My financial provider disappeared, putting over £40k at risk
After transferring her existing pension into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), Nicole*’s investments started performing poorly and she couldn’t reach her provider. Here’s how she claimed compensation with us and got her money back.
Nicole received pensions advice from a close work colleague who was a financial adviser. Following this advice, Nicole transferred her existing pension into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). As part of the SIPP investment, Nicole’s pension savings were moved abroad and invested into the construction of apartments in Cape Verde, which promised high returns.
Before long, Nicole started becoming nervous about the transfer. The investments were performing poorly and she didn’t have any direct access to information about her SIPP. After several attempts to get in touch with her SIPP provider came to no avail, Nicole contacted a new financial adviser. The new adviser was also unable to contact the SIPP provider as Nicole’s original financial adviser had seemingly disappeared and was no longer contactable.
Nicole persevered for several years to contact her SIPP provider directly. "I had lost over £40,000. That’s not an amount you can afford to lose. It was a worrying time and such a significant amount of money."
It later came to light that her SIPP provider had gone out of business in June 2021. After discussing her situation with a friend, Nicole spoke to a recommended financial adviser. "My new adviser was really disappointed in the fact that I had lost complete trust and faith in financial services and she wanted to do what she could to help restore that. It was her who put me in touch with FSCS."
Nicole submitted a claim to FSCS and received £46,000 in compensation in early 2022.
Nicole said, "My claims handler Alex understood my anger and frustration – the battle that I had faced. All the way through, without ever promising that I would definitely get my money back, it felt like he and FSCS were on my side."
"I remember the day I got my money back. I cried – it was pure relief that it was over! I received an email to explain my claims decision, and the money was back in my bank account the same day. I couldn’t believe it – I had to get my husband to check that it was real!"
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*Identity changed for privacy. Photo used is stock imagery.
"I remember the day I got my money back. I cried – it was pure relief that it was over. I couldn’t believe it – I had to get my husband to check that it was real!"