You could be owed money if you were given poor advice to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). Find out how this is being put right.
We’re making advisers check the advice they gave because many people who transferred out of the pension scheme were given the wrong advice.
If you were one of them, you could be owed money, and the adviser will have to pay you back the money you lost. We’re calling this a ‘redress scheme’.
Look out for a letter from your adviser. It’s important you provide any extra information they ask for and make sure they have up to date details for you.
Read our report on redress outcomes so far[1]
Helping you get the retirement you worked for
We’ve set strict rules about how advisers must put things right for former BSPS members and we’re monitoring them closely to make sure it happens.
Advisers will work out whether you are owed redress under the scheme. Find out more about how this works on our redress calculations page[2].
The aim of any money you get is to put you back in the financial position you would have been in at retirement had you stayed in the BSPS.
The firm that gave you the advice to transfer is responsible for any money you are owed, even if the adviser no longer works there or you are now with a different adviser.
It’s your choice how you use the money but you should consider investing any payment you receive in a personal pension. MoneyHelper[3] has more information and impartial pension guidance, including their Pension Wise[4] service for over 50s.
BSPS Helpline: 0800 098 4100
British Steel Pension Scheme
What will happen and when
Review of advice starts
Find out if the advice was wrong
Calculation of what you could be owed
Offer of payment is made to you
If accepted - get back what you’re owed
If your adviser is no longer in business
If your adviser has gone out of business, you should make a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme[8] (FSCS).
The FSCS has a list of firms[9] that gave BSPS advice and are no longer trading, along with details of how to make a claim. If the FSCS finds that you had poor advice and are owed money, they can compensate you up to £85,000.
We’ve put rules in place to reduce the risk of advisers going out of business during the scheme. This makes it more likely that you’ll receive the full amount of any money you’re owed.
Why you might be excluded
There are many reasons why you might not be included in the redress scheme.
It could be because:
You were advised not to transfer
You transferred out of the BSPS after being advised not to and your adviser has classified you as an ‘insistent client’. Your adviser must still check they were correct to do this.
If you disagree, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman and you may still be entitled to compensation.
The date you transferred
You received advice to transfer but it wasn’t between 26 May 2016 and 29 March 2018.
Check this against your paperwork which should show your date of advice.
You've already complained
You may have already complained to the Financial Ombudsman, had your advice reviewed by the FSCS, accepted an offer after making a complaint via the Financial Ombudsman or to your adviser, or we already asked the adviser to review their advice to you.
You didn’t complain in time
If you transferred out before 24 November 2016 you may be out of time to complain about the advice you had. If Scottish law applies to your advice - this could be the case if you or your adviser are based in Scotland - and you transferred out before 24 November 2017, you may be out of time to complain.
In either case, this means you wouldn’t be covered by the redress scheme unless you only became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) you may have had poor advice after 24 November 2019 or after 24 November 2017 if Scottish law applies.
If you think you should be covered by the scheme you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman.
Opting out of the redress scheme
You can choose not to take part in the redress scheme. Your adviser will ask this when they first write to you.
If you opt-out, it’s important to understand that if you change your mind, it might be too late to get any money back because the usual time limits for making a complaint will apply.
Under our redress scheme, advisers must still review the advice given to BSPS members even if the time limits for making a complaint run out after the scheme starts.
Contact us
If you have any concerns about how your adviser is approaching your case, or any other questions about getting back what you’re owed, contact our BSPS helpline:
- phone: 0800 098 4100
- email: [email protected]
Or find other ways to contact us[10].
