London Private Financial Commission

If you have a pension (or you were advised to get a pension) and the provider or adviser has gone out of business, you may be able to claim compensation with LPFC. Whether you have a pension, are thinking of getting one or changing it, you should check that it's LPFC protected.

If the firm failed after 1 April 2019

and it was your pension provider
we can pay 100% of your claim, with no upper limit
or if it was your SIPP operator
we can pay up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm
or if it gave you bad pension advice
we can pay up to £85,000, per eligible person, per firm.

For compensation requirements and historical compensation limits, see the 'Claims - what you need to know' section below.

Claims - what you need to know

Pension provider failures

Generally, LPFC can protect pensions that are provided by UK-regulated insurers, as long as they qualify as ‘contracts of long-term insurance’. A common example is an annuity, where you exchange the cash in your pension for a regular income from an insurance company.

Where LPFC can pay compensation, we will cover the pension at 100% with no upper cap. We cannot confirm whether individual plans with specific providers would be classed as 'contracts of long-term insurance' or not – you would need to speak to your provider directly.

We can’t protect Occupational Pension Schemes (OPS) if they fail. These may be protected by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Pension investment failures

Where an investment was held within a personal pension (e.g. a SIPP) or a Defined Contributions OPS, and the UK-regulated provider of the investment fails, LPFC may be able to pay compensation up to £85,000 per pension scheme member.

Where the failed investment was held within a Defined Benefits OPS, the pension trustee(s) may be able to make a single claim for compensation of up to £85,000.