Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) Pension Loss Appointments June 2022

How MaPS can help those who have been scammed on their pensions 

Our pensions guidance teams support those scammed on pensions and investments or who have questions and concerns about them. We also work with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and others to share any insights from our teams that may protect consumers from future harm.  In this article we talks about MaPS’ Pension Loss Appointment which helps customers who need to recover lost monies.

Scams can ruin lives 

Pensions and investment scams can be devastating.

Just imagine: your retirement plans hanging in the balance because others have stolen or been reckless with your long-term savings. On top of that, you’re living with shame and possible recriminations because you ‘fell for’ a scam. This may explain why many of our callers tell us they have felt suicidal and why only 40% of our callers who discover they have lost their savings actually do something about it.

Scams involving pensions can be extremely complex. They often involve multiple parties and regulators, unregulated advice and overseas investments. They can also be very lucrative for scammers. Scams can range from criminal fraud to mis-selling. Sadly, many people fall victim to scams because they don’t understand the investment risks of complex financial products and the regulation that is designed to protect consumers.

Why it’s very difficult to recover monies lost through pensions scams 

The complexity of pension scams can make it very hard to seek redress. This is because:

1)         Victims may not know they have been scammed until years later. When they do find out, on reaching retirement age for example, the provider or adviser has stopped communicating, disappeared or become insolvent – or the investment may have failed.

2)         It is difficult for the average scam victim to know where to start. Redress can require persistence and stamina. Many lack the skills and confidence to pursue it, while the trauma and shame of lost savings can understandably cause many victims to just want to get on with their lives.

3)         Many people believe, often wrongly, that recovery options are limited to claims companies, solicitors and financial advisers. Our experience is that claims firms will only pursue cases where they see a reasonable prospect of success and may take 30%+ of recovery amounts.

How MaPS can help – our Pension Loss appointments 

There is scams support out there, but it can be overwhelming to navigate when you’ve been scammed. It can also come at a price that people cannot afford.

That’s why we have a specialist free Pension Loss service. Our pension specialists help consumers to make sense of what has happened and all the bewildering acronyms. We discuss the possible redress options and provide helpful resources at no charge. This can be enough to enable a scams victim to approach the right organisations to recover at least some of the money they have lost.

If you suspect someone has been scammed with their pension, encourage them to call our pensions guidance team on 0800 011 3797 or email us to request a Pension Loss appointment at [email protected].