Ann Spencer, a deputy head, was acutely aware she needed to top up her pension contributions.
When an independent financial adviser approached her school offering advice on pensions, she and her husband agreed to meet him. “He said he was a retired headteacher and that he knew all about my wife’s contributions,” recalls Robert Spencer. “He assured us the only way to go was to pay into an FSAVC scheme. ”
But, after retiring because of ill-health, Mrs Spencer has ended up with a pension of Pounds 700 a year which is not index-linked, instead of the index-linked pension of Pounds 1,000, plus a tax-free lump sum of Pounds 5,000 she would have received if she had bought past-added years.
The company involved has admitted mis-selling, but the Spencers are still fighting for full compensation.