City watchdog pays visits to five SIPP providers following mis-sold pensions warning

The financial services regulator, the FCA, has paid visits to five providers of Self-Invested Personal Pensions, following a letter sent to CEOs of SIPP firms to warn about mounting claims relating SIPP products.

SIPP mis-selling has been a focus for many in the financial services industry for the past few years, and claims relating to mis-sold SIPPs and investments have mounted up, prompting £millions in compensation payments.

As regulator, the FCA has a vested interest in stopping the mis-selling of SIPPs, and has recently written to SIPP providers to remind them of their obligations to their clients and due diligence processes.

Claims against SIPP providers

Towards the end of 2018, SIPP providers again came into focus as Berkeley Burke lost their judicial review relating to a financial Ombudsman decision.

The decision by the FOS was to uphold a complaint against them relating to unregulated investments within their SIPP accounts.

Can you claim?

Thousands were persuaded to move their pensions into SIPPs, and were sold investments that were often high-risk and unregulated by the FCA.

In some cases, this may be the fault of a financial adviser, or the SIPP company itself.

Often, the transfer process was initiated by a cold-call from a marketing company – a practice that is now banned by law as of Jan 2019.

If you transferred your pension to a SIPP, find out if you can make a claim with a mis-sold pension expert here for a FREE, no-obligation initial assessment.