You might be eligible for compensation
Pointon York Ltd (Pointon York) went into liquidation in November 2018.
FSCS is accepting claims against this firm.
We’re aware that some Pointon York customers were advised by independent financial advisers to transfer existing pensions into the Pointon York SIPP.
After the pension transfer, customers had their pension funds placed in high risk, non-standard investments. Some of these have since become illiquid, which means they can’t currently be sold or traded.
For FSCS to be able to pay your claim we must prove that Pointon York failed in its due diligence - in other words, did it do certain checks on the non-standard investments that would hold its customers' pension funds, before accepting them into its SIPP investment portfolio? Did it make sure they were appropriate for a SIPP, and did it identify any potential issues with them? Also, if it did identify potential issues, did it tell the customer?
We’ve already assessed and paid several customer claims against authorised IFAs declared in default by FSCS, in relation to advice they received to transfer their pension into a Pointon York SIPP.
If you think that you’ve got a claim, click the ‘Check if you can claim’ button to start the process.
FSCS is free to use and you don’t need to use a representative to make a claim. If you claim with us directly you will receive 100% of any compensation due.
See our investment compensation limits and their conditions on our Investments page.
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02 Oct, 2020
Claims made against Pointon York that relate to the firm’s due diligence have now all been moved to our claims processing teams for assessment.
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05 Jun, 2020
Our investigations have focussed on the levels of due diligence carried out by Pointon York before allowing customers to make specific investments under their pensions.
From this, we've determined that protected claims exist against Pointon York. We'll shortly pass claims already submitted to our claims processing teams for assessment.
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21 Jan, 2020
We are still exploring other methods of collecting documents from various 3rd parties. However, we have yet to receive any information. Without this we cannot determine if there is a civil liability against Pointon York - would a UK court hold it responsible for a customer's losses - or if there are any valid claims.
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18 Oct, 2019
We are still trying to discover if there are valid claims against Pointon York. We’re working with many third parties to collect as much information as possible including the new SIPP provider, the previous insolvency practitioner, and the previous directors.
Currently, we’ve not been able to get documents from any of the third parties relating to the amount of due diligence done by Pointon York on the investments it made for its customers. Without this evidence it’s difficult to know if there are valid claims.
As a result, we’re examining other ways to see if there are valid claims. We’re looking at information we currently have, and using other contacts to get this documentation.
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19 Aug, 2019
FSCS is still investigating the practices of Pointon York to determine if there are protected claims against the firm.
FSCS is currently looking into various documents and is in contact with various parties to try to retrieve any documents which relate to the due diligence that Pointon York conducted.
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28 Jun, 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 Pointon York SIPP.
If you were advised by an FCA authorised adviser that’s still trading to transfer your existing pension or to invest through a Pointon York SIPP, you need to complain to them before FSCS can consider your claim against Pointon York. 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 Pointon York SIPP, you should firstly 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 Pointon York, claims will not immediately be passed to our claims processing teams for assessment. Firstly we need to establish whether there are protected claims against Pointon York. For this to happen we need to know that Pointon York owes a civil liability to customers that would enable them to sue the firm in court.
FSCS is currently investigating the practices of Pointon York, 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.
FSCS
Contact us by phone on the number below, or via the contact form on the Contact us page.