Pension Compensation
Are you worried a pension transfer, financial adviser negligence or a poor choice of investments within your pension may have caused you to lose money?
You don’t need to let this stop you having the retirement you deserve.
Claiming Pension Compensation
For most of us, our pension savings are usually the bulk of our life savings and we rely on regulated companies namely our Pension Providers (workplace or private) and Financial Advisers to be responsible for ensuring we reach our retirement goals.
Most customers we speak with find it hard to tell whether they have suffered financial losses due on their pension and are not comfortable challenging the companies who manage their life savings.
With pensions and investments, even small mistakes can lead to significant financial losses. Regulated solicitor like us are able to review the circumstances surrounding your pension claim and if necessary, pursue compensation for pension loss or financial redress on your behalf.
Pension Compensation Claims typically arise from:
- Instances of misconduct
- Breach of statutory duty
- Inadequate advice
- Mismanagement of funds
- Fraudulent activities.
Negligent Pension Providers may
- Allow unsuitable investments
- Not carry out sufficient investment due diligence
- Allow pension transfers without the correct checks
- Not provide adequate risk disclosure
- Charge excessive fees
Any or all of these actions combined can have a huge negative impact on your retirement.
A successful pension compensation claim can provide you with the means to regain the retirement you saved so hard for and covers a range of damages, including:
- Recovery of Lost Pension Investments
- Compensation for any lost interest
- Reimbursement of all fees paid
- Loss of earnings on money not properly invested
- Notional Cash Valuations
Pension Compensation FAQs
What Happens with Pension Compensation Claims?
Every pension compensation claim is different. The most important part of our job is taking the time to listen and quickly grasp the unique situation each customer is facing.
Most people are not used to working with the legal or financial services systems, which can be very confusing. It’s rewarding for us to be able to provide them with the support they need and give them confidence they are in the right hands.
Who Can Make a Pension Compensation Claim?
Individuals who have experienced financial losses due to pension negligence may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.
Why Should I Discuss My Pension Compensation Claim with You?
We are experts in pension compensation claims and employ professionals to provide expert guidance to all of our clients. We have successfully helped many clients gain the compensation or redress that they are due.
Our solicitors can help with all types of finance claims, whether it is a pension claim, fund manager claim, or any other claim where you have dealt with a regulated company.
How Much Compensation or Redress Might I Receive?
The amount you could be awarded depends on a number of factors, such as the type of claim, how the loss is calculated, whether interest needs to be applied, when the advice took place, and the evidence available.
When you claim through HT Legal, we carry out a full investigation with all the relevant parties. By simply signing a letter of authority for us, we are able to gather all the evidence required from your providers to build your case and give you the best chance of success and ensure you get the level of compensation or redress that you are entitled to.
We have more than 14 years’ know-how in achieving positive pension compensation claim outcomes for our customers.
What Is a No Win No Fee Claim?
No Win No Fee is based on something called a contingent fee agreement. This means that you only pay HT Legal when and if your claim is successful.
HT Legal will cover all the costs of running your claim, which includes our time and any associated costs such as Expert Witness Reports, Court Fees, and After the Event Insurance (which is a policy to cover any costs in the event your claim is unsuccessful in court).
Our No Win No Fee agreement is a percentage of the total claim value, which is determined by the size (how much is the claim worth), complexity (what level of expertise is required to process the claim), and strength of the case (how likely is the claim to succeed) of the claims and can vary from as little as 15% up to 40% plus VAT.
How Does a No Win No Fee Claim Work in the Context of a Pension Compensation Case?
Generally speaking, a claim for pension compensation will be set at between 15% and 25% of the claim value.
Any additional charges would aim to be covered by the defendant.
The only event in which a client would be charged without a successful claim would be if a client canceled once the claim process was underway and costs had been incurred by HT Legal.
Some commonly dealt with Pension Complaints include:
We specialise in pension compensation claims, including SIPP Compensation, Pension Switching (Churn), Pension Review Scams, SSAS, and Final Salary Pension Compensation. Our expertise extends to addressing issues with Platforms, Overcharging, and Final Salary Transfer Claims
There are thousands of options for pensions and investments however regulated companies like financial advisers over the years have selected pensions for clients based on their own preferences without considering what is appropriate for their client. This can often lead to pension savers having pensions and investment which are not suitable for them.
