Ripped off by Zurich and Interactive investor

philwal_2

Nobody has ridiculed the original poster.they have asked for more details in order that they can help.

Credit-Crunched

agarnett wrote: »

Peter Green's complaint is not out of keeping with the general tone of the forum, which needs balance.

On the one side you have financial advisors, some of whom seem unduly worried about letting a "rant" (their favorite word not mine) against named industry players stand without ridiculing the poster.

That worries me a bit.

On the other side you have genuinely aggrieved customers who find that the UK financial services industry is not at all reliable unless the customer has above average power of some kind e.g. they are a senior employee or an officer of a sponsoring employer in a pension scheme, or they simply have larger than average pension funds, larger than average personal knowledge bank or time on their hands, and can twist arms, grease palms and press the right buttons amongst the big boys. For the majority, that just isn't realistic.

Most of us are never going to grease the palms of FAs in the same way most of us are never going to grease the palms of solicitors. Their fees are too high and they are no longer sufficiently exposed to personal risk when they make mistakes for us to be able to put blind trust in them.

I think most contributors in this forum do have excess time on their hands, so the suggestion that experts here are giving their time free as some important charitable enterprise which demands respect is a little overdone. It doesn't need to be said. We are all entitled to be here because we want to be (MSE says anyone can post) and that includes MSE'ers who wish to strongly criticise named parts of the industry in which other posters make their livings.

I think zagfles has echoed the most important point:and since that was the jist of the original post, I don't understand why anyone should ridicule it.

I agree that forum's need balance, but I see a lot of useful information furnished upon people for free, relating to taxation, benefit in kinds, pension contributions, IHT questions, gifting etc

Yes, people may have some free time on their hands to respond, I work a flexible day, so I take time out when I can, then generally work later into the evening.

If someone has a genuine concern, then raise it, do not attack the very people that you are asking for advice from..It is common courtesy.

Re sols, you clearly have never found yourself at the wrong end of a claim. My solicitors were worth their 'fee' ten fold in my instance, both financially and also as a counsel, as my accountant also earns his money 10 fold.

Credit-Crunched

agarnett wrote: »

Peter Green's complaint is not out of keeping with the general tone of the forum, which needs balance.

On the one side you have financial advisors, some of whom seem unduly worried about letting a "rant" (their favorite word not mine) against named industry players stand without ridiculing the poster.

That worries me a bit.

On the other side you have genuinely aggrieved customers who find that the UK financial services industry is not at all reliable unless the customer has above average power of some kind e.g. they are a senior employee or an officer of a sponsoring employer in a pension scheme, or they simply have larger than average pension funds, larger than average personal knowledge bank or time on their hands, and can twist arms, grease palms and press the right buttons amongst the big boys. For the majority, that just isn't realistic.

Most of us are never going to grease the palms of FAs in the same way most of us are never going to grease the palms of solicitors. Their fees are too high and they are no longer sufficiently exposed to personal risk when they make mistakes for us to be able to put blind trust in them.

I think most contributors in this forum do have excess time on their hands, so the suggestion that experts here are giving their time free as some important charitable enterprise which demands respect is a little overdone. It doesn't need to be said. We are all entitled to be here because we want to be (MSE says anyone can post) and that includes MSE'ers who wish to strongly criticise named parts of the industry in which other posters make their livings.

I think zagfles has echoed the most important point:and since that was the jist of the original post, I don't understand why anyone should ridicule it.

Clearly never seen a solicitors Professional Indemnity bill!! :rotfl:

agarnett

As far as I can see the original post criticised no-one in this forum. The OP'er did however then respond to being told he had made a silly rant, and something that likened a possible audience to pigeons

Credit-Crunched wrote: »

Clearly never seen a solicitors Professional Indemnity bill!! :rotfl:

You think? Once upon a time I created them and sent them out! It's a vicious circle. The price of PI is directly related to the daft prices the entire legal profession has got used to charging for its time.

And as for not appreciating the skill of solicitors, I very much do, and have gratefully been on the receiving end, but then I also understand my own skills which I would not even dream of charging out at solicitor rates even though they have been much appreciated over the years by others too.

There are too many people calling themselves professionals, setting themselves on lofty pedestals and expecting stupid bloody fees or special respect in the current climate, and the worst about it is that they tend to congregate in self-congratulatory and protective groups (if you ask me!).

Thus was it always so, ... probably

Credit-Crunched

agarnett wrote: »

As far as I can see the original post criticised no-one in this forum. The OP'er did however then respond to being told he had made a silly rant, and something that likened a possible audience to pigeonsYou think? Once upon a time I created them and sent them out! It's a vicious circle. The price of PI is directly related to the daft prices the entire legal profession has got used to charging for its time.

