Also referred to as a defined benefit pension or final salary schemes, these are a type of workplace pension. Rather than gradually building up a pension pot for retirement, it provides a specified pension payment for the rest of your life, depending on your final employee terminal earnings or average salary. A defined benefit may be provided as a lump-sum payment or a series of payments. Some of these schemes also have generous death benefits.

As defined benefit pension or final salary schemes are usually a very solid and dependable source of income for retirement, there must be an extremely good reason for someone to want to transfer this into a riskier type of investment.

Getting the right financial advice on this is very important. There are strict rules provided by Government watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, that financial advisers must follow to ensure the pension transfer has not been mis-sold. If you feel that you weren’t given the right pension advice, please contact us and we can talk through your options.

People who worked in the public sector or nationalised industries, such as those listed below, may have been a member of a defined benefit/final salary employer pension scheme:

In June 2020, Government backed financial industry watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced measures to tackle the issues in the defined benefit pension transfer market. Pension freedoms introduced by the Government in 2015 have already been implicated as a source of consumer harm by the FCA.

Defined benefit pension mis-selling can unknowingly occur due to poor financial advice leaving you with less than you were expecting in your retirement. TLW Solicitors specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice.

Whilst these transfers may have been made many years ago, it is still possible to claim compensation if you are the widow of someone who transferred their pension, or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until our specialist team of financial mis-selling lawyers get an up-to-date valuation of the pension that our clients would have had, clients often do not realise how much they have lost out, which can be a significant amount. TLW Solicitors are specialists in mis-sold defined benefit (final salary) pension plan transfers. Speak to us today to find out if you have a claim.

We can advise and progress pension mis-selling claims for anyone who has:

When it comes to retirement, many people with private or company pensions will have cashed their pension pot in to buy an ‘annuity’. With annuities, in return for the money you had saved in the pension pot, the annuity provider will pay you an income for the rest of your life.

If you have suffered from certain medical conditions prior to your retirement, you are likely to have been entitled to an enhanced annuity. This takes into account your medical condition(s), and may have resulted in a 20% – 100% increase in your pension income. Annuity mis-selling has occurred when a person is not properly advised about their entitlement to an enhanced annuity.

Even those without medical conditions may be missing out. It is common to purchase an annuity from the company you have been saving with, not knowing that you could go to another provider. If your pension company did not make this clear to you, you may have a case for a mis-sold annuity.

It’s difficult to give a definitive list of medical conditions, but if you suffered from one of the following prior to your retirement you are likely to have been entitled to an enhanced annuity:

We can advise and progress pension mis-selling claims for anyone who has:

• Invested their fund in a high-risk scheme which has gone wrong
  e.g. off-plan property, store pods, carbon credits etc.
• Not received proper pension advice which explained their entitlement to an enhanced annuity.
• Been advised to transfer out of their existing scheme into, what turns out to be, a lesser scheme.

The Legal and Claims Group understand that for many investors, the money has been accumulated through a lifetime of working and saving. We will examine the sales process and consider all potential options to recover your losses.

It may be that we can:

• Recover pension funds that you previously thought lost.
• Get pension compensation for past losses and a better-paying annuity going forward

A self-invested personal pension (or a SIPP, as they are widely known) is a ‘do-it-yourself’ pension option, which allows you to draw together more varied investments than most standard pensions. For some people, SIPP pensions are helpful, as they allow increased flexibility in terms of the quantity and types of investments you can enter into.

However, in some cases, financial advisers have encouraged investors to transfer money into high-risk investments via SIPPs without proper explanations of the potential risks, sometimes resulting in significant financial loss.

SIPP investment funds are usually selected by the financial adviser, who has a duty to choose investments that are aligned with the customer’s needs and objectives, as well as their attitude towards risk. Despite this, some financial advisers have been placing customers’ funds into risky investments without the customer being properly informed of the dangers involved. As a result, some customers are facing depleted pension funds and potential financial difficulties during their retirement years.

You may have a claim for compensation if:

• Your financial adviser encouraged you to change your investments without properly explaining the reasons why;
• Your SIPP pension has fallen in value despite assurances from your financial adviser that it would increase;
• Your financial adviser failed to properly inform you of factors that could reduce the value of your investment.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reported ‘serious and ongoing failings’ by a number of financial advisers with regards to SIPP investments. The main failings generally revolve around advisers not ensuring SIPP investments are safe and suitable for investors’ needs.

