In a Pickle

xylophone

also regrettably xferred my final salary scheme out while i was there

:eek: Why on earth did you do that if you were looking for a secure retirement income?

How old are you now?

Have you obtained a state pension statement?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Kayserrant

xylophone wrote: »

:eek: Why on earth did you do that if you were looking for a secure retirement income?

How old are you now?

Have you obtained a state pension statement?

[

I was but a whippersnapper then (36). The person who i worked with at the time pointed out that i could then take it from age 50 onwards (turns out that was wrong as well!) so off i went.
Makes me feel ill now...I was a rookie, and as an ex “agent” had got used to believing the party line. (Shame i cant complain about myself!)
Yes i have had a state forecast ... thankyou so much for the link ... v kind
Ps i am 55 and clearly the stresses in my life have taken over my brain
You know, i was young n stupid then...i have no excuse, but looking back i was soooo ipstresses when i did the metlife plan. I had lost 2 stone in weight thru anxiety looking after my poor mum, i really should have deferred the decision, . I think tthe ifa had the wrong end of the stick, and i just believed him.
I feel such a twerp..

xylophone

i could then take it from age 50 onwards (turns out that was wrong as well!) so off i went.

Minimum pension age changed from 50 to 55 in 2010.

There are plans to increase it again.

Are you currently contributing to an employer's scheme?

ermine

xylophone wrote: »

Minimum pension age changed from 50 to 55 in 2010.

There are plans to increase it again.

OP is 55. He is safe from that hazard

atush

Pun wrote: »

Can't you just feel the finger wagging at you like a child being ticked off... Maybe the correct phrase would be 'could have been avoided if the IFA had given a better explanation'.

If it was a true IFA as popposed to an FA.

atush

Kayserrant wrote: »

Hi there. Thanks for the responses. The ifa had catagorically told me it was guaranteed. The money had been in a balanced portfolio, but he approached me with this pension as he said it would safeguard my funds and at least i knew where i would be. He said it had “lock ins” ...ie once the money had reached a certain point, it couldnt go back down again. I had no reason to dibelieve him as he had been a friend for some time. He was as surprised as i was when i found out. I spoke to the fscs about this and they told me that this plan was”already on their radar” but they could do little about it. I am devastated really.

Ok i will define my new “safe” . Low risk with not ridiculois annual fees to erode my pension.

If an IFA you can file a complaint and get redress, so do it.

dunstonh

atush wrote: »

If it was a true IFA as popposed to an FA.

You are talking pre-RDR with this product. So, its back to the pre-RDR definition of an IFA rather than the current one.

Most networks were IFA status back then. Whereas most are FA status today.

The UK's largest network (which dominated volume) closed but remains solvent. So, if it was them, then they will consider the complaint. And they usually uphold it on this product. They then reclaim the cost from the adviser that sold it at the time.

Kayserrant

yes, it was a true ifa in 2013 (dunstonh ithink your saying this was pre rdr, not the time i advised myself to come out of a co pension sort of thing which was defo pre rdr!)

I could kick myself twice now!

If a complaint is upheld re metlife ( not against myself, although i’d sort of love to see how that would work), how would any redress be calculated?

dunstonh

If a complaint is upheld re metlife ( not against myself, although i’d sort of love to see how that would work), how would any redress be calculated?

The most common method is to look at the value against a benchmark. Or if it was a transfer, ask the previous provider what the value would have been had it still been there. The former is more commonly used by the FOS. The latter by the FSCS.

Be wary of jumping the gun. The FSCS is not as "generous" in its decision making as the FOS would be. The FOS is very liberal in its approach. It has a slight consumer bias. The FSCS doesn't have that consumer bias. It is looking at whether you have lost out financially and not because something else was better but if what you had was unsuitable.

Kayserrant

Dunstonh... I wish you were my adviser! You are very well informed.
When you say “jumping the gun’.....do you mean I should consider not lodging a complaint or are you referring to something else?