Friend has lost nearly all his pension pot, advice needed please.
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swingaloo
Posts: 2,751 Forumite
Im already retired and know nothing much about the ins and outs of pensions but I have a friend who has got himself into a real mess and I have no idea if there is any recourse for him so asking for advice please.
It seems he fell for the sales phone call 'I can help you with your pension' type thing. The guy made an apt and came to his house and to cut a long story short our friend 'invested' his pension with a company recommended by this person. He had over 40,000 at the time and no doubt, although I have not seen the paperwork he will have signed the usual 'Fees' and 'Your investment can go up or down' etc.
This was around 4 years ago, the first year when he got an annual statement it showed almost £1000 in fees and that he had lost around £1500. The following year he got no statement but did not chase it up. Last year he got a statement which showed that as well as having paid 3000 in fees his pot was now worth just 18,000 so he decided to take the money out of the scheme. He then found out that the company he had got involved with had gone into liquidation but on talking to the administrators he was told that as his cash was in a SIPP it was safe and he would be able to get it back.
He has filled in paperwork to get the cash back but had been told he had to wait for the final figure before the administrators' could return his money. Fast forward to last week and he gets a letter saying the final value of his pot is now worth just over £7000 and to say he is devastated is an understatement.
Now he has also told us that at the point where he discovered that the value had gone down to 18.000 he contacted one of these 'Have you lost your pension' type people who advertise on the tv and apparently he has signed something with them to say they will take 25% of anything they can reclaim for him. He did this last year and hasn't heard anything from them recently so has no idea what is going on with that.
I understand that he has been extremely gullible in getting involved with the advisor who recommended he invest with the company in the first place. In my opinion if you want financial advice you choose someone yourself and not someone who cold calls you but he is so upset that I don't want to go into 'I told you so' mode.
He is now talking about getting in touch with another of these 'reclaim' companies that have sprung up much in the same way as the PPI people did to try to claim his losses back. I've tried to tell him that unless he was mis-sold something it will be a non starter and that he will have signed paperwork saying he could lose on his investment but he seems to be going down the stupid route of 'No one reads all that stuff they give you', 'I've been robbed of my life savings' etc, etc.
I want to shake him but at the same time if there is any action he can take or any advice I could give him (other than stop being stupid and falling for everything you are told) it would be appreciated.
It seems he fell for the sales phone call 'I can help you with your pension' type thing. The guy made an apt and came to his house and to cut a long story short our friend 'invested' his pension with a company recommended by this person. He had over 40,000 at the time and no doubt, although I have not seen the paperwork he will have signed the usual 'Fees' and 'Your investment can go up or down' etc.
This was around 4 years ago, the first year when he got an annual statement it showed almost £1000 in fees and that he had lost around £1500. The following year he got no statement but did not chase it up. Last year he got a statement which showed that as well as having paid 3000 in fees his pot was now worth just 18,000 so he decided to take the money out of the scheme. He then found out that the company he had got involved with had gone into liquidation but on talking to the administrators he was told that as his cash was in a SIPP it was safe and he would be able to get it back.
He has filled in paperwork to get the cash back but had been told he had to wait for the final figure before the administrators' could return his money. Fast forward to last week and he gets a letter saying the final value of his pot is now worth just over £7000 and to say he is devastated is an understatement.
Now he has also told us that at the point where he discovered that the value had gone down to 18.000 he contacted one of these 'Have you lost your pension' type people who advertise on the tv and apparently he has signed something with them to say they will take 25% of anything they can reclaim for him. He did this last year and hasn't heard anything from them recently so has no idea what is going on with that.
I understand that he has been extremely gullible in getting involved with the advisor who recommended he invest with the company in the first place. In my opinion if you want financial advice you choose someone yourself and not someone who cold calls you but he is so upset that I don't want to go into 'I told you so' mode.
He is now talking about getting in touch with another of these 'reclaim' companies that have sprung up much in the same way as the PPI people did to try to claim his losses back. I've tried to tell him that unless he was mis-sold something it will be a non starter and that he will have signed paperwork saying he could lose on his investment but he seems to be going down the stupid route of 'No one reads all that stuff they give you', 'I've been robbed of my life savings' etc, etc.
I want to shake him but at the same time if there is any action he can take or any advice I could give him (other than stop being stupid and falling for everything you are told) it would be appreciated.
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Comments
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The problem is that many of these reclaim companies are the same people who ripped off the pensions in the first place. Who was this "advisor" ? Were they regulated ? Who is the SIPP invested with ?
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Thanks for the reply, I don't know who the advisor was. I just know he said the guy rang him out of the blue and made an apt to come to the house. Obviously they are not cold calling to help you, they are cold calling to make themselves money but he fell for it. I know he has mentioned a company called 'Invest Acc' and 'Minerva' but I don't know all the details.
I cant understand how the reclaim companies can make promises to 'reclaim your losses'. On what grounds? Surely you sign the paperwork and take the risk.
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Well unless you get the facts, no one can be much help here.0
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There is a company called Investacc Pension Administration with a registered office at Minerva House. However according to Companies House they are not in liquidation https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07118349It could be worth the friend enquiring direct to the registered office, but most likely the company he was involved with was a scam using their identity.
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I have a Minerva SIPP with InvestAcc. They are a fairly well known (in the pension business), reputable pension administration company . The Minerva SIPP is a full SIPP with access to a full range of SIPPable investments - commercial property, gold etc, as well as the more traditional kinds of investment products. Sounds as if the actual investment has gone wrong, rather than the legality of the pension arrangements.LHW99 said:There is a company called Investacc Pension Administration with a registered office at Minerva House. However according to Companies House they are not in liquidation https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07118349It could be worth the friend enquiring direct to the registered office, but most likely the company he was involved with was a scam using their identity.0 -
LHW99 said:There is a company called Investacc Pension Administration with a registered office at Minerva House. However according to Companies House they are not in liquidation https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07118349It could be worth the friend enquiring direct to the registered office, but most likely the company he was involved with was a scam using their identity.
I bloody hope so, because that's where my SIPP is held!
If you want to be rich, live like you're poor; if you want to be poor, live like you're rich.1 -
Well Im getting dribs of info from him but cant press to much as he isnt in a good place at the moment. It appears that the advisor who originally contacted him was from a company called Torch Wealth. The company who held his pot and went into liquidation were called SVS Securities. I think it was transferred to Invest Acc later but I cant seem to get a proper chain of events.
I have however found an article online entitled 'Advisor to pay out over unsuitable SIPP transfer' which involved an advisor from Torch Wealth. regarding someone who went to the FOS and was compensated for his losses in 2019.
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Found this on the FSCS website, it may be that he has a claim with FSCS if Torch Wealth were the advisor.Hope your friend can get compensation!
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Thank you very much for that, I will pass it on to him.0
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Yes, good luck, I hope you get it sorted!
If you want to be rich, live like you're poor; if you want to be poor, live like you're rich.1
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