Hartley Pensions' administrators have asked all vulnerable pension clients looking to transfer out to sign a non-disclosure agreement to allow for “confidential discussions”.
UHY Hacker Young has said clients who have been deemed as vulnerable would need to sign the document before any transaction or discussion occurs over the transfer.
As it stands, clients of Hartley Pensions are able to draw down money from their pensions in the usual manner. They can also trade investments and request their pension commencement lump sum.
The only restrictions in place are that no further contributions can be made to client Sipps, and that the administrators are unable to facilitate transfers out at this time.
Transfers will only be allowed once the exit and administration charge is ratified by the courts, in order to “ensure all clients are treated fairly”.
However, according to the administrators, the Financial Conduct Authority has asked UHY Hacker Young to allow transfer out requests for any vulnerable client.
For example, adviser Julian Pruggmayer has been trying to help a husband and wife, both of whom are considered vulnerable, to transfer their Sipp funds away from Hartley Pensions.
However, last month he found that when he went to proceed with the transfer on behalf of his vulnerable clients, it was a requirement that both himself and the clients sign a non disclosure agreement preventing them from sharing with anyone the fact that they have been transferred out.
To do so the clients were being charged an administrators exit and admin fee of almost £9,000 for each of the Sipps held as well as £1,500 in legal fees for the NDA.
Puggmayer said: “My clients had their pension scheme moved to Hartley Pensions Ltd without any consultation and for the last 12 months have not been able to access their own money.
"It looks like they will not be able to access their money until the end of 2024 and will have to pay for the privilege of doing so.”
But a spokesperson for UHY Hacker Young said “it is not correct” to say that anyone “can’t access their money”, as while they are not yet able to transfer out, they can request a drawdown, and they can make trades within their pensions as normal.
The NDA
Pruggmayer and his clients have not agreed to sign the NDA.
The administrators said that in any transaction or negotiation that requires confidentiality it is “standard procedure” to sign an NDA prior to discussions.
They reiterated that clients are not being forced to sign an NDA before they receive their money as this only relates to vulnerable clients who are specifically asking for their Sipps to be transferred earlier than the process that the administrators are progressing.