And as for not appreciating the skill of solicitors, I very much do, and have gratefully been on the receiving end, but then I also understand my own skills which I would not even dream of charging out at solicitor rates even though they have been much appreciated over the years by others too.

There are too many people calling themselves professionals, setting themselves on lofty pedestals and expecting stupid bloody fees or special respect in the current climate, and the worst about it is that they tend to congregate in self-congratulatory and protective groups (if you ask me!).

Thus was it always so, ... probably

I do agree to an extent, the old boys group is at times painful to work with. However, there is a fresh crop of new, forward thinking solicitors / accountants that appreciate the need to be affordable, yet valuable.

This is who I work with, they know my needs, and we work well. I don't pay astronomically, yet I understand they need to make a living, cover costs and provide a decent service.

Hey, I could service my own car with a Haynes manual, yet I have no inclination to do so. So the fee I pay my mechanic is a) avoidable and possible b) excessive. However, I see it as good value to me.

Services are all in value to the person, I couldn't justify paying a cleaner as I am young and able to do it. My mother, however, who has bad arthritis, sees it as a great benefit to her.

I hear what you are saying, and understand why you think that.

But, please look past the old boys club, and look for the younger generation, who don't have that BNI / Masons way about them, and are working hard, in challenging times to offer a good service.

OldBeanz

Perhaps the point is that there have been numerous posters who come on here blaming everyone but themselves for a situation that they find themselves in. Coming on here half way through a process which they do not understand and blaming others is ranting.
Most would have benefited from coming on here before they started claiming any pension where the options open to them, timescales, costs and whether professional advice is needed could have been explained to them.
PPPPPP as the military are known to say.
Professionals cost money and the free advice given here by IFA's has saved me £k's for which I do not thank them enough.

atush

petergreen2000 wrote: »

I guess as a "financial adviser" your attitude towards me having been ripped off is as i would expect. My considerable loss is to you just a crazy man shouting at pigeons!. I guess its that cynical attitude that equips you so well for your job and the reason why many of us have so much dis trust in you and your peers.

I am not a financial adviser. But I too found your rant rather crazy.

It isn't a conspiracy against you, it is imcompetence as stated. Get the financial papers interested, or file a formal complaint against both companies in writing.

I would be as angry as you are if not more so. But I would not be ranting about conspiracies either.

agarnett

Is this the "Let's see if we can spot a rant" forum or the "Let's see if we can call another poster's contribution a rant and make our view stick and meantime we'll offer very little help to them but we'll answer other posters who humbly accept they are ill-equipped to be in this world without us" forum ?

I think not.

Get over yourselves, please.

Zurich and II deserve all the ire and opprobrium they get - they are both big and ugly enough. They are not on this earth to help us poor darlings. They are on it to fleece us for profit and apologise for nothing if they can get away with it. That's what big companies do.

It is what small 1 man band here today gone tomorrow outfits do too and established posters queue up to warn about those.

The best companies to trust are generally those who care about their reputation. Few big financial services companies care through and through about theirs. Generally I think only IFAs care about provider reputations because if they like selling/recommending (call it what they do these days) big company products, it makes it harder to recommend them when those companies have attracted recent negative publicity.

The OP may have intended that Zurich and II together deserve bad publicity. On the strength of what was told to us about the disappearing pension fund, if it is true, then they bloody well do.

I would hope both companies have trawled their books to see which Peter Green it might be that they have upset and already made some effort to put things right.

Credit-Crunched

petergreen2000 wrote: »

11 months ago i tried to move a sizeable pension from Zurich assurance to Interactive investor. Between them they have either lost or stolen my fund. I have spent many hours emailing and calling both these companies and find that they refuse to take any action. They appear to believe that they are above the law and can treat your pension as theirs. I have started cases against them with the financial ombudsman and have called the police since i have been mugged and robbed by these rouges. They have a very plausible thing going where they blame each other for delays / paperwork etc while i am sure at the same time they are dividing the proceeds of my pension. Do not do business with them you will regret it

Peter Green

Let's decipher and see if this is a rant, and where we can help

"11 months ago" Why only now does he seek help
"they refuse to take any action" Companies are obliged to respond and provide a full and final response to your complaint, you are then able to consult the FOS
"called the police since i have been mugged and robbed by these rouges" ....no comment, it is civil matter and they are unable to help, surely this would be a common sense approach to understand this.
"here they blame each other for delays / paperwork etc" Highly probable, and a cause of frustration for many. Document each and very call / email and send post recorded devliery
"they are dividing the proceeds of my pension" ......

Can you see why this looks like a rant, and not a genuine request for help.

Police being called, pension stolen, insurance companies splitting his fund for their own gains, mugged, robbed..

agarnett

Well i think the most important bona fide on the first post might be the signature, unless you are arguing Peter Green must surely be a figment of someone's imagination too ?