Berkeley Burke Administration

It was announced yesterday (19/09/2019) that the Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) provider Berkeley Burke had entered administration. What does this mean, and what happens next?

Well the background is familiar to many readers - but in short, Berkeley Burke had been facing mounting legal costs and eventually the pressure seems to have been too much. Alongside the legal cases, Berkeley Burke had also been facing a large number of direct complaints, and complaints via the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) - all of which would have meant further pressure.

The main allegations have centred around due diligence failings - particularly in respect of what are known as "unregulated assets". In the case of Berkeley Burke SIPP investments, these have included store pod investments with Store First Ltd, overseas property developments, and Global Forestry.

So if you have been affected what happens next?

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has made announcements on its own website about Berkeley Burke, and it is believed that many claims will now fall upon the FSCS. You can pursue these types of claims yourself - or you could choose to use a claims management company, who will charge a fee.

To find out the latest news, and learn more detail about what has happened, check out our web page here: Berkeley Burke Administration News

Pension Scam Alert - FCA and The Pensions regulator Warn Up To 5 Million People At Risk Of Scams

This is a deeply worrying development, but  avery timely warning by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) who have combined to draw attention to the risks posed by pension scammers.
They warn of many concerns around the tactics used by these scammers, including: pension cold calls, free pension review service, claims of guaranteed high returns, risky unregulated investments, time limited offers, and the chace to access pension cash before the age of 55.
The FCA has been running its "SamSmart" campaign for some time now - which warns people about these tactics, and how to spot them. You can find information about scamsmart here: FCA ScamSmart Campaign

If you think that you may have been the victim of a pension scam then there a number of steps that you can take.
1. If your financial adviser is still trading - then make a complaint directly to them
2. If you are not happy with their response, you can forward your complaint tothe Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
3. If your financial advice firm has ceased to trade, you ay be able to make your complaint via the Financial Services Compensatio Scheme (FSCS)

Find out more information about how to make your own complaint via our help page here: How To Make Your Own Claim

If you are worried that you may not be able to conduct your own claim, then do please get in touch directly with us. We will tell you if we think that you may have a valid claim. We offer a no win no fee service, we will only charge a fee if we have been able to win an offer of compensation for you - when our fee will be 20% inclusive of VAT.

A "How To" Guide To Make Your Own Pension Transfer Loss Claim - it's very straightforward

Trust us - it is. If your claim for mis-advice about a pension transfer is straightforward the why wouldn't you just go ahead an do it yourself? You will save yourself fees from a firm like ours. Just follow these simple guidelines - this is our approach by the way - others may have different ideas - but these work for us!

1. Determine how to pursue your claim
There are a number of routes that you can pursue, depending upon whether your advice firm is still trading, has ceased to trade - or is still trading but has rejected your complaint. Let's look at each in turn.

2. If your advice firm is still trading
If your firm is still listed as "active" on the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) register - which you can check on their website, then you should be able to pursue a direct claim, by complaining directly to them. They will then examine your complaint, and issue a response to you. If they rejecty your complaint - go to step 4 below!

3. If your advice firm has ceased to trade
If this is the case, as long as your advice firm was regulated by the FCA, you should be able to pursue a claim via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This can be done online at their website.

4. If your advice firm rejects your claim
If, after you have complained, the advice firm issues a response rejecting your claim, you should then be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman service (FOS), again you can get the forms at their website.

In all cases you will need to gather the evidence of exactly what happened, and when it happened. Once you present this evidence, along with your reasons to excplain why youi believe that you were mis-advised - the ball is in the other court.

We have a simple video  guide available here - or you can visit a more detailed guide page on our website - link below the video

Detailed guide - How To Claim Yourself

Good Luck!

Use Our Expertise To Pursue Your Pension Transfer Compensation Claim

Attempting to claim compensation after your pension transfer has gone wrong can seem to be difficult. The simplest idea is to pursue the claim yourself. You can claim directly against a former adviser, or via the financial Ombudsman Service, (FOS) or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

But many of our clients have found that approach to be daunting. They often tell us that they lack financial services expertise, or that the process itself looks to be very complex, or that they simply don’t have the time to undertake the claim themselves. That’s when making use of our expertise can make enormous sense.

Firstly, both of our Partners, Gary Naylor and Ken Hanning, have decades of relevant experience in the financial services industry. This means that they can quickly look at your case, and determine whether or not they believe that you have a valid claim to take forwards. This is important to avoid wasting your time.

This also means that neither of our Partners will be rebuffed by over use of industry terminology. Whether it’s Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes, Final Salary (FS) schemes, Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) or Small Self Administered Schemes (SSAS) that you are worried about – we will quickly grasp all of the relevant technicalities.

