Upheld: Pension transfer advice complaint against Union Bancaire Privée (UK) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs F and her husband sought to consolidate their pensions under UBP's management. While her husband's SIPP transfer was completed in May 2023, work on Mrs F's Fusion SIPP transfer did not begin until July 2023, six months later. UBP discovered around August 2023 that the Fusion SIPP could only be custodied with Hubwise and could not be transferred as planned. Had UBP conducted proper due diligence and managed both transfers simultaneously, these problems would have been identified by early 2023, allowing Mrs F to abandon the transfer and retain her existing SIPP. Instead, the delays and failed outcome caused her considerable upset and inconvenience. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and awarded £400 compensation for trouble and inconvenience, as no financial loss could be demonstrated since no transfer ultimately occurred.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman endorsed the investigator's findings that UBP's avoidable failings in managing the SIPP transfers prevented the complainants' sole objective of consolidation from being achieved. Had UBP worked on both transfers simultaneously and conducted proper due diligence at the outset, the problems would have been identified by early 2023, allowing Mrs F to stop the transfer process much earlier. The alternative ETF proposal was an afterthought in response to problems that should never have arisen. Since no transfer ultimately occurred and the pension was never taken out of the market, there is no basis for financial loss compensation. However, the considerable upset and significant inconvenience caused by the failure to achieve consolidation and the delays experienced justify an award in the £300-£750 range for trouble and inconvenience.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website