£106m in redress has now been offered to 1,870 former British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) members to put them back in the position they would have been at retirement.
More than 6,500 former members have been supported by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) or through our redress scheme.
We have been working closely with FOS and FSCS to help those who transferred out of the BSPS following poor advice get the retirement they worked for.
As our redress scheme draws to a close, we have reported on:
- the action we have jointly taken
- how many people have had their advice reviewed
- total redress offered
Because of changing economic conditions, money paid out under the redress scheme (£8.7m paid by firms or FSCS) is lower than we originally estimated (£50m).
Redress is calculated based on the money needed to top up a personal pension, to buy an annuity at retirement that provides an income similar to what the person would have received had they stayed in the BSPS.
Since we introduced the redress scheme, the expected cost of funding a guaranteed retirement income through an annuity has fallen.
We understand some former BSPS members will be disappointed to have received no, or less, redress than they were expecting.
Redress aims to ensure, as far as possible, that former members are put back in their original financial position. So, some former members have received unsuitable advice, but not been offered redress, as they have not lost out financially.
Where firms that provided BSPS advice have gone out of business, FSCS has attempted to contact customers.
We encourage any former BSPS members who have either not yet had their advice reviewed or not yet received the result of their redress calculation, to check if the firm that gave them advice has gone out of business, and if so, to make a claim with FSCS.
The FCA continues to pursue those who caused significant harm through poor financial advice. So far, this has resulted in:
- 15 individuals being banned from working in financial services or holding a specific role
- fines or payments to FSCS totalling approximately £8.87m
(Some of the bans and fines are being appealed.)
Where appropriate, rather than imposing financial penalties, the FCA has sought payments to be made to FSCS, ensuring that those responsible for the wrongdoing pay the redress owed.