We also have a great deal of experience liaising with “Providers” within financial services – whether they be Pension or Insurance companies; or advice firms. And we spend much of our time speaking with SIPP firms. So we will have all of your bases covered from the very earliest stages.

Our experience also covers spotting the “usual suspects” when it comes to claims. We know which failed financial advice firms to look out for, and the methods that they tend to have used in the past. (You should also be reassured that the vast majority of UK regulated financial advice firms are well run, and provide a very good service to their clients – it really is only a handful in comparison that grab our attention).

We are also very experienced in our dealings with the UK’s two main compensation bodies, the FOS and the FSCS. In terms of the FSCS, we can demonstrate that, according to their latest annual report figures, we win, on average, higher award amounts and win a higher percentage of our claims than the average. This gives our clients you confidence that making use of our service will give them a great chance of a successful outcome.

We are also passionate about putting our clients back into the position that they should have been had they never carried out their pension transfer. This is what drives us to deliver the great results that we take such pride in.

So we welcome you to contact one of our Partners directly, using the details below, to start your expert conversation today!

Gary Naylor:  gary@assist.claims , Ken Hanning: ken@assist.claims

or call us free on 0800 254 5066

If You Are An IFA - Our Industry Changes Will Affect You From April 2019

It may not yet be widely known, but from April of this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will take over the regulation of our industry - specialist pensions claims management activities. What may be even less well known - if you are an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) - you will be affected.

How so? Well, you are probably aware that you need to be regulated as a claims management firm to handle claims management activities. But from April, you will need to be regulated specifically for claims management activities, even if you simply choose to advise a client about a problem that you have spotted, where you did not provide the original advice.

In short, if you wish to provide advice on whether or not you think a claim may be successful, or talk through the process of pursuing a claim, or advise on how to present a claim - then all of that will be caught by the new FCA regulatory regime.

This will represent quite a change in the landscape for many IFAs who have helped clients in the past. The most pressing issue will be problems spotted that previous advisers have created, or the broad pursuance of claims management activity as above.

There will be a straightforward choice - walk away from offering such a service, apply for the relevant regulatory permission, or refer clients to a claims management firm. This is the point at which you traditionally recoil in horror! "Refer?" - to those people!

However I'm keen that you don't confuse some aspects of claims management that have historically created concerns. For example some PPI firms buying up data lists and then bombarding potential clients with text messages, cold calls and emails. Other issues have been well publicized concerning the presentation of spurious or malicious claims in the dreadful hope that some mud might stick.

These approaches are anathema to my firm - and for the avoidance of doubt - we have never purchased data lists or indulged in any form of direct marketing. Our clients are either introduced to us by their adviser, or they find us via Google searches.

Ad it makes perfect sense for IFAs to refer clients to us. My business partner was an IFA for 30 years, and I too have worked within the industry for decades. We established our firm with the prime aim of obtaining fair compensation for clients who had fallen victim to scammers.

This is where it makes perfect sense to refer to us. If you come across a client, in the normal course of your work, who has either made a bad choice since the last time you met them, or has been badly advised prior to your involvement - then that's the perfect time to refer.

Why refer to us? Good question! We believe that there are four compelling reasons to choose Assist.Claims

1. Our high success rate - we have won 82% of FSCS claims - well above their published average
2. We achieve higher awards - again well above the FSCS published average for this class of claims activity

3. Our Fees are very competitive within the industry - and we can offer a referral/introducer fee - which you can either accept, or reinvest that value into a lower fee for your client.

4. We work very quickly. FSCS advise clients to allow up to six months for claims to be determined. our most recent claims have been determined withi weeks - some within 6 weeks of submission.

It's going to be a big change - but it could also represent a great opportunity to become more proactive in referring any affected clients. Putting clients first is our passion. Putting them back to where they should have been is our aim. there is no feeling quite like calling a client to give them good news!

Lear How We Work With introducers Here

Reclaim Your Retirement

If you have lost money in your pension after a transfer into a SIPP - it's time that we started a relaxed and professional conversation with you!

Call free on 0800 254 5066,
or email gary@assist.claims,
or ken@assist.claims,
or visit : https://pensionclaim.claims/sipp-claims

Assist.Claims (Yorkshire) LLP is regulated by the Claims Management Regulator in respect of regulated claims management activities. CRM NUmber 41638.

Lost Money After You Transferred Your Pension? - We Can Help

This time it's a little video bit of help! Get in touch free on 0800 254 5066, or email us at claim@assist.claims or visit our information-packed website here: https://pensionclaim.claims/