This is a case study of Mr G. where both Money and Me Claims and Money and Me Solicitors have acted for him, in pursuing the losses he has suffered as a result of the unsuitable financial advice he received.
THE SITUATION
In September 2015, with promises of more flexibility and better financial returns, Mr G. acted on, what has now been proven to be unsuitable advice, and transferred his Hemmings Group Limited Pension Scheme into a Self-invested Personal Pension (SIPP). The amount transferred was £424,004.00.
The funds were transferred into a bank account set up within the SIPP. From there, after withdrawing ‘tax-free cash’ of £105,403.50 and deducting fees, Mr G. invested £310,000 into the following investments:
- ABC High Net Worth Corporate Bond (£37,000)
- Ecp parks V1 Corporate Bond (£43,000)
- Enviroparks V Corporate Bond (£60,000)
- Olmsted v Corporate bond (£30,000)
- Uavend Compound Corporate Bond – 7% per annum (£70,000)
- Waterside Villages Corporate Bond (£70,000)
Prompted by the possible failure of one of his investments and at his financial adviser’s recommendation, Mr G. engaged Money and Me Claims (MMC) to carry out a detailed investigation.
OUR APPROACH
In June 2020, MMC established that had Mr G remained in the Hemmings Group Scheme, the equivalent ‘hypothetical value’ of that pension would have been £864,468,72. Considering the tax-free cash withdrawn, fees incurred, and the complete failure of the ABC High Net Worth Corporate Bond, it was initially determined that Mr. G had incurred a loss of £458,723.09.
THE OUTCOME
On 17th June 2020, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) awarded Mr G. £85,000.00 in compensation for the losses he had suffered relating to the unsuitable financial advice he had received. At that time, he received the maximum payment allowed under the FSCS’ rules.
Following a review, MMC explored the possibility of an additional claim for compensation against Mr G.’s SIPP operator. The case was passed to Money and Me Solicitors to pursue and on October 27, 2021, Mr G. was awarded a further £85,000.00 by the FSCS, due to his SIPP provider’s failures concerning the investments.
Unfortunately, £170,000 was the maximum amount to which Mr G was entitled, under the FSCS’ rules, so, despite withdrawing tax-free cash, holding cash and investments in his SIPP and securing two successful claims for maximum compensation, Mr G. was still £461,640.94 short of the value that his Hemmings Group Pension Scheme would have provided by the end of October 2021.
That said, Mr G. was still delighted with the outcome and thanked us for winning both claims as well as our level of service he’d received from start to finish and said he would highly recommend the company.
