Previously known as Old Mutual Wealth Management Limited, Quilter Financial Services Ltd (Quilter) is a wealth management company registered in London trading under the name Quilter.
In March 2024 Quilter revealed that it had been approached by City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regarding its past practices and data, as part of the FCA’s Consumer Duty clampdown. As a result, Quilter appointed a “skilled person” to conduct an internal review to investigate the FCA’s concerns and indicated that it may result in “remedial costs” to cover customer claims, but it was too early to indicate what those costs may be.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) website details upheld pension and investment decisions against the company. FOS is an independent body, backed by the government, whose role is to settle disputes between financial companies and their customers. Some of these complaints relate to Quilter advisers not giving advice relevant to their clients’ individual circumstances or suitability to risk.
In many FOS cases relating to Quilter, clients have been encouraged to move money from their Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (DBPS) to Self-Investment Personal Pensions (SIPPs).
The default position from industry regulator, the FCA, is that transfer from a defined benefit, final salary or company pension scheme is generally, in most circumstances, unsuitable. In other words, there must be a very good reason why anyone would transfer out of a solid, dependable, DB scheme and lose valuable final salary and in some cases, death benefits.
Over the years, many people who worked in public sector roles or publicly owned companies, such as in local authority, teaching, British Steel, the NHS or the civil service, have been persuaded to move their retirement savings into a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). These are sold as flexible retirement plans, giving the investor much more choice in the types of funds they can invest in.
The new SIPP has to perform exceptionally well to outweigh the loss of a guaranteed pension income based on final salary, and the valuable death benefits that are a feature of DB pensions.
Unfortunately, unsuitable financial advice has resulted people being sold SIPP products with:
If you or a loved one were given poor financial advice by Quilter Financial Services Ltd and have been left with less than you were expecting in your retirement, TLW Solicitors can help you make a claim.
Our specialist team of financial mis-selling lawyers can get an up-to-date valuation of the pension that you would have had, which often shows just how much money has been lost. Speak to us today to find out if you have a claim.
Once an investment has been set up by Quilter, part of their ongoing service that they are contractually obliged to deliver includes providing annual reviews and advice.
If these annual reviews, usually face-to-face, have not been carried out, then you may be entitled to refund compensation.
If this has happened to you or a loved one, then get in touch with TLW Solicitors for a no obligation discussion to explore your options.
The circumstances of each case are different, but our general refund claims process is as follows:
Step 1 – You will provide us with the necessary details we need to determine whether you have a valid complaint for unsuitable financial advice or the overcharging of advice fees by Quilter. If having reviewed that information, we are happy to go ahead and investigate your case, we will securely send you our online agreement via e-sign for you to review and return.
Step 2 – Based on the information provided and using our technical knowledge and expertise of these cases, our team will draft the complaint and send it to Quilter. We will decide whether it is necessary to obtain your file or other details and, if so, we will send a data subject access request on your behalf to Quilter.
Step 3 – Once we get a response from Quilter, we will advise you on the next course of action, including whether any offer made is reasonable and should be accepted – if we advise that you should not accept the offer, we will give our reasons why. We will then prepare your case for submission to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
To start your Quilter refund claim we will need:
We will prepare all of your documents, do the chasing on your behalf and advise you if and why any settlement offer is reasonable, taking into account the particular circumstances of the case. Depending on what we find following our investigations and where relevant we may recommend further complaints are pursued against Quilter.
The value of your claim will depend on what products you have with Quilter, the value of your funds, what you have been charged and how many missed annual reviews you have had. Each case is unique, and our specialist team will ensure that we aim to recover what you are rightfully owed.
It is hard to say with certainty how long claims like these take to settle, it can vary from weeks to months. It also depends on whether we recommend your claim is escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
We offer a free, no-obligation assessment of your case and will make a decision on whether or not to pursue your claim. If we take on your case, we operate on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, meaning you do not pay us anything if your Quilter refund claim is unsuccessful.
If we win your case, what we will charge you will depend on the amount of compensation you receive.
Whilst we cannot give exact figures as each case is unique, a broad guide of our charges is as follows:
If your claim is rejected by Quilter, we will investigate and let you know if there are grounds to escalate your complaint to FOS. Even if your complaint is knocked back at the first stage of the FOS process, we may still consider appealing that decision to the final stage of the Ombudsman process.
Making a claim against any adviser should not affect either your relationship with them or your investments under management.
Depending on the circumstances of your case (and due to a wide range of factors outside of our control) making a Quilter refund claim can take several months to complete. As your case progresses, we will aim to give you as much information as possible about the likely timescales.
Our robust case management systems ensure that we regularly update you on your claim. You will be allocated a dedicated case handler who you can contact with any queries, issues, concerns, or if you need any clarification about the refund claim process. They will always aim to provide a full response in jargon-free, plain English.
or call us on 0800 169 5925
Working on a ‘no win – no fee’ basis, TLW’s experienced financial mis-selling lawyers can help you through the compensation process.
TLW Solicitors’ financial mis-selling team has extensive experience successfully making complaints on behalf of clients, taking cases to FOS and even starting Court proceedings if necessary to get our clients the compensation they are rightfully owed.
If you or a loved one are a current or former Quilter Financial Services Ltd client and believe that you have received unsuitable advice relating to your pension or investment, or that you may have paid management fees for ongoing advice that you have not received, then you may be entitled to compensation.
Get in touch with the professional negligence team at TLW Solicitors for a no-obligation conversation about your possible Quilter refund claim. You can call us on 0800 169 5925, email info@tlwsolicitors.co.uk or complete one of the forms below.
Time limits can apply, so anyone wishing to bring a claim should do so without delay.
Meet Sarah, who heads up our experienced Professional Negligence Claims team.
Sarah and her colleagues are on hand to help with your claim.
