Personal Pension Plan Decision Reference 2022-0379

• Case Outcome: Upheld
• Subject Matter: Personal Pension Plan
• Reference: 2022-0379
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Finantial Sector: Investment
• Conducts Complained Of: Value of policy at surrender less than expected or projected,Misrepresentation (pensions), Mis-selling (pensions)

Decision Ref:

2022-0379

Sector:

Investment

Product / Service:

Personal Pension Plan

Conduct(s) complained of:

Value of policy at surrender less than expected or

projected

Mis-selling (pensions)

Misrepresentation (pensions)

Outcome:

Upheld

LEGALLY BINDING DECISION OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN

This complaint concerns advice given by the Provider regarding the Complainant's pension.

The Complainant’s Case

The complaint concerns the certain advice by the Provider to the Complainant to transfer

his benefits under a UK occupational pension scheme, as well as the accrued benefits from

two separate personal pension schemes that he held, to a defined contribution

arrangement.

The Complainant is now in his 50s. He submits that in August 2014, he had a review of his

pension policies with the Provider. The Complainant submits that, on the advice of the

Provider, he took a transfer of value of the benefits he had accrued within the two UK

personal pension schemes and a UK occupational pension scheme, and he transferred the

funds into a scheme recommended by the Provider.

The Complainant states that the value of the UK occupational pension scheme at the time

of the transfer was £45,822, and that the transfer value of his two personal pension schemes

were £2,251 and £6,429.

The Complainant submits that he found the process of transferring the accrued benefits

from the UK pension schemes to the new pension scheme arrangement, quite complicated.

He contends that due to the large volume of paperwork involved during the transfer process,

he trusted the Provider's recommendation that he should sign the required documentation

to complete the value transfers. The Complainant says that he did not fully understand the

consequences of transferring the funds out of his previous UK pension schemes, into the

new pension arrangement.

- 2 -

/Cont’d…

The Complainant asserts that the risks associated with transferring his previously accrued

pension benefits were not fully explained to him by the Provider. He states that the Provider

did not inform him, that by transferring the accrued benefits from the occupational pension

scheme, that he would lose in turn, the security of a minimum pension amount that the

previous UK occupational pension scheme had guaranteed. The Complainant submits that

he believes that he was misled by the Provider into thinking that the new pension

arrangement was a secure UK pension scheme, and he is now aware that this is not the case.

The Complainant contends that if he had been informed of the risks by the Provider, he

would not have proceeded with the value transfers. The Complainant states that he was also

unaware of how the funds would be managed, once the value transfers had been

completed, and when he made the complaint, he said that he had only recently become

aware of the detail surrounding the new pension scheme arrangement.

When he made the complaint, the Complainant submitted that he was anxious that his

pension benefits were at risk, due to the types of investment plans in which the pension

funds are held and that the Provider was not properly managing his funds in the new pension

scheme.

The Complainant submitted that he had online access to the new pension scheme and as a

result, he was able to see that the value of his pension funds had significantly decreased

since the funds were transferred to the new scheme.

The Complainant submits that the costs and fees were not explained to him by the Provider

before the transfer value of funds into the new pension scheme and that he has lost a lot of

money in the new scheme, due to the investment scheme’s fees and management costs.

The Complainant states that he wishes to transfer the pension benefits back into a secure

UK pension scheme and that he has been informed that to do so, would be extremely costly.

The Complainant states that he was informed that it was not possible to transfer the funds

out of the new pension scheme arrangement, either now or in the near future.

The Complainant submits that the Provider has not dealt with the complaint in an

appropriate manner and that the Provider has suggested to him that similar complaints that

have been brought to the attention of this Office, have not been upheld in the past.

The Complainant submitted that the Malta based scheme had informed him that the fund

was suspended, and he was concerned that he had been misled about the whole pension.

He states that he was under the impression that his funds were covered by QROPS and that

his funds were secure. He states that he was unaware that the financial adviser was

regulated in Ireland and thought it was a UK based company running the pension. He

submits that the situation is very stressful as more than GB£50,000 of his life savings are in

the pension; he wants it returned to a named UK pension adviser.