The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has written to 3,591 DB transfer advice customers of 10 advice firms to encourage them to make a claim via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The regulator encouraged the clients of firms who are in liquidation and have given unsuitable advice to some customers to seek compensation.

The firms include several Financial Planners.

The letters sent to the clients of the 10 firms explain that they may be entitled to compensation, setting out their options and outlining how they can make a claim to the FSCS.

The letters also direct clients to the FCA’s DB pension transfer advice checker to help them decide whether the advice they received was suitable or not.

The letters were sent between December 2020 and this month.

A list of firms who are in insolvent liquidation and have give unsuitable advice to some customers was also published.

These firms are:

• Bartholomew Hawkins Ltd
• Mansion Park Limited (trading as Mansion Park Scotland)
• David Head MPL
• Keith Dickinson Chartered Financial Planner
• Tapestry Financial Services
• A Commercial Mortgage 4 You
• A Mortgage 4 You
• A Secured Loan 4 You
• Ball McLeod
• Michael J Alexander
• Age Concern Havering Financial Services
• Equity Release (Financial) Solutions
• S & M Hughes Limited (trading as Crescent Financial)
• CFP Management Ltd (trading as CFPML and an appointed representative of Selectapension Bureau Services Limited)
• Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre Ltd (trading as County Financial Consultants)
• Capital & Income Solutions Ltd
• St Martin’s Partners LLP (trading as SMP Healthcare and an appointed representative of Oak Room Capital Partners LLP)
• Financial Solutions Midhurst Limited (trading as AMPF and FSML Wealth and an appointed representative of BMG Wealth LLP)
• RPPS – Retirement & Pension Planning Services Ltd
• Independent Benefit Consultancy Limited
• West Wales Financial Services Ltd (trading as Mike Powell Mortgages, IWA Financial Solutions, Kingswood Mortgage Solutions, RWE Wealth Management, Arfon Hughes, Concise Mortgages, Dewi Lloyd Davies, Dyfed Financial, Lewis Phillips, and JM Wealth)

The regulator said the letters were sent as part of the FCA’s work to support those who have received unsuitable DB transfer advice.

The statement from the FCA said: “The DB pension transfer advice market is particularly susceptible to consumer harm and improving this market continues to be a key area of focus for the FCA. Where harm has been caused, the FCA’s aim is to ensure that it is remedied and that consumers receive appropriate compensation.”

The regulator recently published its Consumer Investments Strategy, which sets out a three year plan to address potential harm to investors. Improving outcomes for consumers transferring from DB pensions to defined contribution schemes was one of the core pillars of this strategy. 

In this latest statement the regulator added that all firms providing DB pension transfer advice should follow the FCA’s Finalised Guidance, so that they understand the processes they need to put in place to give suitable advice.

With the regulator cracking down on DB transfers, less Financial Planners are choosing to advise on them.

A report by pension consultants LCP and Aviva earlier this month found that the number of advisers willing to offer individual DB pension transfer advice was shrinking rapidly.

The survey found that 1 in 3 advisers offering pension transfer advice were “unsure” that they would still be providing advice in a year’s time or had already decided to pull out of the market. 

The number of advisers willing to offer pension transfer advice has already halved from just over 3,000 in autumn 2018 to around 1,500 at the start of 2021, FCA figures show.