On paper, pensions are fantastic. They help us save money throughout our life to ensure that we can retire without worrying about money at all. Unfortunately, such a popular financial product doesn’t come without some problems.
Namely, the fact that lenders will try to cheat you out of as much money as possible.
You see, pensions are products aimed at seniors, a group of people that are (for now) very easy to fool due to their lack of experience with financial products. Lenders can hide many different details behind the complex nature of a pension. This leads to financial advisors leading you to questionable products or even failing to explain the risks of certain pension products. So what can you do about it?
Making a claim
One of the first things that you should consider is making a claim. If you believe you’ve been mis-sold a pension or any kind of insurance product, then you’re well within your right to make a claim. A great example of this is with the PPI scandals that were all the rage in the past. These scandals are incredibly popular and they prey on people that aren’t financially literate. Luckily, most of these scams have been uncovered and people are able to make claims to get their money back.
But how do you know are you entitled to make a claim? Do you need to contact a lawyer? Does it go to court?
Don’t worry–it’s actually much easier than you might think.
Finding out if you’re entitled to make a claim
So how do you find out if you were mis-sold a pension?
First, it’s a good idea to understand if you’ve been sold any pension product at all. There are many different types such as annuities and mis-sold SIPPs. Here are some of the key things to look out for if you think you may have been mis-sold a pension:
- Did your financial advisor fail to disclose the risks of your pension?
- Did your financial advisor say that one option was better than the others without providing adequate information on your choices?
- Did your financial advisor neglect to tell you that the HMRC could change tax rules?
- Did your financial advisor simply give unclear advice and pressure you into certain products?
If any of the above apply to you then it’s worth contacting a professional service or researching more about your particular mis-sold pension product. Making a compensation claim is something that you can do yourself. There are articles dedicated to how to make a complaint and you can even write a letter and send it yourself. However, most people will find this daunting so there are other solutions such as contacting a trusted financial advisor or a service dedicated to mis-sold pensions.