Pension Transfer Claims
Pensions have long been the bread and butter for financial advisers looking it grow their funds under management. Even the largest firms like St James’s Place target consumers with old workplace or private pensions with a goal of moving the clients pensions to their platform of choice. This is known as churn and often leads to clienst losing money.
SIPP
SIPPs offer diverse investment choices like Commercial Property, Stocks, Unquoted Shares & Gold Bullion. However, investment firms exploited unsuspecting investors, leading to losses. Some SIPP providers accepted products without due diligence, potentially due to gaining more clients and higher fees.
SSAS
Introduced in the 1970s, Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS) offer diverse pension investment options for business owners and investors. SSAS remains popular for corporate schemes and family trust planning, accommodating up to 12 members. However, SSAS lacks FCA regulation, exposing individuals to potential abuse from unscrupulous entities offering high-return, unregulated investments. Claims against regulated Financial Advisers may aid in recovering lost pension funds.
PLATFORMS
Platform pension compensation examples include misleading investment promotions leading to losses, platform insolvency risking pension funds, and inadequate investment advice by financial advisers. Affected individuals seek redress to recover funds and safeguard their financial interests.
OVERCHARGING
In the past, IFAs conducted “pension reviews” urging clients to consolidate existing pensions into one contract, mainly for their convenience and to charge fees. Attractive promises of “better returns,” access to “Discretionary Fund Managers,” and “drawdown” convinced clients to transfer their pensions, although existing contracts might have been suitable. Fees were often based on a percentage of the transferred amount, with some advisers failing to deliver the promised ongoing service.
FINAL SALARY / DEFINED BENEFIT TRANSFERS
A Final Salary Pension Scheme, also known as Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, provides valuable pension benefits with known lump sums and retirement income. Transferring to a private pension results in the loss of guaranteed benefits and reliance on investment performance, making it generally inadvisable to transfer a Final Salary/Defined Benefit Pensions.
We have successfully helped over 600 clients gain the
compensation or redress they deserved.
What Is Involved in a Pension Compensation Claim?
The first step is to contact us to find out if you may be eligible to make a pension compensation claim. Typically, we’re able to tell you in one call whether we can help.
If you’ve got grounds to make a pension compensation claim, we will issue you with our welcome pack so you can read and understand the process.
We will then double-check if you want to go ahead and will talk through the no win no fee agreement with you.
Once you proceed to claim, your pension compensation specialist will contact the relevant parties for information and contact them on your behalf to let them know that you’ll be making a claim for your losses.
During your claim, your pension compensation specialist will be your point of contact. It’s their job to keep you up-to-date throughout your claim. They’ll also be happy to answer any questions you may have as your claim progresses.
How it Works
If you believe that your pension, investment, car finance, other lending or business energy may have been mis-sold, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. The process for making a claim typically involves the following steps:
1. Online Sign Up or Phone Consultation
We know financial claims can be intimidating so we’re here to help you every step of the way. Use our handy claims calculator or ask Callum, our AI assistant any questions you may have. You always have the option to talk to one of our claim experts if you prefer.
2. Getting the Evidence together
Don’t worry if you don’t have all your documentation. As regulated solicitors, we can chase in all the documentation relating to your claim from the providers involved, such as contracts, statements, and communications. All you have to do is appoint us to collect this information on your behalf.
3. Submit your Complaint
We will value your claim and then submit a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or raise a formal complaint to your pension provider, financial adviser, car finance provider or business energy adviser outlining the reasons why we believe you are entitled to compensation or financial redress.
4. Await response
We will provide regular updates and chase your claim through to a final response. If we are unhappy with the response, we will pursue a claim through the Financial Ombudsman Service or if required escalate your claim to a formal tribunal which means representing you in court.
5. Acceptance of Offer
Once you are satisfied with the level of compensation or financial redress, we will claim the reward and distribute the funds to you via our client account. Claims are often complex and can take time to reach a conclusion. We will always work to achieve the maximum level of compensation or financial redress as quickly as possible.