A spokesperson for UHY Hacker Young stated: “It is a free choice for such clients whether they want to sign the NDA, claiming to be a vulnerable client and pay a higher exit fee to cover those costs incurred which are associated with transferring them out separately from all other clients.”
The administrators further confirmed that the NDa only applies to vulnerable clients wishing to transfer their Sipps before the schedule of costs is agreed by the court, which adds complexity to the process.
FTAdviser understands that once this schedule of costs is agreed, there will be no requirement for an NDA or legal costs in order to transfer a Sipp.
The costs
In terms of the exit and admin fee, this has not yet been finalised, therefore if vulnerable clients held off on transferring their costs could be less.
The administrators of Hartley Pensions have set out four cost models to calculate exit and administration charges for Sipp clients.
The four proposed cost models are:
- Fixed fee per client model – This model is a fixed fee for all clients regardless of the type(s) of asset held or value of their Sipps.
- Hybrid charge based on asset type model – This model is a different charge for each type of asset held within a client's Sipp.
- Percentage based model on the total value of the assets under administration model – This model will charge a percentage on the value of the assets in a client's Sipp; and
- Capped percentage charge – This model will charge a percentage on the value of the assets within a client's Sipp subject to a cap to be determined.
A spokesperson for the administrators said: “At present, it is expected that the charge model will be separate for each Sipp based on the assets they hold.”
Regarding these fees, a spokesperson for the Financial Conduct Authority said: “All firms must treat people fairly, which includes not charging excessive fees which prevent people switching.
“We recognise that this is a worrying time for Hartley customers. We are in regular contact with the administrators of the firm to seek to ensure the best possible result for consumers and are currently engaging with the administrators to challenge their approach here.”
Hartley Pensions went into administration in July 2022.
Earlier this month (August 10), FTAdviser reported that people fighting to get their money out of Hartley Pensions faced further delays after the administrators said it will not begin its process of transferring pensions until the end of this year.
In an update to Sipp clients from UHY Hacker Young, the administrators said transfers were unlikely to happen in 2023 due to the timescale of the court application.
amy.austin@ft.com
