Not upheld: unsuitable pension transfer advice complaint against Royal London Mutual Insurance Society, Limited (THE)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Royal London gave him unsuitable advice to transfer out of his DB Occupational Pension Scheme to a personal pension in 1993. The transfer was reviewed as part of the industry-wide Pension Review in 2000, which concluded he had suffered no financial loss. Mr B recently became aware of valuable guarantees he had lost and sought fair compensation, arguing the position should be revisited. The ombudsman found that Royal London correctly carried out the Pension Review in line with regulator guidelines and was not obligated to revisit the assessment, as the review was a one-off exercise intended to put things right at that time. The complaint was not upheld and no award was made.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Pension Review was an industry-wide, one-off exercise established by the regulator in 1994 to address pension mis-selling concerns. Firms were required to follow specific guidelines and use standardized assumptions that were considered reasonable at the time. Once completed, businesses were not required to revisit the review. Although the assumptions have not been borne out in reality and annuity rates have fallen, this does not create an obligation for Royal London to reassess the transfer. The review was carried out correctly in line with applicable guidelines, and the regulator intended this process to put things right and draw a line under mis-selling at that time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website