Go back

SIPP complaints double in last year

Go back

13/09/2018

New figures have revealed that complaints relating to self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) have almost doubled in the last twelve months. This makes Sipp complaints one of the most common types of financial claims.

How many Sipp complaints were made?

Reports show that 922 new Sipp complaints were made in the first quarter of 2018/19 year (April to June 2018), making them the twelfth most complained-about product. This is a significant increase on the 521 complaints received in the same time frame last year.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received 107,827 new complaints in the first quarter of this year. Complaints relating to payment protection insurance (PPI) accounted for 55,223 of these.

Sipps were also one of the products with the highest uphold-rate, with 59 percent of complaints being upheld. This is compared to 50 percent being upheld in the same period last year.

How many complaints were upheld?

In total, the FOS received 183,199 enquiries and 11,371 complaints passed to an ombudsman for a financial decision. On average, it held up 35 percent of the complaints it resolved.

Despite the increases, the number of Sipp complaints still forms only a small part of the overall FOS workload. Over all, complaints regarding PPI and payday loans continue to dominate the FOS’ attention, with these types of cases accounting for 75 percent of all new complaints.

APJ Sipp complaints

This year, we have issued hundreds of cases against Sipp providers.

We launched the largest ever lawsuit against Liberty Sipp regarding Ethical Forestry. The scheme saw thousands duped out of their life savings after investing in an overseas plantation through Liberty Sipp.

We also submitted over 500 cases against Liberty to the FOS. APJ is looking to recover a total of £18 million for our clients.

We have also secure a number of rulings from the FOS against Sipp provider Guinness Mahon, who allowed a number of our clients to invest in the fraudulent Ethical Forestry scheme.

Do you think you may have been mis-sold a Sipp? Get in touch to speak to one of our expert solicitors to determine whether you have a claim.