SIPPJun 17 2021

FSCS pays £58.5m on GPC claims as administration extended

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FSCS pays £58.5m on GPC claims as administration extended

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has received 1,577 claims against defunct self-invested personal pension provider GPC Sipp to date, paying out nearly £59m in compensation.

FTAdviser has learned of these claims, 1,349 were successful with £58.5m being paid out, while 158 were unsuccessful and there are still 70 claims in progress.

The majority of these claims relate to Sipps containing failed high risk assets.

A report from administrators Smith and Williamson, filed with Companies House this week (June 16) showed the administration has been extended by more than a year to December 2022.

Under the Insolvency Act 1986 the period of an administration automatically comes to an end after 12 months unless extended.

This is the second time GPC's administration has has been extended following its extension last May to June 2021.

The FSCS declared GPC Sipp in default last year (February 2020) with the lifeboat scheme having received 799 claims for compensation against the provider at the time.

GPC Sipp, formerly known as Guardian Pension Consultants, entered administration in June 2019 due to problems with the investments in its Sipps - several of which failed, such as Harlequin Properties, a £400m project involving a luxury hotel development that was largely never built. 

In January this year the administrators said they were struggling to recover cash for the creditors, with GPC Sipp owing 10 creditors, including the FSCS, to the tune of £37.5m.

But they said they had identified "certain potential claims" following chats with creditors and were pursuing one party. 

By January the administrators’ time costs amounted to £418,750, more than the original estimate of £370,502.

It was expected that costs for the second year of the administration would be between £20,000 and £30,000.

GPC's healthy Sipp and Ssas books were bought by Hartley Pensions Limited in August 2019 for £482,000.

amy.austin@ft.com

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