THE SITUATION
Mark Hammond served in the Navy from December 1972 to August 1993. In 2002, Mr Hammond was advised by a representative of Millfield Partnership Ltd (MPL) to transfer his Armed Forces Pension (AFPS), a defined benefit occupational scheme, to a personal pension with Scottish Widows. However, MPL failed to inform Mr Hammond of the disadvantages of the transfer.
The Army Pension would have guaranteed him an index-linked income without any investment risk or incurring fees. The Service Personnel & Veterans Agency confirmed that the transferred amount was £79,756.82.
Mr Hammond was prompted to contact Money and Me Solicitors (MMS) after he saw an advertisement about ex-servicemen who may have lost out by transferring their AFPS. He commented, “If I had not seen the advert, I would never have known I had a case.”
OUR APPROACH
MMS conducted a thorough investigation and determined that if Mr Hammond had stayed in the AFPS, the hypothetical value of his pension would have been £378,122.04, meaning Mr Hammond had, in fact, suffered a significant financial loss, due to the unsuitable advice he received from MPL.
As MPL had been liquidated in 2007, we submitted a claim to the
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
THE OUTCOME
On 20 September 2024, we were delighted to inform Mr Hammond that, despite the transfer taking place more than two decades previously, we had secured a successful outcome, resulting in the FSCS awarding him compensation of £48,000.00, which was the
maximum amount the FSCS could pay under their rules.
It should be noted that the claim had no impact on his personal pension arrangements with Scottish Widows.
Mr Hammond expressed his appreciation to Money and Me Solicitors, stating, “I received compensation well above my expectations, which allowed me to set up trust funds for my
grandchildren. I would have no hesitation in recommending their services. They kept in regular contact and were easy to work with.”
