Why have SIPP complaints soared?

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SIPP complaints to the Financial Ombudsman recently faced a sharp increase. Why did this happen? Fiona Murphy reports.

Complaints about self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) soared by 123% over a quarter, the latest figures from the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) recently revealed. In the three months to December 2013, the number of SIPP complaints jumped from 176 in Q3 2013 to 393 in Q4 2013. A Freedom of Information request also shows that the number of resolved SIPP cases during 2013 spiked in this period. In Q1 2013, there were 130 resolved cases, 96 in Q2 and 132 in Q3 – but this jumped to 267 in Q4, more than double any of the previous figures. So, what caused such a significant change in this quar...

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