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APJ issues 500 cases to FOS against Liberty Sipp

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08/08/2018

We have submitted 500 cases to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). We’ve done this on behalf of clients who have lost money after investing with Liberty Sipp.

Liberty Sipp cases

The cases relate to the mis-selling of self-invested personal pension (Sipp) schemes. We believe that Liberty Sipp failed to treat customers fairly. This was a result of the provider accepting a high volume of clients who were unsuitable for Sipp investments from an unregulated introducer.

The 500 cases have a total value of £18 million. We want to put their clients back into the position they would have been had they not invested in a scheme. This is why we are seeking compensation. 

The submissions follow two positive rulings from the FOS against Sipp provider Guinness Mahon.  

Our thoughts

Litigator Glyn Taylor: “It appears that the FOS has halted cases against Liberty Sipp. It could be due to ongoing court cases including Adams v Carey Pensions and the Berkeley Berke judicial review.

“However, the cases we have now submitted are almost identical to the Guinness Mahon cases. We believe that if the FOS is making decisions on Guinness Mahon, they have no reason to halt these cases.

“This has prompted us to issue this significant number of cases. We’re hopeful we will now get decisions on Liberty Sipp cases from the FOS. As a result, we will be able to gain the compensation for our clients that they deserve.”

The cases come as Liberty Sipp announced record profits. Revenue is up 35 percent and assets under management of £3 billion.

Glyn added: “Liberty are continuing to shirk their responsibility for the losses of investors. It’s galling that they are reporting record profits while many of our clients have lost six figure sums and are facing retirement without a pension pot.”