Hand over my ID to a courier? I wouldn’t give it to James Bond

IT IS hard enough to imagine the Government deciding to review everyone’s individual pension plan. But it is impossible to envisage that it would appoint a tinpot firm of cold callers to carry out the task, or that it would be happy to see personal papers handed to a courier on the doorstep.

An email sent to you by Pension Safe boasts: ‘ We are an established and trusted company with an excellent track record for the best customer satisfaction.’ But it explains that the firm will ‘work alongside some of the UK’s T. S. writes: I usually ignore calls from phone numbers I do not recognise, but was expecting a call from Manchester so when one came, I answered it. To my horror, it was a cold call. The caller said they were from Pension Safe, working with the Government to conduct 12-month reviews of everyone’s pension provision to ensure best value and maybe save on fees. They knew my name, address, email address and part of my date of birth.

Most worryingly for anyone vulnerable, they offered to send a courier to collect pension documents and proof of my identity. I said no – they could send James Bond and they still wouldn’t get my documents. largest firms of independent financial advisers, fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.’ In other words, any personal details Pension Safe harvests will be passed on.

The firm’s website does not say who will get these personal details, nor does it name whoever runs Pension Safe. The website is registered to a company that hides the identity of the real bosses. I did email, asking whether Pension Safe does have a relationship with the Government. I also asked how long it has been in business, earning its ‘excellent track record’. Pension Safe did not reply.

FCA records show that the name Pension Safe is used by a company in Bury, Lancashire, called Knight Meade Limited, which is licensed to drum up business for a separate FCA-authorised company called Consumer Wealth Limited.

I asked Aram Abbas, who runs Knight Meade, the same questions I emailed to Pension Safe. I also pointed out that his company was set up in May last year and had not even filed its first accounts, which made me wonder how he justified claiming it was an established and trusted business with an excellent track record. He offered no comment.

Consumer Wealth is based in Leeds, and I asked its director, Omar Hussein, whether he was happy with the way Pension Safe was telling you (and others) that it was carrying out a Government- backed review of everyone’s pension savings. Following the pattern set by Pension Safe and Abbas, I did not expect to get a comment or any answers from Hussein either – and sure enough, I was right.

The FCA has been making noises recently about how concerned it is that people’s pension savings are being put at risk. It would be nice to think that it is looking into the details I provided about the Pension Safe sales pitch. But all the watchdog would say was: ‘We can’t comment on individual firms.’

I should have guessed. If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.