In July 2005 Mr P enlisted with the Parachute Regiment of the British Army. Mr P left the Army in 2011 with the benefit of a pension with the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (“AFPS”).
The AFPS is one of the most generous pensions available in the UK intended to reflect the unique sacrifices made by members of the armed forces.
In 2015 Mr P heard, by word of mouth, about a firm of advisers called Caledonian International Associates, also known as CI Associates (“Caledonian”), who were “helping” former servicemen and women with their pensions.
Caledonian were not authorised to provide pensions and investment advice by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’). They were an unregulated firm, registered in the British Virgin Islands. However, Mr P did not know this, nor did Caledonian advise him of this.
A representative of Caledonian came to visit Mr P in person at his home and wrongly told Mr P that he could reach a figure of £150,000-£200,000 on retirement if he followed his advice and transferred his pension from the AFPS into a scheme with Royal London.
Mr P signed on the dotted line and his AFPS pension benefits of £17,214.32 were subsequently transferred to the Royal London pension scheme in February 2015.
In 2022 Mr P became aware that he may have received negligent advice and contacted Hugh James for advice.
We advised Mr P that whilst the Royal London Pension Scheme is a legitimate scheme, it was unlikely to have been in his best interests to transfer his defined benefit pension with the AFPS given the guaranteed benefits he gave up in doing so.
We were able to establish that a firm called Cowley & Miller Independent Financial Services Limited (“Cowley & Miller”), an advisory firm authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) was involved in the advisory process and transfer of Mr P’s armed forces pension.
Whilst Mr P had no direct dealings with Cowley & Miller we were able to establish that they had a duty to advise Mr P as to the most suitable pension arrangements and to exercise reasonable care and skill throughout their dealings with him.
Unfortunately, Cowley & Miller were wound up in March 2022 and we therefore submitted a claim for Mr P to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”).
The FSCS is a free, independent service that protects consumers if a financial services firm fails and is unable to pay claims subject to its rules.
The FSCS upheld Mr P’s claim and awarded compensation of £59,973.34. The FSCS reached this figure by comparing the current value of the Royal London pension scheme with the hypothetical value of Mr P’s AFPS, had it not been transferred.
If like Mr P you are concerned that you may have suffered a loss having transferred out of your AFPS, contact our Financial Mis-Selling Team today, as they may be able to help.
