Implications of 'yes' vote on Scottish Widows annuity?

Annie1960

I have an AVC with Scottish Widows. A broker has searched the market for me, and the best annuity is with Scottish Widows, with LV= being a close second, (£33 a year lower).

I was going to fill in the forms to take the annuity with Scottish Widows, then wondered what would happen if there is a 'yes' vote in the Scottish referendum. I live in England, and want to be paid in sterling. I asked the broker what currency I would be paid in if there is a 'yes' vote, they contacted SW who could not give an answer.

Does anyone have any views or advice on whether I should go ahead with SW, go with LV= or what? The other option is to wait until after the referendum and see what happens.

I would appreciate any responses to help me make this decision.

Thanks in advance.

dunstonh

I have an AVC with Scottish Widows. A broker has searched the market for me, and the best annuity is with Scottish Widows, with LV= being a close second, (£33 a year lower).

You may find it is better to use an IFA or restricted adviser with no restriction on annuities. SW rarely come anywhere in the market unless its a guaranteed annuity rate. LV are a niche provider. Certain medical conditions can hit their sweet spot but normally a couple of others would be more likely to beat their figurs.

I was going to fill in the forms to take the annuity with Scottish Widows, then wondered what would happen if there is a 'yes' vote in the Scottish referendum. I live in England, and want to be paid in sterling. I asked the broker what currency I would be paid in if there is a 'yes' vote, they contacted SW who could not give an answer.

Impossible to answer as the Nats refuse to give any facts and prefer to play on emotion. However, SW contacts are issued in English law and if Scotland did go independent then I would expect most financial institutions that are not already headquartered in the UK to move to the UK. SW is owned by Lloyds Bank which is headquartered in the UK.

CLAPTON

dunstonh wrote: »

You may find it is better to use an IFA or restricted adviser with no restriction on annuities. SW rarely come anywhere in the market unless its a guaranteed annuity rate. LV are a niche provider. Certain medical conditions can hit their sweet spot but normally a couple of others would be more likely to beat their figurs.



Impossible to answer as the Nats refuse to give any facts and prefer to play on emotion. However, SW contacts are issued in English law and if Scotland did go independent then I would expect most financial institutions that are not already headquartered in the UK to move to the UK. SW is owned by Lloyds Bank which is headquartered in the UK.

Lloyds headquarters is in Scotland

emptybox

The financial implications of a Yes vote are very worrying. Which is why I shall be voting No.

I live in Scotland, and contribute to a private pension with Standard Life. Who are based in Scotland, but may move after a Yes vote.

Plus I have savings with institutions all over the UK.
I don't want to suddenly find that some of them are classed as 'foreign' investments, with all the tax implications of that.

Annie1960

dunstonh wrote: »

You may find it is better to use an IFA or restricted adviser with no restriction on annuities. SW rarely come anywhere in the market unless its a guaranteed annuity rate. LV are a niche provider. Certain medical conditions can hit their sweet spot but normally a couple of others would be more likely to beat their figurs.

It is for an enhanced annuity, and the broker said they can search most of the market, with the exception of Standard Life. The figure they gave me was similar to the one I found when I searched the enhanced annuities on the Money Advice Service calculator.

jem16

CLAPTON wrote: »

Lloyds headquarters is in Scotland

Their Scottish Headquarters are in The Mound, Edinburgh. This was originally the Bank of Scotland Headquarters and became the Lloyds Scottish Headquarters when BOS was bought over by Lloyds.

They also have a headquarters in Gresham Street, London.

mania112

Presumably, if the annuity is setup before Englands biggest county left (if that does happen) - nothing would change. Such is the nature of Annuities.

As Dunstonh says, I do not believe Scottish Widows are the best on the market anyway.

Aviva, Canada Life and L&G are names I would associate with a Standard Annuity at the mo.

EDIT: Sorry just noticed you said it was enhanced.

mania112

Incidentally, Scottish Widows aren't on the common quotation list of providers:

http://www.commonquotation.co.uk/Documents/Enhanced-Pension-Annuity-Quote-Form_V11.pdf

Did you sign one of these?

Annie1960

mania112 wrote: »

Incidentally, Scottish Widows aren't on the common quotation list of providers:

(link removed as the site would not let me post this as a new user)

Did you sign one of these?

Yes, either this or a similar form for an enhanced annuity. The illustration I got from SW for a standard annuity was low, so I went to a broker to search the market (all except Standard Life) and SW came out top for an enhanced annuity, with LV= just £33 per annum lower.
LV= seem to be located on the south coast, so the problem of currency would not arise, but £33 over 25 years is £825.

Annie1960

mania112 wrote: »

Presumably, if the annuity is setup before Englands biggest county left (if that does happen) - nothing would change. Such is the nature of Annuities.

But they might start paying me in a different currency (or would this not happen?) They were not able to answer this question themselves when my broker asked them.

I might try giving them a ring directly myself next week to see if I can get anything further from them.

jem16

mania112 wrote: »

Presumably, if the annuity is setup before Englands biggest county left (if that does happen) - nothing would change.

So Yorkshire is thinking of leaving the UK too? I hadn't realised that.