Documents required by Mercers to transfer DC pension

saver_ali

xylophone wrote: »

See link in my previous.
.
Refer Mercer to the link above - point out that you wish to transfer a pension with no safeguarded benefits.

Thanks. Will do. They didn't phone me back this afternoon, like they promised, but I'll quote it next time I speak to them, and when I lodge a formal complaint.

ironhead

SonOf wrote: »

. It would be farcical if Mercer dont know the rules.

Mercers don't know sh*t

A more inept and apathetic financial institution would be hard to imagine....

For information, we had a similar transfer situation a couple of years back - it took from October to the following June to complete.

saver_ali

ironhead wrote: »

Mercers don't know sh*t

A more inept and apathetic financial institution would be hard to imagine....

For information, we had a similar transfer situation a couple of years back - it took from October to the following June to complete.

Blimey. 9 months! Just as well we're not depending on that money to live on.

ibizafan_2

I have a small DC pension administered by Mercer, and I have to say that all contact with them has been pretty shambolic, so much so that they appear to be pretty inept.

Marcon

Get yourself some free help from TPAS: https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk

saver_ali

Update from OP.....

Good news today. The money finally came through, nearly 12 weeks after we started the process.

I have to say that HL have been fantastic. One particular help desk consultant has been brilliant, regularly contacting Mercer for updates, liaising with other departments within HL and keeping us updated. She phoned this morning to say that the money has arrived and would be put in the SIPP today. She had obviously been looking out for it.

Conversely, I have nothing good to say about Mercers. They have never replied to any of our emails, never returned calls when they said they would, and their help desk staff are nothing more than message takers. You can't get to speak directly with anyone who has any idea about how DC pensions and transfers work, or the specifics of your own particular pension.

Their back office staff don't seem much better. If they needed a passport and marriage certificate, why didn't they ask for them back in June when they sent the transfer application form?

And why did they later decide we needed IFA advice, despite this being a simple DC transfer with no safeguarded benefits. As suggested by SonOf, I wrote to them asking them to tell us what safeguarded benefits were triggering this requirement. There was no response, but after a couple of weeks they appear to have changed their minds.

We still haven't had any communication from them. I only found out, at the beginning of last week, that the transfer was going ahead because I logged into the online account and saw that the pension had zero value.

The money then sat in their system for a week before they initiated a BACS transfer.

We got there in the end, but it would have taken much longer without the help of the HL consultant and me being very persistent with Mercers.

Thanks for the helpful comments here, which gave me the confidence to push back.

xylophone

Thanks for the helpful comments here, which gave me the confidence to push back.

Make a formal written complaint to Mercers about their poor administration and lack of basic knowledge as to when advice is required.

saver_ali

xylophone wrote: »

Make a formal written complaint to Mercers about their poor administration and lack of basic knowledge as to when advice is required.

Thanks. Yes, I will.