Background
If you were advised to transfer out of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, please read on.
The Armed Forces Family, made up of the Army, the Royal Navy (which includes the Royal Marines) and the Royal Air Force have been provided with a gilt edged, non-contributory, pension scheme since its inception in 1975 (AFPS 75), subsequently replaced by the AFPS 05 (launched 6th April 2005) and AFPS 15 (launched 6th April 2015).
All of these pension schemes offer various valuable benefits and the pension itself is commonly referred to as ‘Final Salary’, ‘Company Pension Scheme’ or ‘Defined Benefit Pension Scheme’, all of which mean the same - membership of one of the most generous pensions available in the UK, providing a guaranteed, inflation linked pension income for retirement with various benefits passed on to the surviving spouse or nominated beneficiary in the event of death.
The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is protected by law and paid by the Government providing a secure and dependable source of retirement income.
Were you advised to transfer out of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme?
If so, please get in touch...we’d love to hear from you
Pensions Advice / Mis-selling
With the launch of Personal Pensions on 1st July 1988, came the beginning of one of the biggest pension mis-selling scandals ever witnessed.
Armed Forces Pensions were subject to legislative change bought in by the government in 2015 (following recommendations from the Hutton report), however from 01/07/1988 until 06/04/2015, thousands of Armed Forces personnel were targeted by sales representatives, IFA’s & Insurance companies, as well as a number of non-regulated introducers, persuading them to move their AFPS pensions promising that they’d be better off in retirement.
Crucially, you may well have been mis-advised / mis-sold even if your current pension plan seems healthy.
If you, or any of your family and friends were approached and advised to ‘transfer out’ of the Military Pensions (AFPS75, 05 & 15) anytime from 01/07/1988, right up to the present day, please contact us today.
Pension Types / Key Failures
If you were one of the many thousands who were ‘advised’ to transfer out of the Military Pensions (AFPS75, 05 & 15) then you may well have been offered one of the following types of pensions:
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Personal Pension
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Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
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Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS)
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Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS)
Likewise, you may have come across the various organisations below (shortened list) whose advice/products were flawed and in numerous cases have failed with their advice and created huge losses for the military personnel whom they advised:
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Phoenix Life – incl: Britannic / NPI / Pearl / Scottish Provident / Sun Life
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ReAssure – incl: GAN UK / L&G / Windsor Life
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Aviva – incl: Norwich Union / Friends Life / AXA / CGU / General Accident
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Royal London – incl: CIS Ltd / Refuge / United Friendly
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Sun Life of Canada – incl: Confederation Life / Laurentian / Lincoln
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Zurich Life – incl: Allied Dunbar / Eagle Star / Openwork
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CI Associates (Caledonian International Associates)
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Carey’s SIPP
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Options SIPP
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Financial Provision Solutions Ltd
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Harbour Pensions / STM Malta QROPS
