Hartley Pensions SIPP Claim — FSCS Default February 2024 — How to Claim Compensation

Who Was Hartley Pensions?

Hartley Pensions Limited was a SIPP operator that came to prominence not through its own origination of clients, but through its acquisition of the client book of Greyfriars Asset Management LLP — itself declared in default by the FSCS in April 2020. When Greyfriars Asset Management — a discretionary fund manager and SIPP operator — collapsed in 2018, its client book (the SIPPs it administered) was sold on to Hartley Pensions as a going concern. Hartley Pensions then became the SIPP operator of record for thousands of clients who had originally been placed into high-risk investments by Greyfriars.

Many of those investments — held inside what was now their Hartley Pensions SIPP — were illiquid, non-standard, and had been flagged as potentially unsuitable from the outset. Hartley Pensions itself was declared in default by the FSCS on 13 February 2024. This means the FSCS has formally concluded that Hartley Pensions cannot pay claims made against it, and the FSCS itself will now compensate eligible claimants up to the £85,000 cap.

The Greyfriars Connection — Why It Matters for Your Claim

Understanding the Greyfriars connection is essential to understanding Hartley Pensions claims. Greyfriars Asset Management LLP was a discretionary fund manager and SIPP operator that became notorious for placing client pension funds into Portfolio 6 — a collection of high-risk, non-standard investments that included:

• The Resort Group PLC (Cape Verde overseas property): Illiquid overseas hotel and resort property with promised returns of 10–20% per year that were never consistently paid.
• Lanner Car Park: A car parking investment scheme that placed client pension funds into car park spaces — an unregulated, illiquid asset entirely unsuitable for pension investment.
• The Olmsted Series (USA real estate): US real estate investments placed inside UK pension arrangements without adequate suitability assessment.

The FCA issued compliance warnings to Greyfriars in 2016 and identified serious concerns about its due diligence and oversight of these investments. Greyfriars went into administration in October 2018 with Smith & Williamson (now Evelyn Partners) as joint administrators. When Hartley Pensions acquired the Greyfriars client book, it inherited these legacy non-standard assets alongside the SIPP arrangements. Clients found themselves in Hartley Pensions SIPPs still holding the same illiquid, non-performing investments from the Greyfriars era. Complaints continued to mount, and by February 2024 — six years after the Greyfriars collapse — the FSCS declared Hartley Pensions itself in default.

Do You Have a Hartley Pensions Claim?

You may have a viable claim against Hartley Pensions (via FSCS) if any of the following apply:

• You held a SIPP with Hartley Pensions — whether you transferred to them directly or your SIPP was transferred from Greyfriars
• Your Hartley Pensions SIPP held The Resort Group, Lanner Car Park, the Olmsted Series, or other non-standard investments
• You originally invested through Greyfriars Asset Management and were not given a choice about the transfer to Hartley Pensions
• Your investments within the SIPP are illiquid, have not produced the promised returns, or are worth significantly less than you invested
• You were not given adequate information about the risks of the underlying investments
• The original advice to invest in these assets was given by an IFA or unregulated introducer

Claims Against Greyfriars and Hartley Pensions — Two Separate Routes

If you were originally a Greyfriars client, you may have two separate FSCS claims available:

The Wider Picture — What Hartley Pensions Represents

Hartley Pensions is part of a pattern that has repeated itself across the UK SIPP market: SIPP operators who accepted high-risk, non-standard investments without adequate due diligence, whose client books were then acquired by successor operators who inherited the same problems, ultimately collapsing and leaving retail investors without their pension savings.

This pattern — Greyfriars to Hartley Pensions — mirrors similar chains seen in Berkeley Burke, Rowanmoor, and other SIPP operators. In each case, the FSCS has ultimately stepped in as the compensator of last resort. In each case, the window of maximum claims opportunity exists in the 12–24 months after the FSCS default declaration, when most affected investors have not yet engaged representation. For Hartley Pensions, that window is open right now.

How to Claim — What to Do Today

Hartley Pensions FAQ