One of the advisers which has faced disciplinary action from the FCA is Tailormade Independent. Tailormade was involved with encouraging customers to transfer existing pensions into a variety of unregulated investments via SIPPs, including investments in:

• Biofuels
• Green oil
• Farmland
• Overseas property, including investments with property firm Harlequin, which has since been liquidated.

Tailormade Independent itself has now gone into liquidation, with three of its directors now being banned from holding any further senior roles within the financial industry.

According to the FCA, the directors of Tailormade failed to ensure that the SIPP pension products they recommended were suitable for customers’ needs, as well as failing to uphold transparency around activities that posed a conflict of interest.

We would particularly urge you to get in touch if your SIPP investments covered products such as:

• Off-plan properties
• Store Pods
• Wine
• Global Forestry Investments
• Australian farmland

Our experienced team may be able to help you to recover your losses even if your financial adviser or the firms you invested in are no longer trading.

Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a steel worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name. The value of these claims can be significant, with many clients not appreciating how much they have lost until we obtain a current valuation from their previous pension provider. This valuation gives an indication of what the pension would have been worth had it not been transferred.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice and have been mis-sold a pension transfer. Whilst some of these transfers may have been made many years ago, it may still be possible to claim compensation if you are a Barclays Bank worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until our specialist team of financial mis-selling lawyers get an up-to-date valuation of the retirement pension that our clients would have had, clients often do not realise how much they have lost out, which can be a significant amount.

In deciding to move their pensions, often to Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs), many steel workers were advised by Active Wealth who entered liquidation in February 2019 after the firm was told to cease any pension transfer activity by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) months earlier. As final salary pensions are a very solid and dependable source of retirement income, there must be a strong reason to transfer this into some other private pension scheme.

The Legal and Claims Group help clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice.

Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a steel worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name. The value of these claims can be significant, with many clients not appreciating how much they have lost until we obtain a current valuation from their previous pension provider. This valuation gives an indication of what the pension would have been worth had it not been transferred.

The advice to transfer was given by a range of Independent Financial Advisers, including agents from some well-known and trusted brands such as:

• Abbey Life
• Aegon UK
• Allied Dunbar
• Aviva
• Co-Operative
• Friends Provident
• Legal & General
• Lloyds TSB
• Norwich Union
• Pearl Assurance
• Prudential
• Scottish Amicable
• Scottish Widows
• Standard Life
• Sun Life
• Zurich

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice. Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a BT worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until we get an up to date valuation of the pension that they would have had, clients sometimes do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.

As final salary pensions are a very solid and dependable source of retirement income, there must be a strong reason to transfer this into another private pension.

The advice to transfer was given by a range of Independent Financial Advisers including agents from some well-known and trusted brands such as:

• Abbey Life
• Aegon UK
• Allied Dunbar
• Aviva
• Co-Operative
• Friends Provident
• Legal & General
• Lloyds TSB
• Norwich Union
• Pearl Assurance
• Prudential
• Scottish Amicable
• Scottish Widows
• Standard Life
• Sun Life
• Zurich

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice. These claims can be high value, with many clients not appreciating how much they have lost until we apply for an up to date valuation from their previous pension provider. This valuation shows what the pension may have been worth had it not been transferred.

Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a Civil Servant’s widow/er or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

The advice to transfer was given by a range of Independent Financial Advisers, including agents from some well-known and trusted brands such as:

• Abbey Life
• Aegon UK
• Allied Dunbar
• Aviva
• Co-Operative
• Friends Provident
• Legal & General
• Lloyds TSB
• Norwich Union
• Pearl Assurance
• Prudential
• Scottish Amicable
• Scottish Widows
• Standard Life
• Sun Life
• Zurich

The advice to transfer was given by a range of Independent Financial Advisers, including agents from some well-known and trusted brands such as:

• Abbey Life
• Aegon UK
• Allied Dunbar
• Aviva
• Co-Operative
• Friends Provident
• Legal & General
• Lloyds TSB
• Norwich Union
• Pearl Assurance
• Prudential
• Scottish Amicable
• Scottish Widows
• Standard Life
• Sun Life
• Zurich

Some police, fire and other emergency services workers have been persuaded to transfer out of their existing pension schemes and have lost out financially as a result. If you or a loved one have worked in the emergency services and have transferred out of the government backed pension scheme following negligent financial advice, in turn, reducing the value of your pension pot, then you may be able to claim compensation.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice.

