Pension pot and £35,000 FSA guarantee?

Martha2

At the age of 65, my pension pot (pension not yet taken) with Halifax is well in excess of £35,000.

Are pension pots covered only to the usual £35,000 FSA guarantee?

I would hope that they are protected to a greater extent.

Comments pse.

M

EdInvestor

Insurance company pensions are covered up to 90% of their value.There is no upper limit. Company pensions come under the Pension Protection Fund.

YorkshireBoy

http://www.fscs.org.uk/consumer/key_facts/Limitations_of_the_scheme/Compensation_Limits/

Martha2

Thank you both very much for responding to my query.

M

ffacoffipawb

EdInvestor wrote: »

Insurance company pensions are covered up to 90% of their value.There is no upper limit. Company pensions come under the Pension Protection Fund.

What about SIPPs, eg Sippdeal or Hargreaves Lansdown?

EdInvestor

IIRC SIPPs come under the investment and cash rules rather than the pension rules, so cash up to 35k and investments up to 48k.

jocpearson

It seems that companies like Hargreaves Lansdown are not so clear cut. According to the FSCS an investment claim is eligible only if it meets ALL of the following criteria:

(a) the advice you received to buy the investment must have been given on or after 28 August 1988; AND
(b) the firm that advised you must have been authorised by the appropriate regulator to do so at that time; AND
(c) you must have lost money as a result of the advice you were given; AND
(d) the firm (or its principals) no longer has sufficient assets to meet claims for compensation.

http://www.fscs.org.uk/consumer/faqs/investment_claims_faqs
Note the emphasis on advice. My interpretation is that my HL SIPP containing funds I chose without advice from HL are not covered at all (reading their research doesn't count as advice). Does anyone know more/better?

EdInvestor

The above list relates to a claim from an IFA which has gone out of business.We are talking about a claim where a pension provider goes bust.

There is a lack of clarity about what exactly is covered by the unlimited guarantee.The Pensions Advisory Service says that personal and stakeholder pensions are covered by the investment guaratee (max 48k) like SIPPs.

Anyone who can clarify this is very welcome to post.

dunstonh

The Pensions Advisory Service says that personal and stakeholder pensions are covered by the investment guaratee (max 48k) like SIPPs.

And we know that is incorrect as all the insurance companies and the FSCS themselves say personal pensions and stakeholder pensions are classed as insurance contracts.

On the other bit though Ed is correct. The FSCS also covers IFAs and that is the section that relates to us.