Advice please!

Hunter3214

I am 58 and wanted to transfer my pension out of LGPS so I could access. I followed Martin's advice and found a registered financial adviser and all seemed well. My husband did the same so we have been working jointly with the financial adviser. I haven't worked for all of last year so wanted to gain my 25% tax free and remainder taxed at 20%. My husband did the same and his pension was changed first of all so he got his 25% etc. When we met with the adviser he reassured us all was on track and I would get my money in March before the end of the tax year. I decided to call the LGPS office in February and to my surprise they said they hadn't heard from my adviser as procedure is to record any calls etc. I then called the adviser and he said that he had been in touch with them and they were being slow. Due to my call the process was started and all forms completed however it is looking less likely that I will get the money this year which I am so angry about. We are renting at the moment and were going to purchase house April 2017 however now we will have to rent a further year as this has put us back a year. I have paid £3000 (3% of 100000 pension pot) and will be charged 0.6 % each year. I feel really let down and my adviser's delay has cost me such a lot and has also created a lot of stress. Please can anyone advise on what my best option is? Do I request my fees back from my adviser has he has failed not only me but also my husband as he can't move forward either? Do I go direct to formal complaint with the company against my adviser? Any advice will be most appreciated.

dunstonh

I feel really let down and my adviser's delay has cost me such a lot and has also created a lot of stress.

How do you know it was the adviser that delayed? For example, the information the adviser would request would not be by phone. So, logging of calls would not be relevant. It would be a letter sent into them with your authority attached to it. The letter would be a fairly long list of questions asked. The administrator wouldnt issue the documentation to the adviser without the authority and the adviser cannot do the transfer without knowing the answers to the questions.

So, your phone call may have speeded them up but they must have had the adviser letter to be able to answer the questions the adviser put to them to allow the transaction to take place.

I haven't worked for all of last year so wanted to gain my 25% tax free and remainder taxed at 20%.

You do realise that a pot of £100k is not going to be taxed at 20%. You are well into the 40% band with that transfer value.

and will be charged 0.6 % each year.

If you are drawing it out, then the annual charge doesnt matter.

Please can anyone advise on what my best option is? Do I request my fees back from my adviser has he has failed not only me but also my husband as he can't move forward either? Do I go direct to formal complaint with the company against my adviser?

Transfers should take no more than 6 months. Typically occupational pension transfers do take much longer than retail pension transfers. Administrators are often slow, especially following the pension freedom changes which has increased workflow. They have more work to do than a retail pension would. The last occupational pension I was getting info from required 4 letters, multiple phone calls from me and several angry chaser phone calls from the client to them. They too denied getting the letters until late on someone at their end let slip that they had all four letters. Some administrators are really dire. Others are great.


It is not clear from your post when you started this process. So, we cant say whether the timescale is reasonable or not. However, you would typically allow upto 6 months with 3 months being more typical (unlike retail schemes where you are normally talking 1-2 weeks nowadays).

Once the application is submitted, the adviser has no control over timescale.

We are renting at the moment and were going to purchase house April 2017 however now we will have to rent a further year as this has put us back a year.

A couple of weeks is not going to make that much of a difference.

atush

Why do you think drawing your index linked pension out in cash a good thing to do? And pay 40% tax on it, thereby losing a lot of it?

Hunter3214

Thank you for your reply. I signed a document back in September 2015. Am I wrong to think that the adviser should have been checking to see all was on track for the release of funds before the end of the tax year? He told me repeatedly that all was in hand and the funds would be released in time. As mentioned I haven't worked for a year so I could get substantial funds at tax free and 20% however this won't be possible now as I do intend to go to work starting April. I felt that paying what I see as high fees that I would be getting a good service however feel that our plans have been messed up as we will have to put off for a year buying a house when hopefully house prices won't have risen too much more. I trusted my adviser and feel let down and stressed that we don't have the amount of funds needed.

Hunter3214

No I am drawing the money each year so I don't ever have to pay 40% as this would feel like I was throwing my money away. I wanted to take my tax free and remainder at 20% this year before the end of March. Now this will go into the next tax year.

dunstonh

Why dont you ring the pension administrator and ask them when they received the letter (which wont be the same as when they actioned the letter)?

No I am drawing the money each year so I don't ever have to pay 40% as this would feel like I was throwing my money away. I wanted to take my tax free and remainder at 20% this year before the end of March. Now this will go into the next tax year.

Ahh, your post suggested lump sum withdrawal.

How did you taking it how you are compare to taking benefits? (just wondering how it came out better as generically, I would expect the scheme to be better than drawdown in the way you are doing it)..