Good to know: We are a Claims Management Company (CMC). You do not need to use a CMC to make your complaint to your lender, bank, pension provider or intermediary. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Pension Ombudsman yourself for free if the firm is still trading. For eligible failed firms, you can refer a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.

0345 544 1563

Terms Of Engagement – Pension And Investment Claims

By signing our terms of engagementyou will be entering into a legally binding contract. If you change your mind, you have a 14 day cooling off period during which you can cancel without charge. After the 14 day cooling off period you can cancel but our success fee applies. In entering into this contract, you confirm that you have read our Pre-Contractual Information. You also confirm that you understand that we offer a professional paid-for claims management service but that you do not need to use a claims management company to make your complaint to the respondent, and that if your complaint is not successful that you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.

Terms of Engagement

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1. Meaning

14 Day Cooling Off Period means the first to the fourteenth day inclusive after We receive Your signed Terms of Engagement.

Applicant / You / Your means the person signing the Terms of Engagement.

Claim means the Firm providing its Claim Service against the Respondent to bring about Gross Compensation arising out of the actual or potential mis-selling of a Pension or Investment product.

Claim Service means any and all of the actions of the Firm in representing You make a Claim during which the Firm shall undertake reasonable steps as may be necessary to progress the Claim from time to time. This may include (but is not necessarily limited to) providing advice in writing or orally, investigating the facts and merit of a Claim, presenting a Claim and negotiating and relaying settlement information about a Claim.

Gross Compensation means any or all refunds, reinstatements into former pensions, new augmentative pensions, repayments, compensation, liability reductions, write offs, ex gratia payments and interest received or accrued by You before set-off, write off or taxable deductions arising directly or indirectly from a Claim and its underlying subject matter whether received as a result of an admission of liability, goodwill gesture or some other basis.

Pension and Investment Product means a Pension or Investment You have had with the Respondent (whether past, present or those taken out during the Claim Service) such as (a) Pensions (b) Investments (c) SIPP’s (d) UCIS (e) CFD’s

Respondent means [•] whilst trading as [•], its predecessors, successors, assignees, servants and/or agents inclusive of any insolvency practitioners appointed from time to time.

Settlement Proposal means an offer from the Respondent, or a recommendation, adjudication or decision made by the Financial Ombudsman or another third-party organisation with binding authority to award Gross Compensation, whether or not the Gross Compensation sum has yet been calculated.

Success Fee means the sum payable to Us as regulated by Section 5 of the Terms of Engagement.

Terms of Engagement means the terms and conditions set out within this document.

The Firm / Us / We / Our means Allegiant Finance Services Limited.

Allegiant Finance Services Limited of 400 Chadwick House, Warrington Road, Birchwood Park, Warrington, WA3 6AE is a Claims Management Company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and whose Firm Reference Number is 836810. You can confirm Our regulatory status at any time at https://www.fca.org.uk/register.

3.1 We shall at all material times exercise the reasonable skill and care expected of a regulated Claims Management Company and maintain all relevant regulatory permissions.

3.2 Once We are in receipt of appropriate information and documentation from You, We shall submit a Claim to the Respondent. Should the Respondent not respond within appropriate timeframes or disagree with the Claim, We shall reconsider the Claim merits in all of the circumstances and, where reasonable, escalate the Claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service or another appropriate third-party organisation with binding authority to resolve the Claim on Your behalf.

3.3 We shall communicate with You by email, post, SMS, via our website portal and/or orally (including by telephone).

3.4 We shall update You when there is a material Claim update. This includes where the Respondent acknowledges the Claim, requests further information and/or makes a final decision. If Your Claim is referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service or another third-party organisation with binding authority, We will update You when the Claim is acknowledged and whenever there is a material development thereafter.

3.5 We agree to pay a Respondent and any relevant third parties any such reasonable fees as may be necessary for Us to access information required to pursue a Claim.

3.6 We shall take instructions from You where they are necessary and always in relation to Settlement Proposals once Gross Compensation is calculated.

3.7 We shall reasonably assume that account information and calculations provided by the Respondent constitutes best primary evidence and is accurate, not misleading and/or not provided in bad faith.

3.8 We shall not provide financial, tax or debt advice as we are solely authorised and regulated to provide claims management services.

4.1 You agree that You have not pursued the Claim previously, or where You have, that this has been brought to Our attention and that all relevant correspondence and documentation shall be passed to Us promptly.

4.2 You agree that We are appointed as Your exclusive representative for the purpose of delivering the Claim Service, meaning that at no time during the Terms of Engagement shall You (i) have an ongoing contract with another representative relating to the Claim; or (ii) attempt to pursue the Claim yourself without cancelling with Us first.

4.3 You agree not to contact the Respondent, the Financial Ombudsman Service or other third-party organisation to withdraw Our authority to provide the Claim Service without first cancelling the Terms of Engagement pursuant to Section 6.

