Quick Answer: SIPP mis-selling occurs when a financial adviser recommends transferring a pension into a SIPP holding high-risk or unregulated investments without properly assessing suitability. The FSCS has paid over £140 million in SIPP mis-selling claims. Maximum FSCS compensation is £85,000 per eligible claim. Source: FSCS Annual Report 2024/25.
SIPP Mis-selling Claims — Were You Advised to Move Your Pension Into a High-Risk SIPP?
Was your SIPP invested in storage pods, overseas property, or unregulated funds? You may be owed compensation.
Do I Have a Claim?
You may have a strong case if any of the following apply:
- You were approached by telephone, email, or social media and persuaded to transfer your pension
- You were advised to transfer from a workplace, final salary, or personal pension into a SIPP
- Your SIPP invested in unusual assets — storage pods, overseas property, forestry, care home rooms, hotel rooms, green energy, loan notes, or bonds
- You were not told the investment was unregulated or outside FSCS protection
- The adviser or introducer received a commission that was not disclosed to you
- You have not received the promised returns and cannot access your pension savings
- Your SIPP operator has gone into administration or been declared in default by the FSCS
- You were not asked about your attitude to risk, financial situation, or investment objectives
What Happened
A Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) is a type of pension that gives you greater control over where your money is invested. In the right hands, they are legitimate financial products. However, between 2010 and 2020, thousands of people were advised — often by cold-calling unregulated introducers working alongside regulated financial advisers — to transfer their existing workplace or personal pensions into SIPPs that then invested in high-risk, unregulated, and often worthless assets. These assets included storage pods, overseas property schemes, carbon credits, forestry investments, hotel rooms, care home rooms, and a range of unregulated collective investment schemes (UCIS). Most of these investments collapsed, taking people's entire pension savings with them.
Why You May Be Owed Compensation
Regulated advisers had a duty under FCA Conduct of Business rules to assess suitability, explain risk, and only recommend investments matching your attitude to risk. Where they failed — or where they recommended unregulated investments without authorisation — you have a strong claim against the adviser, their firm, the SIPP operator (following the Berkeley Burke 'gatekeeper' determination), or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
How Much Could I Claim?
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) pays up to £85,000 per eligible claimant where the adviser or SIPP operator has failed. The average FSCS loss in SIPP and pension mis-selling cases is £47,000 (FSCS annual data). Where your loss exceeds £85,000, we can pursue the balance through direct legal action against any solvent parties.
Who Is Liable?
Depending on your situation, you may have a claim against:
- The independent financial adviser (IFA) — Who recommended the SIPP transfer in the first place.
- The SIPP operator — Who accepted unsuitable investments without adequate checks. Following the Berkeley Burke FOS determination, SIPP operators have a 'gatekeeper' duty.
- The unregulated introducer — If they were connected to an FCA-regulated firm.
- The FSCS — Where the liable firm has been declared in default — up to £85,000 per claim.
Recent SIPP Mis-selling Cases
FSCS declared in default April 2020; £58 million paid to 1,795 claimants; total potential liability estimated at £158 million (RSM administrators).
FSCS declared in default December 2023; potential liability estimated at £124 million.
FSCS paid £39.7 million across 1,136 upheld claims.
FSCS default declared February 2024 — claims currently being processed.
Were You a Client of One of These SIPP Operators?
Rowanmoor Personal Pensions
FSCS Default: December 2023Potential £124 million FSCS liability. Claims now open. Early-mover advantage — limited competition.
Read our full Rowanmoor claims guide →Hartley Pensions Ltd
FSCS Default: February 2024One of the newest SIPP operator defaults. Full claims pool still emerging. Act now.
Read our Hartley Pensions guide →Berkeley Burke SIPP
FSCS Default: April 2020£58 million already paid to 1,795 claimants. £100 million+ potentially outstanding. Residual claims still open.
Read our Berkeley Burke guide →How to Claim
1. Free Claim Check
Tell us about your investment in 60 seconds. We confirm if you have a claim.
2. We Investigate
We gather the evidence, file with the FOS, FSCS or adviser. No paperwork for you.
3. You Get Paid
Compensation paid directly. No Win, No Fee — we only charge if you win.
SIPP Mis-selling – Frequently Asked Questions
Related Claim Types
DB Pension Transfers
Advised to give up a guaranteed final salary pension for a riskier alternative.
Find out moreMini-Bonds & ISAs
High-interest 'bonds' marketed as ISAs that turned out to be unregulated and high-risk.
Find out moreUCIS Claims
Pooled investments outside FCA regulation — generally illegal to promote to retail clients.
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