Wealth manager Quilter took a £12 million charge on Wednesday to compensate dozens of British Steel pensioners who were left out of pocket after poor advice from its newly acquired Lighthouse division.
The Evening Standard revealed last week that dozens of British Steel workers are suing the group because advisers from Lighthouse advised hundreds of them to switch their generous gold-plated pensions for riskier private-sector funds in 2017.
It was a bad decision because pension pots vastly increased when new owner Tata pumped £550 million into the pension scheme in June 2017.
Those who transferred before June 2017 on Lighthouse’s advice were left out of pocket.
Quilter bought Lighthouse last year after the incident but today pledged to uphold 30 complaints from people who had received the Lighthouse advice, which is thought to have come from a single Lighthouse adviser, and make good the shortfall the workers suffered when they transferred.
A further 50 British Steel workers who received the same pre-June 2017 advice are also likely to receive compensation.
“Our first priority is to do the right thing for our customers. This was not on our watch, we didn’t cause this issue but we are doing the right things and putting it right,” said Quilter chief Paul Feeney.
Of the £12 million, which does not affect profits, £9 million will pay redress and £3 million will be used to review cases for another 300 British Steel workers who got Lighthouse advice.
