Make a mis-sold final salary pension claims

Although pension mis-selling is not usually a criminal act as defined by UK law, it is a breach of the regulator’s rules. Such a breach could carry consequences like fines, being forced to pay compensation, and the removal of authorisation to give pension advice.

Some pension ‘mis-selling cases’ involve complex fraud, and may be a mix of negligence and deceit on the part of a financial adviser or a fraudulent investment company.

But in most cases, it comes down to negligence on the part of the financial adviser, not following the rules correctly to ensure that a transfer is in the best interests of the client, leaving them out of pocket in the long run. Unfortunately, such cases are surprisingly common.

In most cases, the claim will be made against the advice given by the financial adviser involved. In cases where advice was given, financial advisers have the responsibility to collect enough information about their clients and give advice in their best interests accordingly.

Once we’ve built the claim, we first take it to the financial adviser if they are still running.

They can either uphold the complaint and offer compensation, or reject it.

If rejected, we can then take the claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service – an independent body who will decide if the claim is valid, and who may force the IFA to pay compensation.

If the financial adviser is no-longer trading, it may be that we take the claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Of course, every defined benefit pension claim is a little different, but generally claims end up with the adviser, the FOS or the FSCS.

And If you’d prefer, you can make a claim to your firm directly or go through the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or The Pensions Ombudsman.

To help we have created a mis-sold pension claim templates available online to download to help you get a better picture and guide you through the process.

Financial advisers are supposed to collect enough information to advise of final salary transfers correctly, taking into account everything about the transfer to make sure it is suitable.

But many advisers give unsuitable advice.

Sometimes this is because they haven’t collected enough information, or because they’ve not done their due-diligence in checking out the new pension arrangements.

In some cases, they may have a conflict of interest and may benefit from the transfer, either through large advice fees, commissions or because of a vested interest in the receiving investment schemes.

Of course, other factors and parties may be involved, but generally the buck stops with the adviser who had the professional responsibility to make sure the transfer was in the client’s best interests.

A final salary pension is a type of defined benefit scheme, where members are awarded a guaranteed income in retirement based on their accrual rate, years of service and the salary they finish their career on.

They are free of charge for members, and considered to be one of the most valuable and widely suitable pensions around.

Here at Spencer Churchill Claims Advice, we have experience recovering money from mis-sold pensions on behalf of our clients, many of which were wrongly advised to transfer their final salary pension.

If you (with or without help from Spencer Churchill Claims Advice) can prove that your financial adviser or new pension provider acted negligently and against FCA rules, compensation is likely.

All of our claims start with a free initial assessment, and operate on with no upfront costs.

You can learn more about mis-sold final salary pension transfers through the UK financial services Regulator at the FCA.

Absolutely. In fact, a huge number of the mis-sold pension claims we deal with occur due when our client transferred after receiving a cold-call or ‘Free Pension Review’.

In many cases, the call came from an unregulated pension introducer – a marketing company whose job it was to generate new business for pension companies, advisers and investment companies.

Often, these companies are not FCA regulated, and a claim cannot be made against them. However, the chances are that if you were unsuitably advised to transfer a final salary pension , you may be able to make a claim against the financial adviser involved (if there was one) or the new pension company on due diligence grounds.

There are 3 key factors to how your final salary is calculated:

• The number of years you’ve contributed to the scheme
• Your salary – either the salary you are retiring on or an average
• Your pension scheme’s accrual rate

An accrual rate is a calculation that takes a fraction of your salary and multiples it by the number of years you’ve paid into the scheme. The accrual rate fraction is usually either 1/60th or 1/80th of your salary.

This can depend on the individual’s circumstances and the nuances of the final salary pension scheme they’re paying into. It’s worth noting, however, that the employer is responsible for safe-guarding the pension schemes and, in turn, the employee’s pension.

While it can be tempting to transfer your final salary pension because of the reputed numbers involved, it can often be attached to big risks with little – and often no – gains to be made. Especially when many people are advised to transfer on the basis of misleading or inaccurate information.

There isn’t a definitive yes or no answer to this. For some individuals, transferring their final salary pension for a cash lump sum can have its benefits. However, it’s telling that regulators have tightened the rules and that recent pension transfer activity has declined.

Anyone tempted to transfer their final salary pension should approach their decision with caution and understand the risks involved first.

If you worked for the local authorities in West Yorkshire you may have had a defined benefit pension or final pension provided by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Scheme.

Some people may have been advised to move their pension from the West Yorkshire Pension Fund on  the advice they could make more money elsewhere.

For some, this may have been accurate advice. But the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) often state that this is seldom a good enough reason to transfer a pension because of the risk-to-reward balance.

So, if you have moved your pension from the West Yorkshire Pension Fund scheme you may have a claim. We advise you to contact one of our case handlers to see if you have a claim to make.

Transfers away from any valuable final pension scheme is rarely considered to be the right choice. This is because you’re transferring from a relatively safe scheme to, often, volatile investment markets.

If you worked for British Airways and benefited from the British Airways Pension scheme before being advised to transfer, you may be able to make a claim, which is something we’ll be able to explore.

We advise you to contact one of our case handlers to see if you have a claim to make.