shore Hotels.
• Off-shore property development.
• Storage Pods.
• Forestry Investments.
• Parking Investments.
• Carbon Credits.
• Truffle Harvesting.
• Vehicle Manufacturing.

Where Do I Start?

If the pension advisor is still trading, your claim will be pursued through the Courts. However, in many cases the advisor will now be dissolved, and a claim will instead need to be lodged with the FSCS.

Making a claim through the FSCS can be a complex and stressful undertaking, so it is crucial that you obtain proper legal advice to ensure that your case is argued persuasively and any compensation is maximised.

Pension Providers and Trustees

If, for whatever reason, your claim against the broker cannot be pursued through the FSCS or the Courts, then there are still potentially alternative claims that can be brought against either your previous pension provider or against your current pension Trustee.

This is because your previous provider was under a statutory duty to ensure that you received financial advice before transferring your pension. They were also obliged to ensure that you were adequately warned about the risks of transferring.

Can the Pension Ombudsman Service Help?

Unfortunately, the reality is that many providers failed to comply with the regulations – to the detriment of their customers – and it may, therefore, be possible to make a claim through the Pension Ombudsman Service (POS) to have your previous pension reinstated.

Additionally, if your advisor was not authorised to give pension advice, you may also be able to bring a claim under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 against your current pension Trustee, for accepting a transfer from an advisor that was not legally entitled to provide pension advice.

Why Use Oakwood Solicitors?

These alternative claims are technically demanding however at Oakwood solicitors we have an expert team of Finance Litigation lawyers who have been successful in recovering substantial compensation payments on behalf of clients and we are therefore excellently placed to deal with your claim.

We offer a free initial review to ascertain if you have a claim, and if so, we will pursue your claim on a no win no fee basis.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you would like to discuss bringing a pension claim or the pension miss-selling scandal, please contact the Finance Litigation team on 0113 218 5700, or alternatively, send us an email at enquiries@oakwoodsolicitors.co.uk and we will be happy to discuss the case with you.