In September 2011 Mr F was persuaded by TPS Land, an unregulated company based predominantly in Spain, to transfer his two traditional pensions into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) with Berkeley Burke. The purpose of establishing the SIPP was to facilitate investment in storage pods owned and operated by Store First Limited.
TPS Land represented to our client that he could expect returns annually of 10-12% of the investment. Mr F relied upon these representations and received no advice from an adviser authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Mr F went on to invest a total sum of £41,250 of his pension pot into Store First Limited. That investment is now, for all intents and purposes, worthless.
Hugh James acted for Mr F and a number of others, in a group action against Berkeley Burke. In July 2019, judgment was entered in the Claimants’ favour and shortly thereafter, Berkeley Burke entered into administration. This meant that Mr F’s claim had to be redirected to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which is the UK’s compensation “safety net” for customers of regulated financial businesses, and can pay compensation in circumstances where a firm in unable to, subject to certain limits set under its rules.
The FSCS considered the application we lodged on behalf of Mr F and upheld his claim on the basis that Berkeley Burke failed in its duty to conduct proper due diligence in respect of the investment. The FSCS paid out the total sum of £43,365.27 to account for the loss on the investment and the associated SIPP fees Mr F had paid.
