THE SITUATION
In December 2017, Mr D. transferred his Goodyear Dunlop Tyres Pension Scheme (GDTPS) to a Personal Pension Plan with Old Mutual Wealth Life Assurance Ltd (now Reassure) on the
recommendation of Garry Burden from Lifestyle Wealth Management, a trading name of Argent Wealth Ltd. The representative visited the house, promising an annual return of 5%
on the investment, which failed to materialize; instead, Mr D. received less than 0.5%.
The client approached Money and Me Solicitors (MMS) following a referral from an existing client who had also received pension transfer advice from the same advisor. However, when
Mr D. engaged MMS’ services, he was unaware of his eligibility for compensation, nor the extent of any financial loss he may have incurred.
OUR APPROACH
After conducting an in-depth investigation, MMS believed that Argent Wealth Ltd (ARL) wrongly advised Mr D. to transfer his GDTPS. We established that ARL had gone out of business in July 2021, therefore submitted a case to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Their assessment concluded that because of the unsuitable advice to transfer his GDTPS, Mr D. had incurred a loss of £32,570.90.
THE OUTCOME
As a result, in September 2024, Mr D. was awarded £32,570.90 in compensation for his losses by the FSCS, which included the reimbursement of the initial adviser fee.
It should be noted that the claim had no impact on his Personal Pension arrangements with Reassure.
Mr D. was pleased with the outcome, expressed his gratitude for all the work done on his claim, admitting that he would have been at a loss to pursue the case on his own and mentioned that he is looking forward to purchasing a new car.
