Firm fails after pension advice claim upheld

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Firm fails after pension advice claim upheld
Three other claims made were unsuccessful (Pexels/Jan Van Der Wolf)

Cheshire-based advice firm Smith Holdings Ltd has failed with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The FSCS has received four claims against the firm relating to pension advice.

A spokesperson for the lifeboat scheme said one claim has been upheld and three have been unsuccessful.

They also confirmed the claims were not related to the British Steel Pension Scheme.

According to the FCA Register the firm has not been authorised since February 2013 with Companies House showing it was dissolved in March 2015.

The firm was also trading under the name Life Time Independent. 

Last week (January 18) a Newport-based advice firm linked to the BSPS scandal also failed with the FSCS.

The lifeboat scheme had received 175 claims against Niche Independent Financial Advisers Ltd, with one upheld and 49 rejected.

The FSCS has so far paid £73mn in compensation to BSPS clients, against total losses of more than £106mn.

Late last year, the FCA ran a consultation on capital requirements for personal investment firms as it looks to reduce the amount of compensation FSCS needs to pay to consumers.

The regulator proposed a “polluter pays” framework which will require personal investment firms to set aside capital so that they can cover compensation costs.

Any firm not holding enough capital will be subject to automatic asset retention rules to prevent them from disposing of their assets.    

In an interview, interim chief executive officer Martyn Beauchamp told FT Adviser: "This goal is something FSCS strongly supports, as poor investment advice is still driving large numbers of complex claims which are often costly for us to resolve.

“These costs are passed onto the wider industry through FSCS’s levy, which we know creates a burden on many firms."

alina.khan@ft.com