We are a dedicated claims management company specialising in financial mis-selling within the Irish Financial Services Sector. Our aim is to provide a solution and service to the thousands of consumers who believe they have been mis-sold or misinformed when obtaining financial products and services.

 

Finance Claims have done in a few weeks what I was unable to achieve in 18 months. They are knowledgeable, professional and kept me updated throughout. I would definitely recommend their services to my friends and family

Mrs O’Sullivan

 

 

Have you lost money in your Pension?

A well funded and diversified Pension is worth its weight in gold and will provide you with a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. However many people in Ireland have lost significant amounts of their hard earned money in their pension in the past few years.

Why? In some cases it was because they were poorly advised by their Bank advisers to invest their Pensions in highly risky assets and shares which were inappropriate for their age, risk appetite and financial circumstances.

You may have been one of the many victims who were mis-sold an inappropriate Pension.

Retirement planning is now a vital part of everyone’s financial plan and ongoing uncertainty with Government legislation including tax free lump sum treatment, tax relief and old age pension means that it is even more important to have a financial plan in place to prepare for all eventualities. Having a proactive portfolio management plan in place will be vital to ensure that you have a comfortable and secure retirement.

 

Recently Retired

If you did lose a lot of your Pension value in the past few years and you had to retire recently then you will have been really hard hit as your fund will not have had any time to recover its losses.

 

One of the most important areas of your Financial Plan

Pensions are an extremely efficient way of saving money for your retirement. A pension plan is a long-term savings plan, where you save regular amounts or lump sums (called ‘contributions’) to build up a retirement fund.
Next to buying your home, it is probably the most important investment you will make in your lifetime.

What are the tax benefits?

At present, the main tax benefits are:
1. Income Tax relief on your contributions
2. Capital Gains Tax Free investment growth and
3. Tax-free Cash when you retire.
However none of this is any good if you have lost a significant portion of your Pension.

Things to Do

1. If you believe you have been wrongly advised about the Pension you have or were incorrectly advised to leave a company pension scheme to start a personal pension plan, you should complain to the compliance officer of the insurance company or the bank adviser who offered you the advice. Your complaint should be made in writing, it should be dated and you should keep a copy for future reference and proof.
It is worth re-reading any letters you received from your insurance company or Bank. One of the stumbling blocks has been victims not answering letters. If you find any correspondence, answer it immediately, even if you do not have all the information it asks for.

2. There is a proper procedure in place which states that the company must acknowledge your complaint and set out a clear procedure on how the issue will be dealt with. If you are not satisfied with the way your complaint is being handled or with the outcome of the complaint, or if you can't get in touch with the relevant company, contact us for advice.

3. Click on this link for full information on how to complain and who to complain to
http://www.pensionsboard.ie/index.asp?docID=60

4. One of the key things to remember is that you have to know your complaint process and time is of the essence.

5. Choose a route to go – Very Important
Once you get a response from the Life or Bank on your complaints then you have an important choice to make.

Do I go to the Ombudsman or do I take a direct court case against the Bank or Insurance Company?

Any decision made by the Financial Services Ombudsman or the Pensions Ombudsman is binding on you and the financial services firm. Both you, and the firm you complain about, have the right to appeal an ombudsman's decision to the High Court. But you can only appeal to the High Court - you cannot take your case to court once you have referred it to an ombudsman scheme.

Why is this important?

The Ombudsman is an impartial adjudicator and will look at the case in a neutral manner. They are neither for nor against you. Unfortunately there are also significant delays as they have a large number of cases and complaints in progress.

Finance Claims work for you first and foremost. We are approachable and committed to dealing with all your needs whether it’s a complex or straightforward case.
Our aim is to strive to give a comprehensive service to you through our friendly and highly professional approach. If we believe you have a case we will inform you. It is in our interest to only take on cases that we believe we can win.

If you would like to speak to a qualified pensions specialist please contact us now.

 

Preventative measures

Do not sign up for any sort of pension without understanding exactly how it works and what it aims to do. Get any claims about current or future benefits in writing. And if your pension firm or the industry regulator writes to you about the way your plan was sold, reply to the letter straight away - if you don't you could miss out on compensation.

Some questions to ask yourself

If you think you may have a case of pension mis-selling then check it with us and we will let you know. Don’t delay and lose the opportunity to get your money back.

Who can you trust?
You cannot simply rely on the regulators to protect you.

The pension selling scandals have shown that it takes them quite some time to wake up to the problem and even longer to do something about it. Eventual compensation takes years. Even if you have a strong case it's not guaranteed. This is particularly important if you are near retirement and need your money now!

The best thing to do is to RELY ON YOURSELF.

Make sure that you are taking the right advice and that you understand what you are buying. Use your common-sense e.g. spread your nest eggs around different baskets and so on.

Then GET IT IN WRITING.

Phone calls and words may not be good enough as evidence several years later. Keep a record of the process. Even if it's rough notes of phone calls etc KEEP A RECORD OF THE PROCESS AND KEEP IT SAFE

Pick an Independent Financial Adviser carefully and arm yourself with the basics available. The best thing to do is to make sure that you are taking the right advice and that you understand what you are buying. We can recommend expert independent financial advisers who help many of our clients improve their financial situation.

Remember that the basis of Irish Law in such matters is Caveat Emptor - meaning BUYER BEWARE.