These cases involve individuals who establish a SIPP and therefore follow the advice of a consultant who invests in one of several high-risk, unregulated investments.
A SIPP is a self-invested private pension. It is, in essence, a DIY pension fund that allows you (the investor) to invest in multiple and more varied investment products than most standard pensions, including a wide range of schemes, many of which are perfectly legitimate
Over the past 30 years, SIPPs have proven to be a very popular retirement option, with over a million people in the UK investing their savings in them because of the many benefits they can offer, including flexibility with types and amounts of investments that can be entered; risk diversification; the ability to manage them yourself; greater control over money and investments; Fiscal benefits; the promise of better returns and the option to get help from an independent financial advisor who can invest on your behalf.
Unfortunately, however, we have seen that many advisers have advised clients to transfer their existing pension to a SIPP and invest in one of the many high risks, risky or inappropriate unregulated investment plans that ended up being complete disasters. These could include, for example:
- foreign investments
- hotels and vacation properties
- forestry
- green energy
- biodiesel and environmental projects
A financial adviser is generally assigned the task of selecting a SIPP investment on behalf of a client, and in doing so has to choose an investment that best suits the clients’ specific needs and objectives. Despite this responsibility, some advisers have not respected their duty of diligence by advising investors to invest in schemes without performing due diligence on the system or determining the client’s attitude towards risk. As a result, those investors have lost financially, sometimes having eliminated all their savings.
Also, another problem associated with selling SIPPs was overstating and overselling the benefits with many consultants overestimating the fantastic investment opportunities that cannot be missed and the promises of huge profits, in a very short time, that were not it never materialized and then turned out to be simply untrue.
The Financial Conduct Authority has reported “serious and continuing deficiencies” on the part of numerous financial advisers regarding investments through SIPP. The main shortcomings generally refer to consultants who do not guarantee that SIPP investments are safe and adequate for the needs of their investors.
The types of SIPP investments for which we can help you apply to include:
- Properties outside the plan.
- Memory unit.
- Carbon credits.
Mis Sold SIPPs Self-Invested Private Pensions Compensation Claims
You may be eligible to make a compensation for mis sold sipp claims if:
- They have given you bad advice. For example, you were incorrectly informed of your options, or the advice provided by your financial advisor or SIPP provider was inappropriate, unreliable, or negligent, and therefore cost you financially.
- You have been encouraged to pressure sales to invest their retirement savings in a SIPP investment that was not appropriate for their circumstances and did not match their individual needs.
- Your advisor had invested in high-risk, unregulated investments that you did not know about. For example, your financial advisor or SIPP provider has encouraged you to transfer your traditional pension to a SIPP and then invest in one of many high-risk unregulated investments.
- You have not been informed of possible risks. The potential risks and disadvantages of your investments have not been fully and correctly explained to you by your financial advisor or SIPP provider and you have not been informed of what could go wrong.
- You did not have all the necessary information from the financial advisor or SIPP provider to help you make a fully informed decision. If he had been better informed, he would not have continued his investment or followed the advice.
- You are worse financially. For example, the value of SIPP has decreased despite promises and assurances from the financial advisor or SIPP provider that it would have increased.
- You were not informed of the implications of income tax. For example, it is not recommended to exceed the tax exemption threshold and increase the response.
Warren James is the lead editor for Diving Daily. Warren has written for many publications including the New York Daily News, Vanity Fair and Yahoo. Warren is based in New York city and covers issues affecting local communities. In addition to following the day-to-day life of the Big Apple, Warren also has a passion for martial arts.