Mr J was advised by Royal Life, who are now a part of Phoenix Life, to transfer his Armed Forces Pension Scheme into a Royal Life personal pension in 1993.
Mr J transferred £7,233.36 from his scheme, having been promised a “better” return from his pension fund if he transferred away, therefore providing more money in retirement.
Royal Life failed to highlight to Mr J that the recommended scheme would have to perform particularly well, well above an industry standard, to match the projected benefits of his former Final Salary Scheme, which included a guaranteed pension.
A complaint was made to Phoenix Life to investigate the advice given to Mr J. Initially, Phoenix Life disagreed with the complaint, stating that they wrote out to Mr J offering a review of his pension in 1999, whilst also providing details of the address they wrote to at the time. As they received no response, they closed their file.
Mr J confirmed that he was not living at the address Phoenix Life wrote to at the time. Mr J was asked to find evidence that showed he was not living at the address in question in 1999. This evidence was subsequently provided to Phoenix Life.
Phoenix Life accepted the evidence and confirmed that they would perform a review of Mr J’s policy, in order to observe whether a loss was incurred as a result of the advice given. Phoenix Life completed their investigations and confirmed that Mr J made a loss of £92,802.71. They therefore upheld his complaint, and an offer of compensation was made.