THE SITUATION
Mr Glynn Shaw was a coal miner and a member of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme (MPS) from 1979 to 1989 when he was made redundant. In January 1993, a representative from United Friendly visited the pit canteen and approached him, suggesting that he would benefit from stopping his MPS pension and redirecting payments to a personal pension with United Friendly, now administered by Royal London.
Mr Shaw had always wondered if the advice he’d received all those years ago was correct. So, when he saw a Facebook advert about ex-mineworkers who transferred out of the MPS, it prompted him to contact Money and Me Solicitors (MMS) to carry out an investigation.
OUR APPROACH
After conducting a thorough investigation and collecting documentary evidence from various parties, we sent a letter of complaint to Royal London, because we believed the United Friendly adviser had not acted in Mr Shaw’s best interest.
In April 2022, Royal London rejected the complaint, stating that they had met their regulatory obligations by sending an invitation to Mr Shaw for a pension review. MMS was unsatisfied with the firm’s response and requested a file from HMRC which proved that Mr Shaw was residing at a different address at the time the letters were sent to him.
Given Royal London’s refusal to accept responsibility for the poor advice, MMS presented the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in June 2022. FOS is a statutory body set up to resolve financial disputes such as Mr Shaw’s. By September 2022, the FOS Adjudicator ruled that the case was time-barred. However, the decision was reversed in May 2023 after MMS established that Mr Shaw was only notified of a potential issue with his defined benefit pension transfer after he had engaged with MMS.
THE OUTCOME
In August 2023, FOS upheld the complaint and directed Royal London to undertake a redress calculation to determine the financial position Mr Shaw would have been in without the unsuitable advice to transfer his DB pension. On 31st July 2024, Royal London agreed to pay Mr Shaw £142,257.48 in compensation.
It should be noted that the claim had no impact on his personal pension arrangements with Royal London, which remained in place and unaffected by the compensation payment.
Mr. Shaw was naturally delighted with the outcome and the level of service provided to him. He was so impressed that he recommended our services to a friend who he suspected had been similarly disadvantaged.
If it were not for the employees at Money and Me Solicitors’ experience and persistence, we believe Mr Shaw would not have received a penny from Royal London. Mr. Shaw stated, “Nathan has provided support throughout the process and has kept me informed all the way. I would not have been able to handle the claim on my own.” – Mr Shaw
