Upheld: Pension transfer advice complaint against Quilter Financial Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr L complained that Quilter's adviser failed to notice that a direct debit for monthly pension contributions (£100 gross) was never set up by provider A, despite annual reviews occurring over 4+ years. The error was only discovered in January 2024, resulting in 52 missed contributions totaling over £4,000. Provider A accepted responsibility and agreed to restore the SIPP to its correct position, paying Mr L £500 compensation. Quilter offered £500 compensation for the adviser's failure to spot the issue but had not paid it by July 2024. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and required Quilter to pay the £500, finding it fair compensation despite Mr L's arguments that it was insufficient, as both the adviser and Mr L could reasonably have noticed the issue sooner.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman upheld the complaint but found that Quilter's £500 compensation offer was fair and reasonable. While acknowledging that the adviser could reasonably have noticed the missing contributions earlier through annual reviews, the ombudsman found that Mr L could also reasonably have noticed the issue sooner by reviewing his bank statements and pension valuations. The contributions represented only 1% of the fund value annually, making them less obvious to spot. The ombudsman rejected Mr L's arguments for higher compensation, noting that provider A had already restored his SIPP to the position it should have been in, and that Quilter had acted promptly once the error was identified. The ombudsman declined to speculate on hypothetical scenarios or award compensation for theoretical future losses.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website