The value of these claims can be significant, with many clients not appreciating how much they have lost until we obtain a current valuation from their previous pension provider. This valuation gives an indication of what the pension would have been worth had it not been transferred. Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation even if you are a former emergency services worker’s widow/er or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over, or changed its name.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice and have been mis-sold a pension transfer. Whilst some of these transfers may have been made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a Jaguar Land Rover worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until we get an up-to-date valuation of the retirement pension that they would have had, clients sometimes do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.

Local Authority pensions apply to a wide range of roles including:

• Social worker
• Refuse collector
• Gardener
• Caretaker
• Housing officer
• Lawyer
• Manager
• Administrator
• Accountant

If you or a loved one have worked at a local authority such as a Borough, Metropolitan or City Council and have transferred out of the Local Authority’s Pension Scheme following negligent financial advice, reducing the value of your pension pot, then you may be able to recover compensation for your losses.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice. These claims can be high value, with many clients not appreciating how much they have lost until we apply for an up to date valuation from their previous pension provider. This valuation shows what the pension may have been worth had it not been transferred. Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a Local Authority employee’s widow/er or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over, or changed its name.

If you or a loved one have worked in the NHS, as a:

• Consultant
• Doctor
• General Practitioner
• Dentist
• Nurse
• Midwife
• Pharmacist
• Physiotherapist
• Radiologist

And they have transferred out of the NHS Pension Scheme following negligent financial advice, reducing the value of your pension pot, then you may be entitled to claim compensation.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice. Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are an NHS employee’s widow/er or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over, or changed its name.

Until we get an up-to-date valuation of the pension that they would have had, clients sometimes do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.

Government-backed City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has joined forces with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to work with the pension scheme to make sure that members tempted to transfer their pension following redundancy are not exploited by IFAs.

In April 2022, the FCA, TPR and MaPS jointly confirmed:

• Current and former employees of P&O are urged not to make any quick decisions about their pension following recent media reports.”
• “The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) are raising their concerns given the heightened risk of pension transfers following recent redundancies. The FCA and TPR warn that transferring out of a defined benefit pension scheme is unlikely to be in the best interests of most people.”
• “The FCA regulates pension transfer advice and has taken significant action where it considers that firms have not met the standards of advice and behaviour expected for financial advice. The FCA is repeating its guidance to those providing advice on pension transfers that they ought to start from a position that a transfer is unlikely to be in most people’s best interest.”

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension transfer advice. Even if some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a P&O Ferries worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until we get an up to date valuation of the pension that they would have had, clients sometimes do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.

The advice to transfer was given by a range of Independent Financial Advisers, including agents from some well-known and trusted brands such as:

• Abbey Life
• Aegon UK
• Allied Dunbar
• Aviva
• Co-Operative
• Friends Provident
• Legal & General
• Lloyds TSB
• Norwich Union
• Pearl Assurance
• Prudential
• Scottish Amicable
• Scottish Widows
• Standard Life
• Sun Life
• Zurich

As final salary pensions are a very solid and dependable source of retirement income, there must be a strong reason to transfer this into another private pension.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice. These claims can be high value, with many clients not appreciating how much they have lost until we apply for an up to date valuation from their previous pension provider. This valuation shows what the pension may have been worth had it not been transferred.

Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a rail worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Government backed City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has joined forces with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to work with the pension scheme in ensuring that members tempted to transfer following redundancy are not exploited by IFAs.

A joint statement from October 2020 confirmed:

“All advisers should be clear on the FCA’s expectations when offering advice to members of the pension scheme. Where the FCA sees unsuitable advice, or bad practice, it will take action…The FCA, TPR and MaPS believe transferring out of a DB pension scheme is unlikely to be in the best interests of most consumers”.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice. Whilst some of these transfers were made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a Rolls-Royce worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until we get an up to date valuation of the pension that they would have had, clients sometimes do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.

If you or a loved one have worked in the teaching profession and have transferred out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme following negligent financial advice, in turn, reducing the value of your pension pot, then you may be able to claim compensation.

Until we get an up to date valuation of the pension that they would have had, clients often do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.

The Legal and Claims Group specialise in helping clients who have been given negligent final salary pension advice and have been mis-sold a pension transfer. Whilst some of these transfers may have been made many years ago, you may still be able to claim compensation if you are a Transport for London worker’s widow or if the Independent Financial Adviser has gone out of business, has been taken over or changed its name.

Until we get an up-to-date valuation of the retirement pension that they would have had, clients sometimes do not realise how much they have lost out, which quite often is a significant amount.