storefirst

Pwllmawr1

Can anyone help please, I made the mistake of being sucked in by the glossy brochure and celebrity endorsement for STOREFIRST storage pods, I invested my pension pot of just over £90000 into the scheme, after nearly five years of almost no returns and thousands of pounds of charges, I have now been told that there may be business rates to pay on top of the fees, ground rent etc, I did get compensation for miss selling earlier this year through a solicitor, however I now just want to get rid of the dam things and put this all behind me and suffer the loss, is there anything I can do just get them off my hands STOREFIRST will not buy them back as stated in their sign up brochure, if I could give them away I would I,m really concerned how much I,m going to end up paying in fees etc as the time goes on, can anyone help I dont know where to turn and what I can do.

OldMusicGuy

Read through this thread carefully. Lots of good advice and examples of people that also sadly made a poor choice: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/386631910&highlight=storefirst

Malthusian

You say you have already been compensated so we can skip that part.

Was your compensation paid directly to you or to the SIPP?

If it was paid into the SIPP, do a "partial transfer" of the compensation, and any other funds that aren't tied up in Store First, into another pension plan. Then leave the SIPP, which will now be worthless, to rot. Ignore any further letters about ground rent, business rates etc - the SIPP is liable, not you.

The Government has petitioned to wind up Store First which may provide some closure - however you need to plan for the possibility that it won't.

Martin_Heath

I am affected by the same issue however my pension is a SASS and I believe it is affected differently. Can anyone advise what i can do, i just want rid of the whole issue

Malthusian

Martin_Heath wrote: »

I am affected by the same issue however my pension is a SASS and I believe it is affected differently.

Depends. Did you use an FCA-regulated firm of professional SSAS trustees to adminster the scheme? If the answer is "yes" then there is no material difference to a SIPP.

Can anyone advise what i can do, i just want rid of the whole issue

If you were advised to invest by an FCA-regulated adviser, complain to them that the investment was unsuitable for your risk profile. If you were not advised to invest by an FCA-regulated adviser, but did use a firm of FCA-regulated professional SSAS trustees to administer the SSAS, complain to the SSAS trustees that they failed in their duty to do due diligence into the investment.

Whichever it is, if they refuse to provide redress, or fail to issue a final response within eight weeks, complain to the Financial Ombudsman. If the FCA-regulated company you complain to goes bust, you can go to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

This is a straightforward process and does not require specialist legal knowledge. Avoid claims management companies.