A number of investors who held self-invested personal pensions with collapsed administrator Rowanmoor are becoming increasingly concerned about the time it is taking to process their claims.
FTAdviser understands no claims have been resolved despite a number being lodged with the Financial Ombudsman Service since 2019.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme said it is unable to predict how long it will take to go through each claim.
Although Rowanmoor has not yet been declared in default, as no claims against it have been upheld, the FSCS has been accepting claims against the company since September 2022, after it went into administration the month before.
Claire Collinson, solicitor at Claire Collinson Legal, said the delay is causing “significant distress” and financial hardship for those involved.
Collinson represents a number of former Rowanmoor clients, some of whom are approaching, or are at, retirement age and need certainty about their pension situation.
“Seven months after the FSCS became involved, the FSCS have failed to provide me with reasonably requested information on why they cannot, or will not, declare Rowanmoor in default, and proceed without further delay with individual claims processing for situations that fall within the Financial Ombudsman Services' test case scenario," she said.
“Similarly, they have failed to provide any estimate about how long it will take before Rowanmoor is declared in default and compensation payments can start to be made on individual cases.”
A spokesperson for the FSCS said investigations into Sipp operators are “very complex” given the type of investments accepted into the pensions they offered.
“We must complete these thoroughly before we can determine if there are any eligible claims,” they said.
The FSCS said it is not possible to predict how long this work will take to complete.
“We understand it can be frustrating waiting for a decision on a claim, and we do appreciate our customers’ patience while we complete our investigations.”
Test case
The Fos found against Rowanmoor in a test case in January 2022, saying the pensions provider should have spotted warning signs sooner that an introducer firm it worked with was not giving clients the full advice it was purporting to.
Investment opportunities in The Resort Group based in Cape Verde had been sold to clients in combination with Rowanmoor Sipps by CIB Life and Pensions Limited, and its appointed representative RealSipp.
The Fos told Rowanmoor to compensate the client in the test case fully, as well as take ownership of the investment so the Sipp can be closed and further fees prevented.
However, the firm went into administration in August last year, after which the FSCS began accepting claims.
The FSCS said even if there were a final decision from the Fos that upholds a complaint, the FSCS would still need to determine that the firm owes any customers a civil liability before being able to declare it in default.
“The tests that the FSCS must apply to claims and the Fos applies to complaints are very different", the spokesperson added.
