Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) provider Guinness Mahon Trust Corporation Limited (GMTC) entered into administration following complaints that they had failed to carry out sufficient due diligence with their investments, many of which were non-standard and high-risk causing their customers to lose out.
What Went Wrong?
After GMTC went into administration in February 2020, the Government-backed Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), set up to compensate those who have lost out when a financial firm fails, found the SIPP provider to be in default, leading the way for affected customers to make a claim for compensation.
Many GMTC customers had been advised by unregulated and unqualified advisors to transfer their pensions into the GMTC SIPP. However, following the transfer, their funds had been placed in unsuitable and risky investments causing them to lose out financially, with some investments now incapable of being sold or traded.
Concerns had been raised about GMTC’s failure to carry out adequate due diligence checks into these non-standard investments and whether customers had been given enough information about the risks particularly as GMTC knew that they had not been advised by properly qualified advisors.
FSCS Compensation Pay-outs
+ −Despite GMTC’s failure, concerned investors may still be able to recover compensation for their losses. Where an investment provider goes out of business and is found to be in default, compensation claims up to the value of £85,000 can still be made through the FSCS.
It has been recently reported in the financial industry publication, FT Adviser, that so far, the FSCS has paid out £22.5 million on over 700 GMTC claims, with another 250 or so claims still to be decided. It is believed that there were around 4000 Guinness Mahon SIPPs in total at the time the firm failed.
SIPP Claim Specialists
+ −TLW Solicitors has a dedicated SIPP and Pensions mis-selling claims team. We are specialists in claiming compensation for those who have been mis-sold pension investments.
Working on a ‘no win – no fee’ basis, TLW’s experienced team can help you through the FSCS compensation process. Our clients are reassured by our knowledge and experience of FSCS procedures and, indeed, we have had FSCS claims successfully upheld for clients whose claims had previously been refused on purely technical grounds.
TLW Solicitors can help
+ −Were you or a loved one advised to transfer your pension into a Guinness Mahon SIPP and have lost out? If so, please get in touch with TLW Solicitors by calling 0800 169 5925, email or complete our call back form to see if you are owed compensation.
Time limits apply, so anyone wishing to bring a claim should do so without delay.
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