How to tell if you’ve been mis-sold a pension

They’re then advised to invest the money into risky, and quite commonly, unregulated investments, with a ‘guaranteed’ promise of eye-watering returns on investment. Mis-sold pension specialists, Get Claims Advice have assembled its most common questions asked about mis-sold pensions.

How To Tell If You’ve Been Mis-sold A Pension

Having a solid pension plan as soon as you start employment is essential. With the average life expectancy continuing to rise year on year, the typical retirement period will be a lot longer than it used to be, so you will need to ensure that you have plans set in place to cover your costs of living, whilst also enjoying a well-deserved rest after a lifetime of employment. Typically, when you’re paying into a pension scheme, the money you invest is in stocks and shares.

Unfortunately, a vast amount of the UK population has been convinced by advisors to put a portion, if not the entirety, of their pension funds into unsuitable investments, such as self-invested personal pension schemes, otherwise known as SIPPs. These investments are promised to the client that the returns could be monumental, and they’re sold the dream of the perfect retirement lifestyle.

To be clear, SIPPs are not the problem. In many instances, SIPPs are a great addition to pension savings, as it gives people a considerable amount of control over what actually happens to their pensions.

SIPPs were created and have been designed to let people have more flexibility with their money, and have much more accessibility to see where their money is going and how it’s being invested. A major selling point of investing in SIPPs is that it allows you to explore and invest in more exotic and lucrative investments, such as commercial property. The main issue with this is that some investments can be completely mis-sold as people can be ‘sweet-talked’ into them by financial advisors.

What To Be Aware Of

Typically, mis-selling occurs initially from a cold phone call or email out of the blue. The advisor will most likely highlight the fact that this is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to invest. The returns on your investment will be made to sound extremely attractive, with certain elements being highlighted to you, such as low-interest rates, and promises of a return on investment in a short period of time.

You need to pay considerable attention to your statements, as a SIPP statement can indicate that everything is fine, and there is value in your investment. If you’ve invested in a service or product overseas, such as land, and it is worth £70,000, it’s not a standard investment, it is only worth what someone else may consider paying for it. Unlike stocks and shares investments, there isn’t an adequately-prepared market to actually sell your investments.

Ensure that you are educated on the investments that you’re going to invest in, do your own research and do not rely on advisors for all sources of your information, as a precaution, as they may underplay the risks involved in your future investment, or may not even mention them at all.

What Are Your Options?

If you believe you have been mis-sold a pension or an investment, or you’re concerned about your investments, it may be possible to pursue a compensation claim against the IFA that is involved in your investment.

Contacting a mis-sold pensions specialist such as Get Claims Advice is a positive method to getting your investment dealt with, as you would not need to deal with the paperwork, and you won’t need to spend time chasing the right people for answers. Specialists are educated in understanding all of the vital points that need to be considered when making claims against mis-sold pensions, thereby enhancing the chances of a successful claim.

As with any financial decision, readers are advised to seek independent financial advice