In 2014, then chancellor George Osborne announced plans to reform the way retirees could spend and save their pensions, opening up a new range of options for the over-55s.
But although the changes, which were brought into force in April 2015, meant more freedom for pensioners, scrapping the obligation to buy an annuity product left many people open to mis-information and poor advice from some financial advisors.
Some pensioners were encouraged to move their savings from standard, low-risk schemes and instead invest in high-risk ventures that would bring high reward – which later failed to materialise, causing an estimated £120million black hole.
Last year, the Serious Fraud Office announced plans to investigate the sale of so-called ‘storage pod’ investment schemes, and customers are being encouraged to find out if they could be due compensation.
Here, we spoke to Ken Hanning from mis-sold investment and pension claims specialists, Assist.Claims, to find out more.