Mrs. W was awarded £50,000 after being mis-sold a SIPP

Mrs W was less than 6 years away from retirement when she was advised to use her pension funds to invest in an overseas hotel development.  She was told that the development would be aimed at affluent tourists and, if the investment wasn’t completed on time, she would be entitled to a refund.

Mrs W had no prior investment experience and no other private pensions.  She completely trusted that the advice she was receiving, from a professional financial adviser, was correct and suitable for her.  Mrs W was assured that the pension transfer and investment were not only safe, but they would maximise her pension income just in time for her retirement.

After transferring the pension there were serious issues with the investment and Mrs W discovered that she had suddenly lost over £70,000 of her hard-earned pension, so close to her retirement.  The financial adviser was no longer trading, and attempts to ask for a refund from the investment company were unsuccessful.

True Solicitors found evidence that insufficient warnings and explanations had been given to Mrs W and it was very clear that her personal and financial circumstances had not been properly considered by her financial adviser.  She should have been advised that the transfer and investment were not suitable for her.  The type of investment was particularly high-risk and the new pension scheme had high charges – Mrs W risked losing everything, but this was never explained to her.

True Solicitors were successful in obtaining an award of £50,000 (the FSCS upper limit) from the Financial Services and Compensation Scheme (FSCS) who can investigate advice given by a regulated financial adviser, even where the adviser is no longer trading.