The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has declared advice firm Thompson Prior in default.
Five claims have been filed against it so far. The majority are pensions-related, with self-invested personal pension advice “being a key part”, according to the lifeboat fund.
Thompson Prior was liquidated three years ago. Both directors, who were husband and wife according to Companies House filings, owed the firm £92,501.
Neither director paid this back money and the firm was dissolved in November 2019.
The firm, incorporated in 2001, had its approvals removed by the Financial Conduct Authority in December 2012, according to the regulator’s register.
Its last full accounts were submitted in 2007, after which it was exempt from submitting accounts. In these accounts, it made a £71,975 profit, double the £36,202 it made the previous year.
A number of other firms have collapsed in relation to Sipps. In March, Sipp provider Heritage Pensions Limited entered into liquidation following four claims upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service requiring it to pay a total of up to £600,000 in compensation to clients.
Later this year, Rowanmoor Personal Pensions Limited (RPPL), the £1.4bn Sipp operator which was found to have failed in its due diligence by the Fos in January, entered administration.
RPPL had operated approximately 4,800 pensions, with assets under administration of £1.4bn.
Just last month, two firms - Nationwide Benefit Consultants Limited and Trust Financial Consulting Ltd - failed with 27 pension claims between them.
The FSCS has been facing an uptick in complex claims. The lifeboat fund counts pension transfer claims in this category, due to the way redress is calculated for such schemes.
In the year 2021/22, the FSCS recorded 59,915, compared with 47,555 in 2020/21, 49,364 in 2019/20, and 50,731 in 2018/19.
In a letter to an advice firm seen by FTAdviser, the FSCS said in late September it was dealing with more claims than it usually does and that as a result it is “taking a little longer” to process claims than normal.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
