-
How did a £201 offer become almost £30,000?
According to Citywire, the client in the recent case was initially offered £201 under True Potential’s redress review.
The client declined the offer and lodged a complaint with True Potential through a claims management company. The complaint was partially upheld at the end of June 2026. The case involved an advised transfer, where a financial adviser recommends moving a pension, ISA or investment from one provider, platform or product to another, usually supported by a suitability report explaining why the transfer is considered appropriate.
True Potential accepted that the client’s suitability report had not been made visible in his site documents, meaning he would not have seen it before the transfer was actioned.
When the complaint was reviewed, True Potential obtained a notional transfer value from Prudential, the client’s previous provider. This was used to estimate what the client’s investments might have been worth had he remained with Prudential. True Potential then compared that figure with the value of the client’s True Potential portfolios and offered £29,953 in compensation.
That differs from the approach reportedly used for the initial redress offer, which compared the client’s True Potential portfolio against an Asset Risk Consultants Private Client Indices benchmark. For clients, this means the amount they are offered may depend less on the loss they expected and more on how that loss has been calculated.
Citywire has reported that a True Potential client was initially offered £201 under the firm’s transfer redress review, but later received £29,953 after making a separate complaint through a claims management company.
True Potential said the additional compensation in that case was not related to the redress scheme, but to a separate matter. Even so, the size of the difference highlights an important issue for clients who receive a review letter or compensation offer: they need to understand what was reviewed, how the calculation was made, and whether the offer reflects the full loss they may have suffered.
What is the True Potential review about?
True Potential’s 2024 annual report says that, following engagement with City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a skilled person was appointed to review the suitability of client transfers into the group.
The FCA is the UK’s financial conduct regulator, empowered by law to require regulated firms to hire and fund independent experts to investigate compliance failures through Section 166 skilled person reviews. According to True Potential’s annual report, the review found that some clients’ investments may not have been transferred into the group appropriately because of payments made to advisers.
True Potential set aside £100.4 million in compensation for client transfer suitability and historic annual suitability review issues. Citywire reported that the review covers customers transferred between 2018 and 2024 through direct offers, as well as some advised transfers. Direct offers involved clients completing an online questionnaire before transferring investments to True Potential’s in-house portfolios, platform and advice service. Advisers were reportedly paid 8% of assets transferred.
-
The benchmark used can affect the outcome
Citywire reported that True Potential is using the Asset Risk Consultants Private Client Indices (ARC) for its wider redress review.
The report said that True Potential’s portfolios may have performed well against that benchmark in some cases, meaning some clients may receive little or no compensation, depending on the timing of their transfers and the portfolios they moved into. A different comparison may produce a very different outcome.
The Financial Ombudsman Service, which deals with complaints between consumers and FCA-regulated institutions, explains that when resolving investment complaints, compensation may involve comparing what happened with what the customer would probably have received, using an appropriate benchmark. The Ombudsman gives examples, including the FTSE UK Private Investors Income Total Return Index, for cases where a customer was prepared to take some investment risk.
Citywire also cited another recently upheld complaint against True Potential, in which the Financial Ombudsman Service used the FTSE Private Investor Index as a comparator because the previous provider could not provide a notional transfer value.
The choice of comparison is not a technical detail that clients should ignore. If one method produces little or no redress, while another suggests a much larger loss, the client may need advice on whether the calculation is fair in their individual circumstances.
-
Documents can be just as important as performance
The issue in these cases is not only whether the investment performed poorly, but also whether clients were given access to suitability reports before the transfer went ahead, so they could properly understand the recommendation being made.
A suitability report is a key document in an advised pension or investment transfer. It should explain the recommendation, why the adviser considered it suitable, the risks involved, the charges, and the alternatives considered.
If a client did not receive or could not access the suitability report before the transfer took place, they may not have been in a position to make an informed decision.
Clients should also consider what happened in practice, not just what the file now says. If an adviser recommended the move, answered questions, helped complete forms, or encouraged the client to transfer, that may be relevant to assessing whether the transfer was truly suitable and whether the client understood the risks.
-
Questions clients should ask before accepting an offer
Clients who receive a review letter or a compensation offer from True Potential should take time to check what it covers.
Useful questions to ask include:
- Which pension, ISA or investment transfer has been reviewed?
- Was the transfer treated as advised or non-advised?
- Was a suitability report provided before the transfer went ahead?
- What benchmark or comparison has been used?
- Has the previous provider supplied a notional transfer value?
- Have charges, fees and investment performance been included?
- Does the calculation cover all relevant losses?
- Would accepting the offer prevent a further complaint?
Clients may also want to check whether earlier transfers, ongoing advice fees or previous adviser relationships are relevant. Where a client followed the same adviser between firms, or transferred more than once, the wider history may need to be reviewed.
-
Evidence clients should keep
Anyone who has received a True Potential review letter, redress offer or complaint outcome should keep copies of all relevant paperwork.
This may include:
- the True Potential review letter or compensation offer
- pension, ISA or investment statements before and after the transfer
- suitability reports and transfer documents
- online questionnaire answers or portal messages
- emails, letters, texts or notes of calls with True Potential or an adviser
- details of adviser charges, platform fees and ongoing advice fees
- any explanation of how the redress figure was calculated
- correspondence from the previous provider, including any notional transfer value
If clients are missing any necessary documents, they may be able to ask True Potential or their previous provider for copies. They may also be able to make a subject access request for personal information held about them.
-
Should clients challenge a True Potential redress offer?
Some offers may be fair and reasonable, but others may require closer scrutiny, particularly when the client is unsure how the figure was reached or believes that important information has been omitted.
A low offer does not automatically mean the calculation is wrong. Equally, clients should not assume an offer is correct simply because it was made as part of a formal review.
-
TLW Solicitors’ comment
“The difference between £201 and almost £30,000 shows why clients should not assume an initial redress offer is the final word. The calculation method can make a significant difference, particularly if a general benchmark has been used instead of comparing the client’s position with their previous provider.
Clients should look carefully at what transfer has been reviewed, what documents they received at the time and whether the offer covers the full financial loss. If suitability reports or key documents were not available before the transfer, that may also raise important questions about whether the client was properly informed.
Before accepting an offer, clients should gather their paperwork and take specialist advice if they are unsure. In some cases, there may be grounds to challenge the calculation, pursue a complaint or ask for the transfer to be reviewed more fully. If you think that you or a loved one have lost out financially, please get in touch with my team to discuss your next steps and explore your options.”
How TLW Solicitors can help
TLW Solicitors helps investors who have lost money following unsuitable pension or investment transfers, including cases involving True Potential compensation claims, direct offers, adviser incentives, ongoing advice fees and investment mis-selling.
If you or a loved one transferred a pension, ISA or investment to True Potential and have received a review letter, compensation offer or complaint outcome, our financial mis-selling solicitors can help you understand whether the offer appears fair and what steps may be available.
