Can its say no to pension transfer from final salary to sipp

jamesd

Plenty of places will take a transfer against IFA advice. HL just happens to be one that doesn't. They would probably take it if you transferred to another place first.

HL has a £200 cap on their platform charges for ETFs. If your pot is large enough that won't be particularly expensive.

soulsaver

jamesd wrote: »

Plenty of places will take a transfer against IFA advice. HL just happens to be one that doesn't. They would probably take it if you transferred to another place first.

HL has a £200 cap on their platform charges for ETFs. If your pot is large enough that won't be particularly expensive.

Plenty? A few examples would be helpful.
And HL wouldn't quote me for a 'no brainer' unless it was positive AND I was intending to buy an annuity immediately.

jamesd

See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72173858#Comment_72173858

Sony_smartphone

Its almost like some of the IFA,s are holding people to ransom,,,,,
I,ve read somewhere that as long as you've spoke to an IFA then you have met the government's requirement to take financial advice ,,,it doesn't say that the advice has to be positive !!
What it comes down to is,, if some of th IFA,s don't get the 2 or 3% set up fee then they are not prepared to fill in the appropriate transfer forms,???,,,would it not be more fair and straightforward if IFA,s charged a fee to look at the individual's case , then fill the form in, stating on the form if it was positive advice TO transfer or negative advice NOT to transfer, ,,,,,surely this would close all the lose ends,,and if in the future there ever were any legal issues then the IFA could produce his copy of the advice given,,,,
Then the client could make a more informed choice.,,,,,surely this is in the spirit of what the new pension reforms and freedom's were ment to be,,,,,,,,or am I missing something, ,,,

jamesd

That is the requirement already.

dunstonh

I,ve read somewhere that as long as you've spoke to an IFA then you have met the government's requirement to take financial advice ,,,it doesn't say that the advice has to be positive !!

The law does not require firms to take on business they do not wish to take on.

What it comes down to is,, if some of th IFA,s don't get the 2 or 3% set up fee then they are not prepared to fill in the appropriate transfer forms,??

The fee you agree with an IFA is payable regardless. So, your point is mute.

would it not be more fair and straightforward if IFA,s charged a fee to look at the individual's case

Which they do already.

TO transfer or negative advice NOT to transfer, ,,,,,surely this would close all the lose ends,,and if in the future there ever were any legal issues then the IFA could produce his copy of the advice given,,,,

Which still leaves firms and IFAs open to a regulator and ombudsman that is very liberal in its consumer protection stance. Hence why some firms and IFAs just dont want to take the risks.

Sony_smartphone

Does this mean that if an IFA gives negative advice on a transfer and another pension provider accepts this transfer somewhere down the line the IFA can be held accountable ???,,,,,,,surely this can't be right !

What would be a "ball park" fee an IFA would charge to make a report on the validity of a transfer from a DB pension to another pension provider,,,,my tv is 255k,,,
I,m just trying to get as much info as I can then I can decide with direction to go,,,,IFA setting up the whole thing with the 2%set up cost and ongoing charges or find out if I can pay for advice to transfer and hand the lot to another provider without incurring the 2%cost,,,thanks again for all replies,,,,,its a big learning curve for a newbie,,,,,,just a ball park fee,,,,,it,ll help with my decision making process,,,

bigadaj

Sony_smartphone wrote: »

Does this mean that if an IFA gives negative advice on a transfer and another pension provider accepts this transfer somewhere down the line the IFA can be held accountable ???,,,,,,,surely this can't be right !

What would be a "ball park" fee an IFA would charge to make a report on the validity of a transfer from a DB pension to another pension provider,,,,my tv is 255k,,,
I,m just trying to get as much info as I can then I can decide with direction to go,,,,IFA setting up the whole thing with the 2%set up cost and ongoing charges or find out if I can pay for advice to transfer and hand the lot to another provider without incurring the 2%cost,,,thanks again for all replies,,,,,its a big learning curve for a newbie,,,,,,just a ball park fee,,,,,it,ll help with my decision making process,,,

The ifa can and there have been instances where they have been held accountable, even where disclaimers have been recorded and signed, teh client isn't deemed to necessarily know what they have signed.

Typical minimum cost for what you want is probably around the £5k though you will find many advisers will want a higher fee or refuse to transact because of the actual or perceived risk to their business.

And before you get on your high horse, this isn't even soemthing you have been entitled to for very long and certainly not at the quoted levels.

You may or may not have contributed a small amount of money to get a guaranteed Pension paid out at a set age. A combination of legislative changes and measures to pull the economy out of the banking crisis have made the costs of paying you your guaranteed pension very high. This then translates as a bery large cost which the fund is looking to discharge, there's no ransom about it, if you don't like it then stick with what you've got, it's what you signed up to after all.

Sony_smartphone

Hi bidadaj,,,,,,Thank you so much for the clear and unambiguous answer ,,, that certainly puts a different slant on things,,,now I can understand exactly were the IFA,s are coming from,,,My own experiences along this pension journey have been pretty daunting, ,,,,I've read that its probably one of the biggest decisions a punter will make and in my case it IS the biggest !,!,

Forgive me if I've came across that I have a high horse,,,I just want to understand this very complicated arena and make an informed decision, ,,,,,thanks again,,,,,,

bikeman

After doing more research I've now discovered that whilst I am required by the govt to get independent advice, that advice is not really all that I need because the pensions companies have added on their own little proviso in that most just wont accept the transfer without a positive recommendation from an IFA.

So likely senario is I incur a large fee just to be told that the transfer is not recommended (likely as most just wont want the risk of comeback) and therefore waste my money.

Of course the likelihood of a positive recommendation to transfer would increase dramatically for someone with a large pot and who is willing to reinvest through the IFA. So much for independent advice.

In short this change is legislation is only of any use to the very wealthy - i shouldn't be too surprised at that now should I.

What does seem strange is that it is the receiving pension company that seems more concerned that you get a positive recommendation. Logically I would have through it would be the donor pension that would be more concerned. I can only assume that this is because the receiving pension's performance/charges would be so easily compared the the donor pension that they feel they would be vulnerable to future action.

And finally to add insult to injury it would seem that many pension companies wont even accept transfers in from DB pensions below £30k. I have a DB pension of £100 pa from aged 65 with a CETV of £10500. Left where it is I'd have to live an unfeasibly long time to make it worth keeping.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/financial-planning/i-was-forced-to-waste-1k-on-advice-when-all-i-wanted-was-to-move1/