Mis Sold Pension & SIPPS

Mis Sold Pension Transfers

Having some form of pension plan is essential.

For most people this means paying into a pension scheme, with the money invested in stocks and shares.

The sad news is that many people with pensions were told by advisors to take their retirement money out of safe investments and to invest in risky, often unregulated investments with the promise of big returns.

However many of these investments may actually be worthless.

If you think that you may have been mis-sold a SIPP or pension transfer, then don’t panic.

You may be able to claim for compensation against the IFA who advised you or the provider of your SIPP.

Even if your advisor or provider has gone out of business you can still claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

Mis sold pension or SIPP transfer - the signs...

Here are few things which may mean that you were mis-sold your pension.

You were cold called and offered a "free pension review".

Reputable financial advisers would never just call you to introduce themselves unless you had contacted them first for advice.

Pension review or transfer calls usually started with "Will you be able to afford to live when you retire?" or "Could your pension be doing better?"

These calls were usually made from a call centre that was getting paid to generate leads, they were just reading a pension cold call script and the person on the phone was just a lead generator who was unqualified to offer you pension advice.

They will have gathered a bit of information from you, such as your current pension provider, your age and the approximate size of your pension pot.

They then arranged for a second call or home visit from a so called "pension expert", promising that they would be able to get you a better return on your pension.

The trap was set

Once the advisor had reviewed your pension, they probably said your current pension was under performing and the majority was going on fees.

They then offered you options to help your pension perform better.

Usually this was in the form of a self-invested personal pension or SIPP, once again after criticising the perforamnce of your current pension provider.

They were salesmen, and usually very good ones, selling people the dream.

Plenty of stats and facts on the potential future performance of your pension will have been given.

The advisor probably recommended you transferred your pension into a self-invested personal pension or SIPP for short.

A lot of so called pension experts sold them on the basis that a SIPP was a guaranteed way to make more money on your pension pot.

They offered great returns on paper, but the advisor usually failed to explain the risks and only explained the best case scenario.

Lots of SIPPs have been mis-sold by advisers who where simply trying to earn themselves big sales commissions and didn’t have their clients best interests at heart.

High risk mis sold SIPP's

Often the advice given was to invest in high risk unregulated schemes.

Examples of these investments include:

• Foreign property investments
• Hotel rooms
• Carbon credits
• Green energy
• Forestry
• Self-storage units
• Airport parking

These types of investments usually did not offer the returns promised and some are even under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

Was I mis sold a pension?

There are a number of reasons why you may have been mis-sold if you suffered a financial loss including:

• You were not fully informed about the risks involved.
• You were sold a pension that was riskier than your attitude to risk.
• You were not fully informed about how your money would be invested.
• Your advisor told you to opt-out of your occupational pension scheme.
• You were advised to transfer out of your occupational pension scheme.
• Your advisor did not tell you about the commissions they were being paid to transfer your pension.

The Best Euro Exchange Rate

• by Admin

Heading to Europe on your holidays? In this guide we'll show you how to get the best euro exchange rate...

Read

Has your flight ever been delayed or cancelled?

• by Isabelle Morris

Has your flight ever been delayed or cancelled? You could be entitled to £510 in compensation.

Check now...

A Guide To An Attachment of Earnings Order

• by Admin

Have you received a letter threatening an attachment of earnings. In this guide we explore what an attachment of earnings order is, how they work and how to defend...

Read