We would have had to sell our house if we hadn’t got compensation
Aged 65, Robert* discovered he had just 11p left in his self-invested personal pension (SIPP). This is the story of how claiming compensation with FSCS changed his life.
In 2011, Robert was advised to move his existing pension into a new SIPP when a representative from a SIPP provider visited his workplace.
Like a lot of people, Robert didn’t worry about his pension and assumed it was safe. When he reached 65 years old and didn’t hear from his pension provider, he got in touch with them to talk about retiring. It was then he discovered that he had just 11p left in his SIPP.
After consulting with Citizen’s Advice, he took his case to the Financial Ombudsman Service who ruled in his favour. However, the SIPP provider didn’t pay him so he had to wait until the company went out of business in 2023 before he could make a claim with FSCS for compensation.
When FSCS contacted him to let him know that his claim was successful, Robert said it was "like winning the lottery…all our savings had gone as we had to use them to keep above water and we would have had to sell our house if we hadn’t got the compensation." He found the service provided by FSCS to be "impeccable – everything was in plain English, no gibberish; they couldn’t have helped more."
Robert said that he wouldn’t hesitate recommending FSCS to other people in his situation.
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*Identity changed for privacy. Photo used is stock imagery.
"It was like winning the lottery…all our savings had gone as we had to use them to keep above water and we would have had to sell our house if we hadn’t got the compensation."