Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Ltd

23 Jul, 2020

Claims made against Berkeley Burke that relate to the firm’s due diligence have now all been moved to our claims processing teams for assessment.

01 Apr, 2020

Our investigations have focussed on the levels of due diligence Berkeley Burke carried out before allowing customers to make specific investments under their pensions. From this, we've determined that protected claims exist against Berkeley Burke.

We'll shortly pass claims already submitted against Berkeley Burke to our claims processing teams for assessment.

21 Jan, 2020

FSCS has been working closely with the administrators and has received the due diligence files from Berkeley Burke. Once we've examined the documents we'll know if it owes a civil liability to customers - in other words, would a UK court hold the failed firm responsible for a customer’s losses. When we know this we can announce whether there are valid claims against Berkeley Burke.

18 Sep, 2019

To consider claims against a failed firm, FSCS must be satisfied that customers have first exhausted any right to claim against any connected firms that are still trading. FSCS understands that FCA authorised advisers may have recommended transfers of existing pensions or investments through a Berkeley Burke SIPP.

If you were advised by an FCA authorised adviser that’s still trading to transfer your existing pension or to invest through a Berkeley Burke SIPP, you need to complain to them before FSCS can consider your claim against Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Ltd. If your adviser rejects your complaint, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

If you were advised by an FCA authorised adviser that’s now not trading to transfer your existing pension into or invest through a Berkeley Burke SIPP, you should submit a claim to FSCS against your financial adviser.

FSCS considers different factors when calculating losses on pension advice (a claim against your financial adviser) compared to SIPP investments (a claim against your SIPP provider).

This means you may be eligible to receive more compensation for any losses by claiming against your financial advisor than if you just made a claim against your SIPP provider.

You can check to see whether your financial adviser has ever been authorised by FCA by visiting its website.

Although FSCS is accepting claims against Berkeley Burke, claims will not immediately be passed to our claims processing teams for assessment. Firstly we need to establish whether there are protected claims against Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration. For this to happen we need to know that Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Ltd owes a civil liability to customers that would enable them to sue the firm in court.

FSCS is working closely with the firm’s administrators and is investigating the practices of Berkeley Burke, specifically seeking to establish what levels of due diligence were carried out by the firm, prior to permitting customers to make specific investments under their pensions.