Don't use Hargreaves Lansdown

bowlhead99

ZingPowZing wrote: »

But then to deny involvement in the first bit?

It sounds like they didn't 'deny involvement' if they provided a 'Declaration of Advice'.

What they didn't want to do was have you over at their office making their adviser sign other people's forms to help you complete a transfer which they recommended you didn't do.

They confirmed they provided the advice and gave you a written declaration that they had. Another company you wanted to work with had some extra hoops for them to jump through, and HL didn't want to play that game. It doesn't seem like it's any more HL's fault for not wanting to participate, than it is the pension firm's fault for refusing to accept HL's written declaration.

I just don't see how you are able to rationalize in your own head your repeated statement that HL 'deny involvement', with the fact that they literally gave you a report and a declaration that they had performed the work and which they were happy for you to provide to anyone who asked whether they had performed the work.

[Deleted User]

Because every firm I approached advised me that I could not transfer without the signature of a financial adviser on their application form.

Catch22 for HL clients.

SonOf

ZingPowZing wrote: »

Because every firm I approached advised me that I could not transfer without the signature of a financial adviser on their application form.

Catch22 for HL clients.

If you use providers that retail via intermediaries then they will insist on an intermediary submitting their application. That then puts a liability on that adviser firm. As I mentioned previously, some of those you listed only transact via intermediaries.

[Deleted User]

You are welcome to recommend any providers that will accept an accept an insistent client after Hargreaves Lansdown have provided a negative recommendation and decline to attest to the fact on the provider's application form.

xylophone

Hargreaves Lansdown have provided a negative recommendation and decline to attest to the fact on the provider's application form.

They wouldn't have had to attest to the fact that they "went negative"?
Surely what was required was to attest to the fact that they had the necessary permissions/qualifications to advise on a DB transfer and had provided the required advice?

What they refused to do was confirm the above using the new pension provider's own form?

It seems to me that what has usefully come out of this thread (for future would be DB transfer candidates) is post 133.

[Deleted User]

xylophone wrote: »

They wouldn't have had to attest to the fact that they "went negative"?
Surely what was required was to attest to the fact that they had the necessary permissions/qualifications to advise on a DB transfer and had provided the required advice?

What they refused to do was confirm the above using the new pension provider's own form?

It seems to me that what has usefully come out of this thread (for future would be DB transfer candidates) is post 133.

The important bit is that HL refuse to acknowledge that they provide - very expensive - financial advice on another provider's form.

What that means is that a an insistent client is up s**t creek without a paddle, if they choose Hargreaves Lansdown.

[Deleted User]

Some people have suggested that approaching AJ Bell may be the "way out of the woods" for Hargreaves Lansdown clients stuck with a negative DB recommendation and, happily, today they have confirmed that this is the case:


Your recent chat with Rebekah
You
Good morning

Rebekah
Hello, you're speaking to Rebekah. How can I help you today?

You
Hello, Rebekah
I have a question about transferring a DB pension, following advice from a Hargreaves Lansdown pension transfer analyst.

Rebekah
Okay, sure. How can I help with that?

You
Is that something you could address?
In the case of a negative recommendation, Hargreaves Lansdown provide a declaration, to the fact that advice has been bought.
But they won't "facilitate" a transfer for an insistent client.
Which means, they will not sign a declaration on the transfer form of a recipient provider.
Can the insistent client transfer to AJ bell without HL signing your transfer form?

Rebekah
I will just check this with the relevant team. As far as I am aware, we at AJ Bell Youinvest are happy to accept transfers in of defined benefit pensions as the result of either positive or negative advice.

You
Thank you.

Rebekah
As part of our transfer in paperwork, I don't believe that there is anywhere that the ceding scheme would have to sign, however, please bear with me and I will check for you.
Thank you for your patience.

You
NP

Rebekah
I can confirm that we do not have a declaration as part of our transfer in paperwork that Hargreaves would sign.
If they won't sign the declaration to say that they have given you advice, then you would have to discuss this with your current provider and they should be able to give you guidance to what you can do next.

You
No, they will provide their own declaration so that is not a problem.
May I ask a further question?

Rebekah
Yes, of course! How can I assist?

You
I want to pick all my own investments and self manage my SIPP.
Can one do that with your firm, please?

Rebekah
Yes, I can confirm that AJ Bell Youinvest is a DIY, execution-only platform therefore any investing will be done solely by yourself.

You
Magic.
And finally, do you have pension transfer specialists in house?

Rebekah
We do have a team of transfer specialists that specialise across all of the accounts we offer. However, I am unsure as to whom is specialist trained with regards to pension transfers I'm afraid.

You
Ok, all very helpful and positive.
Thank you and have a nice day.

Rebekah
Very glad I could help! Is there anything else I can help with today?

You
No thank you, I'll let you get on.

Rebekah
Thank you for using our web chat service, and have a great day too!

SonOf

Some people have suggested that approaching AJ Bell may be the "way out of the woods" for Hargreaves Lansdown clients stuck with a negative DB recommendation and, happily, today they have confirmed that this is the case:

As we have said a number of times, you need to deal with a direct to consumer provider and not an intermediary provider. So, the outcome fits exactly that.

Rebekah
We do have a team of transfer specialists that specialise across all of the accounts we offer. However, I am unsure as to whom is specialist trained with regards to pension transfers I'm afraid.

She has misunderstood that bit. Pension transfer specialist is a defined regulatory role. i.e. an adviser or person that hold the qualifications and regulatory permissions to advise on pension transfers, opt outs and a few other areas. It is unlikely they have a PTS when they are a non-advised service.

coyrls

But to be fair, with a signed advice declaration, a Pension Transfer Specialist would not be required to facilitate the transfer; it would be handled by AJ Bell's transfer team referred to by Rebekah.

atush

Congrats OP fort finally listening to what you were told all that time ago.

Going to stop ranting on every DB transfer thread now?