New data from actuarial consultancy OAC suggests that pension savers submitting a complaint about pension transfer advice would now receive just £12,000 in compensation, about half the amount they would have received at the beginning of the year and well below the levels of two years ago.

The FSCS's estimated costs in paying exit charges to allow trapped Hartley Pensions clients to transfer their money elsewhere has risen by £2m to £38m and could rise further.

The FSCS has declared nine financial services firms in default during December and January, including several financial advisers.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has said that it will pay the exit and administration charge (EAC) that the joint administrators propose to levy on Hartley Pensions Limited (HPL) customers, despite earlier saying that it could not.