7 Common Problems That Can Be Categorized as Mis-Sold Pensions

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Contrary to popular opinion, a mis-sold pension isn’t only about getting hold of an inaccurate financial product. Mis-selling means that you were given unsuitable advice, the risks were not explained to you or you were not given the information you needed and ended up with a product that is contrary to your expectations. Apparently, it also concerns almost any bottleneck that ends up materializing into an irrelevant selection, as and when suggested by an external source. Besides, once you have identified a mis-selling, it is more than obvious to file for a compensation claim, precisely by taking several important and relevant factors into account.

This is what we shall be discussing subsequently by throwing some light on the common mis-selling  pensions experiences, which qualify you for the claim:

1. Lack of Advisor Credibility

Misguided pension recommendations made by inexperienced financial advisors such as moneyandme.co.uk offer adequate grounds to put forth compensation claims. In most cases, we end up believing the advisor blindly as he or she projects credibility worth vouching for. In case you can find the credentials to be vague and untrue, filing for a claim becomes a straight-forward process.

2. Coerced into Making a Personal Investment

Another example of mis-sold pensions is when the advisor coerces or even manipulates you into investing in a personal pension plan randomly without listening to or taking your credential and data into account. Of course, this can do more damage than good for both sides. They are going to lose your trust and you can lose your money.

3. Cold Calling

If the concerned company has been cold-calling you for a while now, the approach qualifies as a mis-sold pension. This is one of the most common techniques used by bulk callers and financial institutions, in an effort to pile on the irrelevant pension plan without cross-checking your financial stead and personal details.

Cold calling doesn’t prove to be successful as the caller isn’t someone you can trust. They also talk to you about your finances, which isn’t something people want to discuss right off the bat.

4. Change in Pension Format

In case an advisor asks you to ditch the workplace pension format for a personal one, despite the former offering better perks, you can consider filing a compensation claim by reporting the same as a mis-sold pension.

5. Intricate Conditions and Investment Terms

Now that you have purchased a pension plan upon agreeing mutually on the mentioned terms and scheme conditions, the emergence of smaller and more intricate prints also qualifies as a mis-selling.

6. Change in Fees

It is obvious that you would be paying a fixed amount as a premium or processing charge upon purchasing a pension plan. However, mis-sold pensions are the ones that include hidden charges, additional fees, and overheads that weren’t mentioned previously.

7. Illegitimate Claims

Any financial advisor or firm asking you to transfer the investment into a tax avoidance corpus is actually misleading and threading onto the borders of illegal pension providence.

In case you come across any of the mentioned problems related to pension purchases, you need to act immediately, gather every shred of evidence, and connect with an experienced lawyer for preparing a compensation claim, as and when deemed fit.

If you are a victim of mis-sold pensions, you can get the compensation you deserve. Before understanding whether you are a victim of mis-sold pensions, you need to understand the three types of pensions. They include>

• State pensions: The government offers them as long as you have worked for the government, and you have retired.
• Defined Contribution Pension: This is an arrangement between you and your employer. You decide when to get your money or when you retire.
• Defined Benefit Pension: Your employer defines the amount they pay towards your pension. The amount paid depends on how much you earn.

The above pensions guarantee 25 percent of your total contribution

If you have been mis-sold your pension code

Act Quickly

There are circumstances where your pension Ombudsman may step in to investigate complaints under three years.

Before seeking the Ombudsman services, there is a need to complain to the pension provider. The process you need to follow is as explained below.

Step 1- Gather relevant information

• You don’t need to have all facts about your mis-sold pension. Explain the problem in general but also make sure to give useful information
• Be very concise and give all facts
• Have all the information together with written proof. You will need written proof and without it, it is hard to do anything,

Step 2: Launch a complaint to Your advisor or provider

• Get a copy of your firm’s complaints process- You will be told who to contact in case of a complaint.
• The firm will have a period of eight weeks to respond. If they do not answer, get in touch with the services of the Ombudsman
• If you are unsatisfied with the response from the firm, you can complain to the Ombudsman if it’s within three years from the date you complained

Step 3. Ask an Ombudsman to investigate

• For pension advisory services
• An ombudsman will investigate the complaint about free
• You need to follow the firms complaints procedure before seeking an Ombudsman
• If the firm is no longer in business

You can still complain and get compensation from the Financial Service Compensation Scheme. Find out when you can claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for mis-sold pensions. You should not pay an independent investigator since you can get the service for free from an Ombudsman.

Misselling is difficult to deal with and we listed some of the problems here in the article. The best advice we can give you is to always double-check the information, look for different sellers, and be careful with whom you provide information.