4.4  You confirm that you are not, or have never been, declared bankrupt, subject to a bankruptcy petition, subject to an IVA, have proposed an IVA yet to be approved or rejected by creditors, subject to a DRO, sequestration or any similar process or arrangement. You agree to inform us immediately should there become a reasonable likelihood that you may formally enter into any such arrangement.

4.5 You agree to provide Us with prompt details of Your personal details and financial situation as We may reasonably require in order to provide the Claim Service and to immediately inform Us of any change of details thereafter. This includes any update of details such as change of address throughout the course of the claims management service.

4.6 You agree to complete and sign any and all paperwork necessary to provide Us with authority to pursue the Claim Service.

4.7 You agree to provide Us with the documentary evidence reasonably required to investigate and/or pursue the Claim including (but not limited to) bank statements, credit reports, relevant Respondent documentation and correspondence.

4.8 You agree to inform Us immediately should a Respondent contact You directly to discuss a Claim or make a payment to You directly.

4.9 In the circumstances where a Respondent pays You directly, You must pay the Success Fee as set out in Section 5.

4.10 You agree and acknowledge that the making of a Claim may lead to the Pension or Investment Product being cancelled and therefore no longer being available to You. You agree to make Your own arrangements to mitigate the impact of any Pension or Product withdrawal that is not included in the redress.

5.1 Our fees are owed upon a successful claim and will depend on the amount of redress you receive in cash in hand compensation. This means we charge on what you actually receive, not debt or tax deductions. If income tax is deducted from 8% statutory interest received and sent to HRMC, we do not charge you on this deduction. If successful, your fee will be calculated based on which band your redress falls into and will be charged by whichever is the lowest of:

  1. the maximum percentage rate of charge for that band, or
  2. the maximum total charge for that band.

The below table outlines the redress bands and what the maximum percentage rate of charge and the maximum total charge is for each band.

Band Redress % Charge (with VAT) Maximum charge (with VAT) (£) Maximum charge (without VAT) (£)
1 1 – 1499 36% 504 420
2 1,500 – 9,999 33.60% 3000 2500
3 10,000 – 24,999 30% 6000 5000
4 25,000 – 49,999 24% 9000 7500
5 50,000+ 18% 12000 10000

Examples of low and high redress and fee for each band in the above table:

  1. You receive £100 in redress; our fee would be £36. You receive £1499 in redress; our fee would be £504.
  2. You receive £1,600 in redress; our fee would be £537.60. You receive £9,999 in redress; our fee would be £3,000.
  3. You receive £12,000 in redress; our fee would be £3,600. You receive £24,999 in redress; our fee would be £6,000.
  4. You receive £30,350 in redress; our fee would be £7,284. You receive £49,999 in redress; our fee would be £9,000.
  5. You receive £55,000 in redress; our fee would be £9,900. You receive £100,000 in redress; our fee would be £12,000.

5.2 The Success Fee must be paid by You without undue delay upon receipt of clear funds paid to You by the Respondent; or upon the Respondent applying a deduction, set off or write off.

5.3 Where Gross Compensation is paid in separate parts, We reserve the right to raise interim invoices commensurate to the amount of Gross Compensation received by You from time to time.

5.4 The Success Fee is payable on receipt of Gross Compensation and is not contingent on any finalisation of ancillary settlement actions arising, such as a Respondent making a correction to a credit record.

5.5 Interest on refunds may be subject to income tax which the Respondent may deduct from cash in hand. The Success Fee is always calculated before any combination of all taxable deductions, set-offs and write offs are applied.

5.6 If You have failed to declare that You are or have ever been subject to an IVA, bankrupt, DRO or sequestration, You will still be liable for the Success Fee irrespective of whether such sums are payable to Your creditors or insolvency practitioner or subject to set off.

5.7 Where the respondent pays compensation to us, we shall hold the funds in a dedicated client account (as authorised by the FCA). We shall provide you with an itemised invoice and ask you to authorise the payment of compensation to you (less our success fee).

5.8 We shall remit compensation received by us, less our success fee, via bank transfer without undue delay. Payments will be made by electronic transfer to an account you nominate. Where you request a cheque, we shall only send this to an address registered with the respondent or your electoral address. We reserve the right to ask for proof of address and/or reasonable documentation to comply with anti-money laundering regulations and our fraud prevention obligations.

5.9 Where we receive compensation on your behalf from the respondent, but you fail to cash a cheque or provide valid bank details, you agree that, where we have made reasonable endeavours to contact you without success, we shall proceed to distribute the funds as appropriate. The distribution of funds will be arranged at our discretion, based on individual circumstances and the status of the respondent. We will either; return the funds to the respondent after 12 months or pay the balance to a charity after 6 years and that, upon us making such a payment, our liability to pay you the balance shall be wholly discharged.

6.1 You may cancel the Terms of Engagement without charge within the 14 Day Cooling Off Period.

6.2 After the expiry of the 14 Day Cooling Off Period, our Success Fee will be payable in full if a claim we have started is successful and our actions are a proximate cause of the success. Any invoice raised under this clause is payable within 14 days of your receipt of Gross Compensation.

