The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has formally required two firms to stop making unsolicited settlement offers to former members of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), after previously warning firms to withdraw any existing settlement offers.
The FCA recently confirmed that it was looking into reports of firms making unsolicited offers to former BSPS members amid concerns they could be a “deliberate attempt” to exclude former members from participating in the FCA's redress scheme.
In light of these “serious concerns”, the FCA also warned firms that they should withdraw any existing settlement offers currently pending any consumer agreement, treat any pending settlement offers as withdrawn, and cease making any further offers to former BSPS members who have not made complaints.
However, it has since formally required two firms Abbey Lane Financial Associates Limited and Estate Capital Financial Management Limited, to stop making these offers.
According to the FCA, Abbey Lane made offers of £100 to 82% of its clients who were BSPS members and Estate Capital made offers of £300 to 83% of its former BSPS members.
The FCA raised concerns that these offers are “significantly misaligned” with the average calculated redress of £45,000 for former BSPS members who received unsuitable pension transfer advice.
The FCA stated: “The firms will be required to apply the redress scheme to consumers who have accepted these offers in the same way they must for consumers who have not accepted offers.
“This means that they should receive the appropriate amount of redress. We will not tolerate this behaviour and we will take further firm action to put a stop to this sharp practice as needed.”
The FCA is also currently facing a legal challenge over the redress scheme, although it said that it is “confident” that its decision to set up the redress scheme and will “vigorously” defend it, branding the legal challenge as an “attempt to delay the payment of redress”.
This article first appeared on our sister title, Pensions Age.
Latest News
-
Bank of England holds interest rates at 4.75%
-
IHT receipts increase by 11% year-on-year
-
Lendco renews £400m BTL warehouse line
-
Housing market beats expectations in 2024, Halifax finds
-
Homeowners ‘pessimistic’ over economy’s future, study finds
-
Annual price growth jumps to 3.4%, Land Registry data shows
The UK housing market in 2024
The performance of the UK housing market in 2024 has largely exceeded many people's expectations, although challenges remain for first-time buyers due to house prices increasing and a testing rental market for many. Regional disparities, such as the North-South divide, also continue to influence housing accessibility and affordability for many buyers in pockets of the country.
Intergenerational lending
MoneyAge News Editor, Michael Griffiths, hosts Family Building Society BDMs, Amar Mashru and Arif Kara, to discuss intergenerational lending and explore ways that buyers can use family income to help increase their borrowing capacity when applying for a mortgage
Helping landlords make their cash work harder
MoneyAge Editor, Adam Cadle, talks to Family Building Society BDMs, Arif Kara and Nathan Waller, about the resilient BTL market, the wide variety of landlords that Family Building Society caters for, and how niche products like an Offset mortgage can help improve cashflow.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories