THE SITUATION
Karl Taylor served in the Armed Forces from September 1999 to January 2005. In October 2014, Steve King, representing Caledonian International Associates (CIA), approached him and referred him to Cowley and Miller Independent Financial Services (CMIFS).
King claimed that his army pension would not perform as well if he left it as it was.
Shortly afterwards, Karl was advised by CMIFS to transfer his Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) to a Personal Pension Plan with Royal London, without discussing the associated risks.
The Service Personnel & Veterans Agency confirmed that the amount transferred to it was £21,390.90.
By 2024, Karl’s pension with Royal London had increased in value to £32,997.49.
While he wasn’t overly happy with the performance, Karl saw no reason to question the pension advice he had
received from CMIFS, nor that he may have incurred a financial loss by transferring his AFPS.
However, after speaking with a friend who had successfully claimed with Money and Me Solicitors
(MMS), Karl contacted us to investigate the advice he had received from CMIFS.
OUR APPROACH
MMS conducted a thorough investigation and we established that had Karl remained in the AFPS, the equivalent ‘hypothetical value’ of that pension would have been £70,297.61.
This meant that he had suffered a significant loss of £37,537.79. In March 2022, CIMFS went into liquidation, to prompt MMS to submit a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
THE OUTCOME
On 14 March 2025, we were pleased to inform Karl that we had achieved a successful outcome for him……and in just eleven months.
Even though Karl had served for just over 5 years, the FSCS awarded him £37,537.79 in compensation for his losses.
It should be noted that Mr Taylor’s Royal London pension remained in place and was unaffected by the claim or his subsequent award.
The client stated: “My pension wasn’t performing as well as I had hoped, which made me suspect that something was wrong.
A friend of mine from the same regiment had Money and Me Solicitors pursue a case and was successful. I didn’t expect to receive any compensation and thought my claim would be unsuccessful.
Therefore, I was shocked when I received the compensation; I truly wasn’t expecting it. It will make a significant difference for me.
The process was very professional from start to finish, and I couldn’t believe how quickly my claim was handled—only 11 months!”
