British Steel pension transfers – another mis-selling crucible

Some £2.8 billion in transfers out of the British Steel Pension Scheme has passed through the hands of advisers, leaving most of these clients worse off. Though the “greed” of advisers may be the most egregious factor here, the Government and the regulator have also played roles in this sorry saga. Neasa MacErlean sifts through the debris.

Within the space of three decades, the Financial Conduct Authority is finding itself trying to resolve a second major pension transfer mis-selling scandal. Today’s malpractice is much smaller than the two million cases of the 1980s and early 1990s, [1] and their £8-11 billion compensation cost, [2] but many issues are the same. “It’s almost as if we learnt nothing from the last pension review,” says Philippa Hann of the law firm handling the most complaint cases, Clarke Willmott.