Successful pro bono representation before the Financial Ombudsman

Chloë Bell has successfully provided pro bono representation before the Financial Ombudsman through Advocate, the Bar’s national charity for free legal assistance from volunteer barristers.

Chloë Bell has provided pro bono representation to an individual who suffered a shortfall in a pension transfer quotation due to negligent advice and services provided by his financial advisors. The individual’s advisors sent incorrect documentation to the entity responsible for providing the quotation. When the correct documentation was eventually provided the original quotation had expired and the individual’s guaranteed minimum value quotation was lower.

Representation was provided (through Advocate) before the Financial Ombudsman. Chloë provided submissions on the contractual and tortious duties owed by the financial advisors, the breach of those duties and the loss sustained by the individual.

As a result, the individual successfully secured the difference in value between the two quotations provided.

Outer Temple has a close working relationship with Advocate and takes on a numbers of cases on a pro bono basis. Outer Temple was a finalist in the Advocate Bar Pro Bono Awards 2019 and we were highly commended for taking on the highest number of pro bono cases through Advocate last year.

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Chloë regularly provides advice on pensions transfers and related matters. She was a member of a team of barristers in chambers (Andrew Spink QC, David Russell QC, Philip Stear and Michael Uberoi) who advised on and drafted the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings Plan in Dubai. She has also provided advice in this area on claims before the Pensions Ombudsman.

She has also worked on a number of significant cases in this area including:

• C-171/18 Safeway v Newton & OrsEU:C:2019:839 (led by Andrew Short QC and Michael Uberoi, concerning the retrospective levelling down and equalisation of pension benefits).
• Robin Phillips & 69 Others v Edwards Limited (currently counsel for 70 claimants, led by Lydia Seymour, in High Court action concerning TUPE transfers, redundancy benefits and the meaning of old-age benefits).
• Briggs & ors v Clay & ors (junior counsel in a £60m multiparty professional negligence claim arising from the judgement of Newey J in Re Gleeds [2014] EWHC 1178 (Ch) which settled before trial).

If you would like to find out more or instruct Chloë please contact David Smith on +44 (0)20 7427 4905 or Colin Bunyan on +44 (0)20 7427 4886 for a confidential discussion.

News 27 Aug, 2020