Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme (UCIS)
Were you encouraged to invest in an unregulated Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) through your pension? If the risks weren’t clearly explained or the investment didn’t suit your circumstances, you could claim back compensation – contact our expert team now to get started!
We’ll have a specialist call you back for a no obligation chat about your financial claim.
A Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS), is a financial product that’s not monitored by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
A UCIS cannot be promoted to the UK public, however, they can be promoted to specific investors, so long as the investor meets specific criteria.
Unfortunately, some of these packages can be misrepresented and therefore mis-sold, which as a result, a substantial amount of money could be lost.
We may be able to help you if you think you’ve been mis-sold a NISA. You can contact us today for advice and guidance and we’ll be able to see if you have a claim to make and, if you do, advise how you can move forward.
Let’s take a look at Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS).
Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS) defined
An Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme involves a number of people collectively contributing to a fund. However, these schemes are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and don’t follow FCA criteria, which means they tend to be more open to high risk investments.
An unregulated collective scheme shouldn’t be promoted to the public, but the FCA has found evidence to suggest they have been, with members of the public being encouraged to invest in UCIS.
Examples of Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes
Here are some examples of an Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme: fine wines, antique automobiles and carbon credits.
In other words, there may be no market to liquidate your holdings if the assets in question begin to perform poorly. Common UCIS schemes include standard investment funds and fractional ownership packages (which were quite common in the early 2000s).
Make a mis-sold pension claim
Fill in the form below and one of our team will be in touch for a free, friendly, no-obligation chat to assess your situation.
We’ll go through your options, your rights to making a claim and discuss how we can move forward. And don’t worry, this a free assessment and we don’t take any up-front costs.
Let’s rewrite your financial story
We are here to rewrite the book for you. And luckily we are pretty damn good at creating happy endings.
We are here to rewrite the book for you. And luckily we are pretty damn good at creating happy endings.
When you get let down by someone you thought you could trust, it can leave its mark on you, emotionally and physically.
We are committed to transparency and fairness in the way we conduct with clients, including how we charge for our claims services.
Considering an Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme? Here’s what you need to know
If you are considering an unregulated collective investment scheme (UCIS) it’s important to take a number of precautions before investing.
When speaking to an adviser about a UCIS, make sure you consider the following factors:
Clear information
Mis-selling can often occur when an adviser hasn’t been totally transparent in regards to the risks involved in an investment.
That’s why it’s important to thoroughly read, digest and understand all the available information about the investment and make sure the risks involved are clear.
And, in terms of returns, it’s best to know whether the return promised or estimated is based on an accurate rate as opposed to an unfounded target.
Additional charges
Most UCIS come with additional charges, so your adviser needs to be up-front about what those charges entail.
Protection
Not all unregulated collective investment schemes are protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means if things go awry, you won’t have as much protection, so it’s really important to find out whether the schemes are protected in some way by these independent bodies.
Can you make a UCIS claim?
You can make a claim if your claim meets a certain criteria and it can be proved that the risks of the UCIS weren’t fully explained or suitable for you.
This can include the following circumstance:
- Your financial position at the time of your initial investment wasn’t taken into account when making the recommendation.
- You were guaranteed an ROI (return on investment)
- The financial advisor did not carry out the necessary due diligence
- Fees and commissions were never mentioned
- You were pressured into making a decision
- They transferred your SIPP into a UCIS
- Did not make it clear that they are permitted to promote the scheme to you
- The representative failed to address any of your concerns
We may be able to help you if you think you’ve been mis-sold an unregulated collective investment scheme claim.
You can contact us today for advice and guidance and we’ll be able to see if you have a mis-sold investment claim to make and, if you do, advise how you can move forward.
You can also go directly to the organisation who sold you the scheme or through the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if it falls in their remit.
Do you know how people complained about mis-sold investments and pensions in the last year?
A lot. Over twenty thousand complaints were made about mis-sold pensions and investments in 2020/21, a figure which had doubled since the year before.. It’s no secret how serious this problem is, and it just seems to keep getting worse.
Have you been a victim of financial mis-selling?
Reaching out for help is never easy,
especially if you’ve been misled in the past.
But getting in touch with us won’t commit you to anything. We want to toss you a lifeboat and guide you through the choppy waters of the financial ocean, not leave you struggling to stay afloat. Our experts are here to offer advice and support on financial claims. We know what we’re doing and you can trust that if you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
Spencer Churchill Claims Advice featured on:
Spencer Churchill Claims Advice will:
- Speak to you in plain English
- Provide you with a dedicated claims specialist
- Pay attention to the small details of your case
- Keep you up to date with the status of your claim
- Make sure you understand our charges
- Do absolutely everything we can to win your claim
How does our claims process work?
With millions of mis-sold pensions reported, it’s worth finding out if you can get your money back. Here’s how our simple process works:
What types of claims do we handle?
Find out how much you could claim today
Ready to take the next step? We’re here with clear, no-pressure advice. Give us a call today to find out if you have a valid claim
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