Pension Transfer mis-handled

Keep_pedalling

Why won't you name them?

GSP

Shame you are getting bogged down with this.
Is your latest CETV figure much lower than the original?
If we are talking you may be a few thousand down, In the scheme of things the figure you are left with is still usable.
Perhaps contact someone like AJ Bell who specialise in pension Transfers. I am not using them, just seen their name on here a number of times. They may be able to help with an IFA you feel you could trust.

dunstonh

I asked the 1st if he was qualified to do these transfers, and he assured me he was.

If he is, then why is he referring you to another company/IFA?

I'd already had one see me, who said he was and then admitted he had a friend who held the required qualification.

Which is a common model. It also seems like this one uses that same model. Or maybe he used one of those, now closed, analysis companies.

He had DipFA after his name, and I'm not an expert on the qualifications,

There is no designation for being a pension transfer specialist. However, there is an entry on the FCA register at company level which verifies whether they hold pension transfer permissions or not.

The company involved was on unbiased, they have offices throughout the U.K. and numerous articles by their directors appear on financial sites. As someone who has never had a financial advisor they seemed a safe choice.

Unbiased is a lead generation site now (no longer the directory it once was - many IFA firms have pulled out of using it). National firms tend to have more restrictions than smaller local firms. Size is not a a measure of quality. However, larger firms tend to be able to do less than smaller firms.

Who is this national IFA as I cannot think of any National IFA firm off the top of my head (excluding networks which don't count in this case). I can think of plenty of National FA firms though.

I did the best I could, but obviously I was somewhat naive, and never realised that having to get a financial advisor to approve the transfer, was somewhat akin to swimming with sharks.

You have contacted two. One of those you believe has given you the runaround. Now you are calling the other 20,000 sharks. Isn't that a bit over-the-top?

Shane6955

I am not naming the company because I am concerned that it may prejudice any action or case I take against them. Though I have only contempt for the way their employee behaved, and I truely hope other people don't experience similar problems with them.
I have decided to give up on this pension transfer and just accept the pension offered. I have tried 3 IFA's, 2 have lied to me and one is charging a fee that is more than double the others quoted, so I don't believe they are all like that, but it seems I am totally incapable of finding someone who can help me.
To be honest, the stress and upset this has caused me is not worth the money. It would have been nice to have this small investment for my retirement, but I can live without it, and at least have the satisfaction of knowing that none of these advisors gained financially from the way they treated me.

dunstonh

I am not naming the company because I am concerned that it may prejudice any action or case I take against them.

It wouldnt. The FCA regulated complaints process doesn't allow any sort of retribution or restriction. I suspect the interest in finding out who it is that the expectation is that its not actually an IFA firm but an FA firm. Especially when you mention it being a national firm.

To be honest, the stress and upset this has caused me is not worth the money. It would have been nice to have this small investment for my retirement, but I can live without it, and at least have the satisfaction of knowing that none of these advisors gained financially from the way they treated me.

Cutting off your nose to spite your face is not a good way to run your finances. If transfer is the right thing for you then you should transfer. Its not that difficult to get sorted.

Perhaps dealing with a local firm reliant on local reputation with owners/advisers there for the long term may be a better option. Rather than dealing with a national (who may not be an IFA) with disinterested staff and high turnover leading to no real buy into their service/reputation.

Shane6955

The firm was True Potential Wealth Management in Newcastle. They still have 3 weeks to answer my complaint, within the 8 weeks allowed, before I can take further action.
I am going to take my pension because I checked the register, re your earlier post, and it appears I now have an advisor who is listed under 2 companies that don't have pension transfer permissions, and the company on one of the cards he gave me, which does have the permission, he isn't listed under. Nightmare continues.
The other reason is that I am due major surgery in September, so for health reasons I want something sorted before I undertake this. All the advisors knew that was one of the reasons I needed this sorted, but they obviously did not consider it important enough for them to be honest with me and admit they couldn't complete the transfer.

dunstonh

The firm was True Potential Wealth Management in Newcastle.

They are not IFAs. They are restricted FAs.

When you employ an adviser, it is very important that you check that they are independent. Get them to say it. Research has found that over half the people who were seeing FAs thought they were seeing an IFA. The documentation issued right at the start should state whether the adviser is Independent or Restricted. IFAs will tend to make a point of highlighting they are IFAs. FAs will tend to gloss over it or put a spin on their restrictions. Indeed, the failure of you to be made aware of their status is something you could have added to your complaint.

True Potential are quite expensive. Indeed, I see the FOS have upheld a complaint against them for transferring pensions into their own product and incurring higher charges with no justification to transfer (and in that FOS decision, the FOS awarded a further amount to allow the person to pay for an IFA to put it right)

They still have 3 weeks to answer my complaint, within the 8 weeks allowed, before I can take further action.

Realistically, because you are not intent on staying with the DB scheme, you cant see much more than a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience of £50-£250.

I am going to take my pension because I checked the register, re your earlier post, and it appears I now have an advisor who is listed under 2 companies that don't have pension transfer permissions, and the company on one of the cards he gave me, which does have the permission, he isn't listed under. Nightmare continues.

That means he does not personally have the ability to do it but is referring to another company that does. This is actually quite a common model. Only 1 in 10 advisers hold the permissions. The current rules (which are under a review at the moment as mentioned) allow someone who is not the adviser to sign off on the transfer as long as that person signing off holds the required permissions and appropriate qualification. That person doesn't have to be an employee or attached to the originating firm

GSP

My recent transfer was due to be with True Potential, but changed to another arranger.
Nothing seemed to be happening with them. Colleague reviews told they were understaffed, overworked with more work coming at them than they could handle.
Their transfer fee was attractive, but costs after that were not so glad we pulled the plug and opted elsewhere.

My advice shane is to persevere. Find someone else. People will do it for you. Your next experience should be okay.
Do this for reasons explained in your OP, but above all keep calm and patient, its not a five minute job.
Just take it you got out in time and have no further dealings with them, put it behind you and try and enjoy what you seek at the end of all this.

Shane6955

Thank you for all your help on this. I'm going to phone my pension administrator tomorrow and ask them if they would accept the transfer even though the CETV would be a month out of date. I don't have high hopes, but if they insist on re-doing the CETV once they get the transfer request, and then having to get all the forms re-done, this will take 3-4 months to complete, and I can't delay the surgery.
My advisor says he will put the request in based on the old CETV, and they might accept it, but I think with my luck, that won't be accepted.
Just wish there had been more help when I started this process, I had no idea where to go, and although I thought I'd been careful, it didn't work out that way. The terminology is all alien to me also. Thank you.

Shane6955

Thank you GSP, it is interesting to see that I wasn't the only one. Just wish I been smart enough to get someone else, when they kept saying it was progressing.
In the business I work in we certainly couldn't get away with that level of service, but I doubt many companies could.