Opt out of SERPS/S2P?

Eastlands70

kidmugsy wrote: »

My experience with a modest SIPP is that HL are decent value and give excellent service. Other people think highly of Cavendish Online. There are others well spoken of: see many threads on here.

Nice one. Had a quick look at HL earlier and probably going to go that route. I had no idea that Virgin's personal pensions performed so poorly when compared to others.


As for my contracted out pot with Zurich, that has increased in value by about 10% in the last 12 months. Bearing that in my mind, would you recommend keeping that where it is?

waveneygnome

I have a small pot of contracted out serps money with ReAssure (circa £8k)

I'm 42, and assume contracted back in like everyone else.

Can I transfer this pot to my Sipp (SippDeal) and invest as I see fit or otherwise!

dunstonh

waveneygnome wrote: »

I have a small pot of contracted out serps money with ReAssure (circa £8k)

I'm 42, and assume contracted back in like everyone else.

Can I transfer this pot to my Sipp (SippDeal) and invest as I see fit or otherwise!

yes you can.

waveneygnome

Thanks Dunstonh.

i have just called ReAssure for a transfer value and its closer to £11k.

Yippee....more money for that fine wine investment and guaranteed 199% profit land scheme in South America.

diond

dunstonh wrote: »

yes you can.

I'm sorry if it seems that I am hijacking this thread, but I didn't want to create yet another Reassure thread.

I have a Wealth Plan (COPPS component) with Reassure with a transfer value of £3,773. I currently have a Local Government Pension and was wondering if it would better placed in that rather than keep it with Reassure?

There are administrative charges of £37.56 on my current statement, so am concerned whether I'm getting value for money where it is at the moment. I apologise if this is seen as a derailment, and if so, I will create a new thread for it.

Many thanks.

hyubh

diond wrote: »

I'm sorry if it seems that I am hijacking this thread, but I didn't want to create yet another Reassure thread.

This isn't a Reassure thread - it's a 'opt out of SERPS/S2P?' thread that has managed to get a follow-up poster talking about Reassure.

I currently have a Local Government Pension and was wondering if it would better placed in that rather than keep it with Reassure?

When did you start your current employment? If it's more than a year ago then the chances are you have timed out for a transfer in. Further, an administering authority (i.e., the people who look after the pension fund) have the right to refuse a non-Club transfer (which is the sort yours would be), though most don't exercise it.

Assuming a transfer is possible (you could phone the pension fund to check), get an estimate of what it will buy you - the form to complete should be available on your LGPS fund's website.

That said, if you're in England or Wales then given the transfer would be done under CARE scheme rules in which you purchase a fixed amount of indexed-linked pension rather than additional membership. If anything that makes the decision easier however.

bigadaj

waveneygnome wrote: »

Thanks Dunstonh.

i have just called ReAssure for a transfer value and its closer to £11k.

Yippee....more money for that fine wine investment and guaranteed 199% profit land scheme in South America.

Assume and hope you're joking, I'm sure you are but never sure when reading some of the threads on here!

Maza40

I have been contacted by a company who asked if I was made to opt out of a SERP, I know I had one but not sure what happened to it. They are going to ring me back next week so that I can get the name/s of the company I worked with in the 1980's. Obviously I am not going to give them any of my details but when I looked online there are loads of companies offering to sort out compensation for being told to opt out of SERPS for a no win no fee offer. This is a bit like the PPI business, is there anyway I can find out this information free of charge as I am not paying one of these companies to get money back that could be owed to me. Thanks

dunstonh

Maza40 wrote: »

I have been contacted by a company who asked if I was made to opt out of a SERP, I know I had one but not sure what happened to it. They are going to ring me back next week so that I can get the name/s of the company I worked with in the 1980's. Obviously I am not going to give them any of my details but when I looked online there are loads of companies offering to sort out compensation for being told to opt out of SERPS for a no win no fee offer. This is a bit like the PPI business, is there anyway I can find out this information free of charge as I am not paying one of these companies to get money back that could be owed to me. Thanks

If you had a workplace pension and it was contracted out then you had no choice in the matter. So, a complaint would be pointless.

There are not that many CMCs active in this field. The CMCs thought they may get some scope but the FSA did a review and found a potential failure rate of just 1.5% of people who contracted out and published a guide with a flow chart that effectively said that if you were over 40-45 when you contracted out then you may have been missold (if it was a personal scheme). With a failure rate of just 1.5%, the CMCs mostly decided it wasnt worth it.

What you tend to see online are companies that are making up the complaint reasons to find out information about your pension so then they can go and recommend you are transferred into another pension and they make their money there. Indeed, some are using really dodgy investments and unregulated people.

Here is a link to the guide: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100210151716/moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/s2p_wrongly_advised_ink.pdf
The flow chart is on page 4

Jhoney_2

I have a Protected Rights pension pot now with Aviva, having opted out of SERPs early in my working life. I am aware that we are all opted back in and I have contributed to State pension enough to be eligible for that at retirement age, but is there anything I need to consider re that opt-out now? or is it safe just sitting there - doing...! Are there any benefits/access etc I need to be aware of? Any suggested links please?

Tried to follow the thread but baffled, frankly. Please ask if you need to know something more in order to answer my question.

Thanks in advance.