I spotted an interesting pension ombudsman case last week which is worthy of note.
If you are interested you can read the full article here
The numbers here are quite small but the lesson here is that with a SIPP/SSAS other stuff can be going on that serves to misrepresent the true asset value of these pensions.
This was the issue of some unclaimed fees, which left the member with a negative balance.
Not a conversation I would want to have and it is interesting that this got to the Pension Ombudsman as clearly Curtis Banks didn’t think and still don’t think they have a case to answer.
Often property values and other asset values such as shares are not stated in full.
There can be some manipulation of value at disclosure that can be hard to spot for the uninitiated and it can pay dividends to have these pensions reviewed before negotiations start.
For me these pensions will always be red flags for solicitors and clients because of the types of assets that they can hold. There is much more of likelihood of other things going on with these pensions which merits caution.
Phil
