S&M Hughes Limited
– British Steel Pension

S&M Hughes Limited has started liquidation proceedings.

The firm was ordered to immediately cease all regulated activities by the Financial Conduct Authority in May 2019.

Several steelworkers had enlisted the help of S&M Hughes Limited to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) – a scandal which has resulted in thousands of individuals transferring their pensions to what are now worthless investments!

Members of the BSPS were asked to decide what to do with their defined benefit pensions as part of a restructuring process in 2017. About 8,000 members transferred out of the old scheme by October 2018, with transfers collectively worth about £2.8bn.

Those part of the BSPS were told following the restructuring there were three options available to them:

1. Enter into a new Tata-backed scheme – BSPS2;
2. Enter into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF);
3. Transfer out of the scheme completely.

Generally speaking, it is never a good idea to transfer a final salary/define benefit pension. These pensions are no longer offered by the majority of companies.

The Work and Pensions Select Committee found in an investigation as many as 124,000 member may have been failed.

A defined benefit pension is a workplace pension that pays you an income based on your salary and the number of years you’ve worked for the company, rather than the amount of money you’ve contributed to the pension.

Concerns were soon raised about the suitability of the advice being provided resulting in an FCA intervention which immediately led to a number of firms stopping their advice services.

• Did you hold British Steel Pension Scheme?
• Were you advised to transfer your British Steel Pension?

If you have answered yes to the above questions please contact us urgently as we may be able to help!

Contact Oakwood Solicitors Ltd free of charge to find out if you are entitled to compensation on a ‘No-Win, No-Fee’ basis.

We have helped clients to recover thousands of pounds in compensation and may be able to help you too.

We work closely with Independent Financial Advisors who can assist before you agree to move your funds.

• We are a Regulated firm of Solicitors, with over 15 years’ experience in financial mis-selling claims.
• We have successfully recovered in excess of £1.5 Million for our clients in the last 12 months.
• We operate on a guaranteed No-Win, No-Fee basis
• Our charges are some of the lowest in the market
• 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 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:

• We operate on a Conditional Fee Agreement more commonly known as a no win no fee
• If we fail to secure you a settlement, you will not be charged
• Any charges will be deducted from your settlement so you will not need to pay us anything out of your own pocket unless there is a reinstatement of the pension

We cannot provide an exact figure until we have completed our investigation. In the event the advisor was registered and is no longer trading, there may be a cap on the level of compensation we can recover via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

In the event the advisor was not regulated we would seek to have the pension reinstated with your previous pension provider.

We have recovered thousands of pounds already for a number of our clients, and could also help you.