6.3 Where You withhold information relating to a Settlement Proposal for 21 days or over, We reserve the right to raise a provisional invoice for the estimated reasonable Gross Compensation value of the Claim. Any invoice raised under this clause is payable without undue delay.

6.4 You may tell Us about cancellation as follows: (a) by post: Allegiant Finance Services Limited, Freepost RTYU–XUTZ–YKJC, 400 Chadwick House, Warrington Road, Birchwood Park, Warrington, WA3 6AE; (b) by email: helpdesk@allegiant-finance.co.uk; (c) by telephone: 0345 544 1563; or (d) online at https://allegiant.co.uk/compliance/cancellation/.

You are under no obligation to advise Us of a cancellation reason.

6.5 Where You cancel an agreement with Us, We will ask You whether You wish for Us to withdraw the Claim or whether You wish to continue it yourself. We shall thereafter update the Respondent and where necessary the Financial Ombudsman Service and/or another third-party organisation as appropriate. Where You are continuing the Claim yourself, it is entirely Your responsibility to make enquiries of relevant deadlines and steps that are required to be undertaken.

6.6 We may cancel the Terms of Engagement where We do not consider a Claim meritorious, where a Claim is uneconomic for the Firm to run or where an actual or potential regulatory or commercial conflict of interest arises. Where We cancel pursuant to this clause, there shall be no charge.

7.1 Complaints may be made either (a) by post: Allegiant Finance Services Ltd, Freepost RTYU–XUTZ–YKJC, 400 Chadwick House, Warrington Road, Birchwood Park, Warrington, WA3 6AE (b) by e-mail: allegiantcomplaints@allegiant-finance.co.uk; or (c) by telephone: 0345 544 1563.

7.2 Our full complaints procedure can be viewed at

https://allegiant.co.uk/compliance/complaints-regulated/ and is available in writing upon request.

7.3 If You are not satisfied with Our response, or if a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, You may refer the complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman Service (a part of the Financial Ombudsman Service) to independently consider: (a) by email to complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk; (b) by post to: Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange, London, E14 9SR; or (c) by telephone: 0800 023 4567. See further: https://cmc.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

7.4 Time limits apply. You have six months to approach the Claims Management Ombudsman Service from the date of our Final Response, or where your complaint is not resolved after eight weeks.

8. The terms of engagement will terminate upon completion of the claims management service and upon payment by you of any fees or charges due to us. If we later become aware that your claim has been potentially under compensated (for example as a result of a regulatory change, court order, audit, third-party error or concealment or some similar basis), you agree that we may, at our discretion, contact you offering to provide further claims management services for the purpose of securing any further compensation that we feel may be due to you based on the underlying facts of the original claimYou shall be under no obligation to use us and we are under no obligation to contact you. Any further work would require you to enter a newly signed contract with us.

9.1 We will not be liable for any costs or losses caused to you as a result of:

  • your lack of co-operation;
  • your failure to read and understand the documentation that we have provided to you where such information is reasonably clear or where you could have taken steps to clarify information
  • your failure to give us accurate or up to date information in a timely manner;
  • delays or loss of information caused by your or our use of postal, telephony or email service providers
  • matters that we cannot reasonably control;
  • losses which cannot be reasonably foreseen or which you could have taken steps to mitigate;
  • the expiry of limitation dates caused by previous complaints unless we have specifically agreed to work to those deadlines and you have provided us with all reasonable information relating to the previous complaint;
  • the expiry of limitation for court purposes whilst your claim is pursued via the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

10.1 We reserve the right to recover the cost of solicitor fees, tracing fees, court fees and/or enforcement agent fees where it is necessary to enforce Our right to payment of the Success Fee or a cancellation fee. Where there is a need for a replacement cheque or additional bank transfer attempt which is not caused by our fault, we reserve the right to deduct any cheque stopping fee or additional transfer charge which our bank charges us from your refund.

10.2 In the event of conflict, the provisions of this agreement shall be interpreted in line with prevailing statutory and regulatory rules as in force from time to time.

10.3 Nothing within this agreement is intended to confer a benefit on a third party under the Contract (Rights Against Third Parties) Act 1999.

10.4 The Firm may assign or subcontract any or all of its rights and benefits arising from the Terms of Engagement with 21 days prior written notice (or shorter where required to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation).

10.5 If any part of the Terms of Engagement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the other terms of this Agreement will not be affected.

10.6 The terms and conditions in these Terms of Engagement shall apply post termination where necessary to give effect to the agreement, its purpose and intention.

10.7 This agreement is subject to the laws and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Claiming for Free Yourself

Good to know: We are a Claims Management Company (CMC). You do not need to use a CMC to make your complaint to your lender, bank, pension provider or intermediary. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Pension Ombudsman yourself for free if the firm is still trading. For eligible failed firms, you can refer a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.