pensions a.v.c;s

mor1

high folks,
im new to the forum so hi.
could anybody give me some advice on A.V.C'S.
i work for a WATER CO.,for the las 15 years i have been paying 3% salary into avc's as well as company pension.there has been several transfers from company to company during this time i lost 20% when equitable life went t!!! up.i had difficulty tracing them when my firm outsourced the pension dept but i now have a reasonable amount ehich is with eagle star.the fund its in is not performing to well so i have now stopped the avc's and invested that in an isa.
i wish to transfer the fund in the avc to a private pension but nobody seems able to tell me if i can and i have been told it must stay in linked to my company pension.i put this money in avc's as i thought i would be abl;e to cash them in when i wanted to(i wanted to retire early)
can anybody shed any light on this

maple41

Hi welcome
I also tried to move an old avc that wasn't performing - NPI!!!- Asked Hargreaves Landsdown to arrange it and move it into my SIPP. They first advised they didn't think my previous employer's pension fund would allow it but I insisted that they try but after a couple of months they had a letter back saying that it was linked to olc company pension and I couldn't get it unless I applied for an early pension on the whole lot.
Apparently you had to set it up originally as a Free Standing AVC in order to be able to move it. Bad advice again 20 years ago.

EdInvestor

mor1 wrote: »

i wish to transfer the fund in the avc to a private pension but nobody seems able to tell me if i can and i have been told it must stay in linked to my company pension.i put this money in avc's as i thought i would be abl;e to cash them in when i wanted to(i wanted to retire early)
can anybody shed any light on this

This is correct as the 2nd poster said.Did you get advice on the AVC ( if so you could make a misselling complaint) or were you just misinformed by the pensions department?

dunstonh

i now have a reasonable amount ehich is with eagle star.the fund its in is not performing to well so i have now stopped the avc's and invested that in an isa.

That doesnt make any sense. It's a bit like saying that the petrol you bought was bad so you bought a new car. ISAs and Pensions can invest in the same areas. So, pick the same fund you had with Eagle star in an ISA and you are in the same boat. Did you investigate what other funds are available to you on the pension?

i wish to transfer the fund in the avc to a private pension but nobody seems able to tell me if i can and i have been told it must stay in linked to my company pension.i put this money in avc's as i thought i would be abl;e to cash them in when i wanted to(i wanted to retire early)

AVCs are linked to the occupational scheme and are treated as an occupational scheme when looking at transfers. Only FSAVCs have the flexibility to move them (because they dont exist any more and are now classed as personal pensions).

Apparently you had to set it up originally as a Free Standing AVC in order to be able to move it. Bad advice again 20 years ago.

Bad advice????

up-to year ago, FSAVCs were considered bad advice (not quite bad advice but in general AVCs were better). Now they are considered better than AVCs. Times change and legislation has altered which is best.

This is correct as the 2nd poster said.Did you get advice on the AVC ( if so you could make a misselling complaint) or were you just misinformed by the pensions department?

You wont get an upheld complaint on an AVC sale. Even if advice was sought, the employee has to go to the administrators and ask to join. None of the paperwork goes through an adviser and in 99% of cases, there wont be any record of any advice given as the adviser did not facilitate the transaction.

You would have a hard job getting a mis-sale even if there was evidence.

mor1

thanks for the advice i will ask my FA to look into the avc fund a nd if they can reinvest that but still wish to pay into the isa as i wish to retire early 50 so can cash this in then as i wont be able to touch the avc fund until im at least 55