LEBC Group Collapse: Clients of Retirement Direct and The Retirement Adviser Can Now Claim Compensation

LEBC Group Ltd, the financial advice firm that operated under several trading names including Retirement Direct, The Retirement Adviser, The Care Adviser and Corporate Healthcare Solutions, was declared in default by the FSCS on 29 October 2024. The firm had entered administration in August 2023, and the FSCS received more than 200 claims from former clients before the default declaration was made.

The Fall of a Major Advice Firm

LEBC was once considered one of the UK’s more established independent advice firms, with a significant presence in employee benefits and individual pension planning. Its collapse, driven by a combination of defined benefit transfer liability and the weight of Financial Ombudsman Service awards, surprised many in the industry. For its clients, the sense of shock was far more personal.

Defined Benefit Pension Transfers at the Heart of the Claims

The overwhelming majority of claims against LEBC relate to advice to transfer out of defined benefit pension schemes. These are final salary arrangements that provide a guaranteed income for life, built up over years of service. If a client was advised to transfer out of such a scheme and that advice was not genuinely in their best interest, they may have permanently given up something of enormous value. You may be entitled to pursue defined benefit pension transfer claims.

pension compensation through the FSCS is available up to £85,000 per eligible claimant. The FSCS is assessing each claim individually, which means the specific advice received, the transfer value involved and the financial outcome will all be considered.

Multiple Brand Names, One Underlying Firm

LEBC operated under a number of different brand names, meaning some clients may not have known they were dealing with the same underlying firm. If you received pension advice from anyone operating under the Retirement Direct, The Retirement Adviser, The Care Adviser or LEBC name, and were subsequently guided into a pension arrangement that has not delivered what you expected, that advice is worth examining.

We also want to be direct about something: many people in this situation feel foolish, or believe they should have spotted the warning signs. In our experience, that feeling is almost always misplaced. These were firms staffed by people holding professional qualifications, authorised by a regulator. Trusting them was entirely reasonable. What happened is their failure, not yours.