THE SITUATION
Mr Kirkup was a coal miner from Newcastle Upon Tyne and was a member of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme (MPS) from 1980 to 1992, at which point he was made redundant.
In April 1992, a representative from Pearl Assurance (now Phoenix Life) suggested to him that he would be financially ‘better off’ if he transferred his MPS into a Personal Pension plan with the company. Mr Kirkup acted on the advice he was given and transferred his pension. The amount transferred was £6,604.04.
Mr Kirkup was prompted to contact us after he saw an advert on Facebook about ex-mineworkers who may have lost out by transferring their MPS.
OUR APPROACH
Money and Me Solicitors (MMS) carried out an extensive investigation that included examining all the documentary evidence that had been collected. The investigation resulted in the submission of a complaint to Pearl (now Phoenix) as we believed that the adviser from Pearl had not acted in Mr Kirkup’s best interests.
THE OUTCOME
On 4th November 2022, MMS received confirmation from Phoenix Life agreeing to pay Mr Kirkup £90,000.00 in compensation, which was the difference between the value of his Phoenix Life Personal Pension and what the financial benefits of his MPS would have provided him, had he not transferred his pension.
Our persistence led to a successful outcome.
Mr Kirkup stated that following his discussion with MMS, he gained clarity on the process and its duration, adding, “Money and Me Solicitors were honest from the outset.”
Had he not been prompted by our Facebook advert, Mr Kirkup confirmed that he would not have made any enquiries into reviewing the advice he had received all those years ago and, therefore, the life-changing compensation we won for him would never have been received.
