Serps Review

24

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  • honizz
    honizz Posts: 74 Forumite
    Oh dear, still all if's and but's why can't financial people tell it straight. It was the same with my endowment, "you will get twice as much back so this will help fund your retirment" was said to me when the endowment was sold. When it matured I got half back what the basic amount was. If you are promised one thing and then this doesn't happen or is not absolutely clear that it is happening then to me thats bad advice?

    If I told you to pay me £50 per month for 25 years and I will double your money and then after 25 years you half my money, thats not right. Its ok to say there was paperwork to say it goes up and donw and is not guaranteed but if you are sitting with a financial adviser who is very pro endowment and will not say a bad thing you have to take something from that, that is the advice is it not?

    The Serps plan may well be a good plan, but if it was sold to me incorrectly then I may well be within the 1.5% of 8 million? Thats 120,000 people. If there are so many why don't the Industry sort that out.

    I was younger and naive I was in a pub with my friend and within 10 minutes of being approached by a financial adviser we were both opted out. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't received that advice, was that advice in my best interest? I don't know, I do know that the adviser who gave the advice didn't know because they didn't take any info except what he needed for the form.
    Sorry for the rant!!
  • jem16
    jem16 Posts: 19,397
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    honizz wrote: »
    The Serps plan may well be a good plan, but if it was sold to me incorrectly then I may well be within the 1.5% of 8 million?

    Unlikely. At age 35 you were in the correct age bracket to be contracted out. However as Dunstonh says, perhaps you should speak to an IFA if you are really that concerned about it.
    I was in a pub with my friend and within 10 minutes of being approached by a financial adviser we were both opted out.

    So you made an important financial decision on the strength of someone in the pub coming up to you? How do you know he even was a financial adviser?
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
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    Oh dear, still all if's and but's why can't financial people tell it straight.

    That is because it is all ifs and buts. You want a crytall ball and there isnt one. Who knows what Govt legislation is going to be in future.
    The Serps plan may well be a good plan, but if it was sold to me incorrectly then I may well be within the 1.5% of 8 million? Thats 120,000 people.

    What evidence do you have to say it was sold incorrectly. Also, remember that you are applying the rules in the year you did it. not todays rules. At your age, you were best to contract out anyway. So, you wont be in that 1.5%.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • honizz
    honizz Posts: 74 Forumite
    Did you mean to say it was best for me to contract out? How could you possibly know that. If the FSA according to you say that 120000 were badly advised I might be one of them.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
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    Did you mean to say it was best for me to contract out? How could you possibly know that. If the FSA according to you say that 120000 were badly advised I might be one of them.

    The FSA flow chart says you are not. Basically if you were under the age of 45 at the point of contracting out then you were not mis-sold. The 1.5% applied to those above age 45 when contracting out. However, it is only potentially mis-sold as there were period when rebates were sufficient to allow contracting out at a later age.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • honizz
    honizz Posts: 74 Forumite
    tinypic.com/r/10qgugx/5 ( this is a copy of my award letter with calculations. I have removed my personal info)

    I won my claim in the end although they rejected it initially. I was actually 32 when opted out and Dunstonh given your last message I almost cancelled the whole claim.

    I tried to put a copy of my letter on this site but couldn't put attachments so I found a website that uploads pictures. If you copy and paste the code at the beginning of my text into a browser, it may appear. Although given my lack of pc skills it may not.

    Anyway I for one will never use this site again as it almost cost me 9k.

    Honizz
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
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    Anyway I for one will never use this site again as it almost cost me 9k.

    Cheerio
    I won my claim in the end although they rejected it initially. I was actually 32 when opted out and Dunstonh given your last message I almost cancelled the whole claim.
    You got lucky. Being Abbey life that could be due to missing paperwork or any number of fluky reasons. The FSA flow chart clearly states under age 45 as not being a mis-sale and under 1.5% of people were potentially mis-sold. It doesnt account for firms that have poor administration.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103
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    Congratulations on the very much against the odds success!

    From the look of the calculation the investments you've used did pretty badly so you ended up today showing a possible total investment loss of £2,073, spread over around the 23 or so years that half of man retiring at 65 can expect to live beyond. So a loss of about £90 a year or £1.73 a week.

    Most of the payment is £5,609 in investment fees that you wouldn't have to pay if contracted in.

    While the investments you chose didn't do very well you've gained by the ability to take the pension income at age 55 instead of state retirement age and the ability to buy a single person's annuity instead of a dual life one.
  • honizz
    honizz Posts: 74 Forumite
    Not that many of you will care too much but I may not leave, Dunstonhs reply of cheerio is not unexpected. Not very good manners for someone who almost cost me 9k, I thought IFA's were meant to make money not lose it... The reason I made a claim was because my friend had made a claim about 13 - 14 months ago, she was a couple of years younger than me but she won too so in my experience its not that unusual. Anyway I'm a little annoyed at the moment otherwise I wouldn't waste my time on here. Off for a stiff coffee..
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103
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    One thing you can count on here is frankness... :) Do try not to let that put you off. :)
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