Hartley Pension campaigners who held Sipps with Burkeley Burke are fighting to revoke power of attorney on their pensions.
The campaigners have complained that Berkeley Burke members were removed as co-trustees of their Sipp schemes without their knowledge after Berkeley Burke was sold to Hartley Pensions.
They claim as a result, they have had no say over what happens to their Sipps and where their assets will end up being transferred to next.
A letter, seen by FT Adviser, explained that each member of the Berkeley Burke Sipp was part of a supplemental deed, which allowed the member to be appointed to act jointly with the asset trustee - Berkeley Burke Trustee Company Limited - as co-trustees but only for the purpose of the individual’s fund.
However, one clause in this deed allowed the operator - Berkeley Burke Sipp Administration Limited - to alter, add to or delete any of the scheme rules either with immediate effect or retrospectively.
This clause was used by the operator firm to “unilaterally remove any trustee who is a co-trustee” with effect from September 17, 2019 as well as appoint Berkeley Durant Limited as an additional trustee.
This happened as the joint administrators sold Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Limited to Hartley Pensions Limited.
At the time, the FCA said: "The assets held within each BBSAL Sipp will ultimately transfer to a Hartley Sipp and be held for customers, unless they contact Hartley to say they wish to take up another option."
But the former Berkeley Burke members have now filed a deed of revocation to remove the power of attorney from BBTCL, BBSAL and “any of their directors and officers, successors or affiliates or advisors or any related parties”.
Paul Hewett, one of the campaigners, said: “Three of us have submitted a revocation of power of attorney. We have created a legal document and it has been sent by post and email and witnessed and signed, as well as having our own legal entity look over it.
"The document we have submitted basically revokes the power of attorney because we had a suspicion that people had been acting on our behalf without our permission.
"The FSCS has said it will cover the £40mn transfer and exit charges but we know that is not going to happen.
"There has already been a huge delay on transfer and now we have these tranches as set out by UHY Hacker Young but the first tranche was meant to be transferred out this month.”
Background
BBSAL failed and was placed into administration on 18 September 2019 after it could no longer afford to defend redress claims made against it.
