FCA tells former Verus Financial Services customers to check FSCS compensation eligibility

Former customers of Verus Financial Services Limited can now check on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme website whether they can claim, the Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday.

The scheme, known as the FSCS, also takes claims by phone on 0800 678 1100, and the regulator said any compensation is “subject to assessment”.

The FCA said it is supporting the FSCS as the scheme assesses claims against the firm and decides whether each individual claim is eligible.

Verus was an independent financial adviser offering investment, pension, mortgage, equity release and insurance advice, according to the regulator.

Since 2025 the firm has not had permission to carry out any regulated financial activity in the UK, including giving financial advice.

The FCA said the firm also cannot sell, transfer or reduce its assets without the regulator’s approval.

The regulator removed all of Verus’s permissions and imposed a more stringent asset restriction, setting out its concerns in a First Supervisory Notice dated 27 October 2025.

The FCA said the firm had repeatedly breached an existing restriction, agreed on 7 September 2023, which stopped it selling, transferring or diminishing assets without approval.

It said the firm had, by its own admission, breached that restriction repeatedly and deliberately.

The regulator also said Verus failed to comply with a Financial Ombudsman Service decision made against it and in favour of a customer.

It added that the firm had not been open and cooperative with the FCA during its supervision.

The FCA said there is no direct correlation between the restrictions on the firm and the performance of the underlying investments it arranged.

The firm can no longer act as an independent financial adviser, so the FCA said customers should look for a new adviser and pointed to guidance on the MoneyHelper website.

The regulator’s Firm Checker shows whether a firm is authorised and has permission for the services a customer wants.

The FCA says that tool cannot confirm whether FSCS or Financial Ombudsman Service protection will definitely apply if something goes wrong.

The FCA said fraudsters sometimes claim to be from legitimate firms, and urged all customers to stay alert to the possibility of fraud.

Anyone who receives an unexpected call from someone claiming to be from Verus should “end the call straight away”, the regulator said.

The FCA has also issued a consumer warning about a connected unauthorised firm, Verus Estates Limited.

The regulator said customers who want to claim should contact the FSCS directly, either through its website or on the helpline number, 0800 678 1100.