The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid £113,000 in claims against an advice firm which was told to cease all pension and investment business by the regulator last year.
In August the lifeboat scheme declared Omega Financial Solutions in default and has since confirmed it has so far received 32 claims against the firm relating to personal pension transfers and self-invested personal pensions.
Of these three have already been paid, while the others are still being assessed.
In July 2018 the Financial Conduct Authority told Omega to cease any business involving any regulated activities relating to pensions and investments, prohibiting the firm from recommencing any such business without the regulator's written approval.
The originally Blackpool-based advice firm entered into liquidation and was taken over by London-based insolvency practitioners Turpin Barker Armstrong last year, but according to the FCA register is still authorised by the regulator.
The FSCS has also paid claims of a similar value against another advice firm, Plymouth-based Leech & Burgess IFA LLP, which it declared in default last month.
The statutory scheme has received nine claims against the company relating to Sipps and both regulated and unregulated collective investment schemes, paying out a total of £139,000 in compensation to date on four of those claims.
In April the FSCS confirmed it would levy £153m from advisers this year. And although this was down £22m on the £175m originally predicted, many advisers FTAdviser has spoken to have seen a marked increase in their annual regulatory bill, with the jump largely driven by rising FSCS costs.
One adviser's invoice had increased by 30 per cent to £14,500 this year and of which he said £11,500 was to pay the FSCS levy. Some advisers faced an increase of 113 per cent in FSCS costs.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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