Have I been mis-sold a Company Pension Opt Out?

Have I been mis-sold a Final Salary Pension Transfer?

If your Final Salary Pension Scheme was transferred other than to another employers Final Salary Pension Scheme, please contact us.

Advice to transfer a Final Salary Pension Scheme.

If your financial adviser or employer has recommended that you transfer away from your existing/deferred Final Salary Pension scheme, then it is highly likely you may be entitled to compensation for being mis-sold a Final Salary Pension Transfer.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have made it clear that transferring out of a Final Salary Pension Scheme is unlikely to be in the member’s best interests.

Advice to opt-out, not join or transfer your Occupational /Final Salary Pension Scheme.

What does ‘opt-out, non-joiner, pension transfer mean in this situation.

In 1994 the then Industry Regulator (now the Financial Conduct Authority) established a review of the sale of personal pensions involving ‘opt-out’ ‘non-joiners’ and transfers from Occupational /Final Salary Pension Schemes between 29th April 1988 to 30th June 1994- known as ‘the Pension Review.

Every IFA and Insurer was required to examine their client bank and determine for example that a client had been advised to set up a Personal Pension when he/she was eligible to join their Company Pension Scheme. In such a case, the IFA /Insurer was required to either ‘ buy the member back into the scheme’ or provide a compensatory contribution into the client’s pension to ‘ make up for the benefits lost due to not joining the Company Scheme.

The liability of the IFA/Insurer to make up the benefits lost in an ‘opt-out’ ‘non-joiner’ transfer case remains today as it did back then.

Innovation is in the process of competing such a case. See Case Studies Client’s for whom we have successfully recovered their lost pension funds.

A subsequent review of Contracted out of State Earnings Related Pension Scheme was also established.

Reference: Case Study 7. Mr. M