The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) annual report for 2014 into 2015 has some interesting observations for those people who believe that they could have been given bad advice when taking on self-invested personal pensions (or SIPPs).

The FSCS notes directly follow on from the freedom and choice reforms by the Government’s Pensions Advisory Service, and advises that there should be increased protection limits for SIPP investors.

At Expert Pension Claims, we are specialists in helping UK consumers and residents claim back compensation for mis-sold SIPPs advice, whether the consumer believes they were given poor or negligent advice – you can start your claim today by accessing our SIPP claims section in the top navigation menu of our website.

Currently any investor, including SIPP savers, are permitted compensation coverage to an upper limit of £50,000, while annuities and other savings held within long-term insurance contracts enjoy 100% protection. So as you can see there is a great disparity here which really needs to be closed by the regulatory financial bodies.

The FSCS are requesting that the conversation can be initiated with the relevant bodies in order to look at levelling the playing field for compensation amounts on SIPP claims. This change will need to be initiated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

Chairman Lawrence Churchill said:

Following the liberalisation of retirement savings, which came into force in April 2015, consumers now have much more choice about their retirement savings both as those savings build up and as they draw an income in retirement.

But the protection they will receive from FSCS varies according to the products they buy. We are very keen, therefore, to discuss protection limits with the FCA and the PRA, as part of their forthcoming review of FSCS protection and funding

We are in complete agreement with the FSCS and 100% believe that UK residents and pension holders should be made fully aware of the choices involved when accessing their pension savings. This is particularly relevant where people are moving pension funds from a protected scheme into one which isn’t as protected, as is the case with self-invested personal pensions.

Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) are a type of ‘wrapper’ for a bundle of different financial products. These products can include insurance, investments or deposits. SIPPs can be provided directly by a SIPP manager or by fund managers, banks, building societies or insurance companies. If the provider of an underlying product held within the SIPP fails, the FSCS compensation limit depends on the type of product held within the SIPP.

Find Out How Much You Could be Owed

So far to date, there has been nearly £20 million paid out in SIPPs compensation in the UK, and this number is set to grow. To stand the best chance, you should always take the advice of a specialist who knows the industry and has prior experiences of winning successful claims.

If you have been a victim of mis-selling and would like to know how our team could help you then please call our telephone number today, or alternatively complete the form that you see on our website to get started.