The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has opened the doors to compensation claims against a closed firm which was owned by wealth manager and Financial Planner Succession Wealth.

The Succession-owned firm, Westminster Financial Planning Ltd, was based in Amersham and gave up its FCA authorisation in 2015.

The firm was acquired by Succession Wealth several years earlier and a number of senior Succession executives were listed as directors of Westminster Financial Planning Ltd, including the late Succession CEO and founder Simon Chamberlain. Mr Chamberlain was listed as CF1 Director and CF2 Non Executive Director.

There is no suggestion of any wrong-doing at the firm which was dissolved and struck off the Companies House register in June 2018. The register shows the firm was voluntarily wound up.

According to the FCA register the firm used several trading names including Succession Group, Westminster Financial Planning and Westminster FP however Westminster Financial Planning Ltd was the only registered name.

The FSCS said the firm had failed on 9 June this year and the FSCS has opened the door to claims from former clients.

It is understood that so far the firm, which transacted pension transfers and other Financial Planning business, has only one claim against it. The nature and value of the claim has not been disclosed.

Succession Wealth has declined to comment on the claim but it is understood that Succession acquired Westminster just under 10 years ago and it was later formally liquidated to enable it to be fully integrated into Succession Group post acquisition.

Westminster Financial Planning Ltd was de-registered by the FCA in 2015 because all the advisers and planners were integrated into Succession. It is understood that clients were moved to other firms in the Succession group.

It then appears that several years after the closure of Westminster Financial Planning Ltd a claim was received by the FSCS but because the firm has closed and has no assets the claim has been passed to the FSCS for resolution and potential compensation. 

A spokesman for the FSCS said that because Westminster Financial Planning Ltd has no assets there was no option but to declare the firm “in default.”

The FSCS said it was not unusual for there to be a lag of years before a financial firm went out of business and a claim being received by the FSCS.