Military pensioners were given advice by “unregulated salespeople, advisers and overseas companies, persuading them to transfer their valuable military pension into private, unregulated, and unsuitable schemes,” claimed the law firm, resulting in the loss of thousands of pounds, with some even losing their entire pension pot.
Most of the advice lacked transparency about the risks and potential losses involved in transferring out of the military pension scheme, it added. Keller Lenkner UK’s website claimed the company is “one of the most experienced multi-claimant legal firms in England and Wales”, adding it has “specialist barristers” and “expert lawyers”.
“There is no better pension than a UK military pension. They are robust, reliable and stick with inflation. The military community has been infiltrated by fraudsters,” said ex-UK Special Forces soldier Ollie Ollerton, star of Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins, who is working with the law firm to highlight the issue.
Keller Lenkner UK said it could not yet name individuals or firms it claimed mis-sold products and services.
Former marine and founder of advice firm YellowTail Financial Planning, Dennis Hall, told Professional Adviser about the ways in which the military could be susceptible to mis-selling. “I think with the military, you have one of those almost unique situations where you got a whole group of people that are isolated from the information that most of the people get when they join their workforce pension. You join the military and you’re automatically enrolled in a pension. The nature of the job is that you don’t get to sit down and talk about personal finance.”
Ex-RAF regiment and Echelon Wealthcare’s managing director Alastair Rush, who has spent the last few years fighting added: “There isn’t a BSPS [British Steel Pension Scheme] type scenario because the military cohort is already scattered to the four winds, but they do talk with each other and they do tend to follow opinion leaders. Most succumb to the lure of incessant Facebook ads and word of mouth. Many compare a pot of about £40,000 with an annual pension that might cover a good Christmas and move it, and decide to take the money.”
Military servicemen are more vulnerable than most, continued Rush, due to the “low academic attainment with some insulation from the issues that we take for granted (scams etc.)” as well as a “military mindset that tends to instil an ethos of ‘live for today because tomorrow may never come’.”
Keller Lenkner UK highlighted a list of warning signs of an at-risk pension for military personnel:
The inability to access your pension; the value dropping significantly due to failed or fraudulent investments; the loss of money due to transferring your pension and the loss of guarantees that came with your military pension; high fees and charges, and; the risks or transferring your British Armed Forces pension were not fully explained
• The transfer of your pension offshore without good reason
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