Phoenix Life

LuckyPhil

Anybody know about Pensions? My Wife has a small Private Pension with Phoenix Life. She started it in 1999 and the payments have been going up by 5% yearly. We decided to increase the payments but Phoenix Life initially said 'Yup, no problem. But the person you need to speak to is unavailable at the mo.' Second time we rang they said 'Nope. You can't increase payments.' THEN they sent a Statement and within the gumf it said that we CAN increase, decrease, stop... payments. BUT... when we rang and tried to increase payments quoting what was on the Statement they said 'Yup, you CAN increase payments BUT we need to see a letter from your Financial Advisor confirming that you are fully aware of the implications.'. Now, I ain't completely stoopid.. . somehow we managed to buy our little home outright 3 years ago without the aid of an IFA. And we bought a new car without an IFA. And looking on t'interweb it appears that it's a simple process to open a NEW Private Pension without an IFA. SO why won't Phoenix allow us to increase payments into a 20 year old Pension without paying for financial advice??

xylophone

Write a letter putting the question?
Has Phoenix stopped dealing direct with the public?

You could always consider a transfer out to another provider.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-5937747/How-pick-best-cheapest-Sipp-build-pension-investments.html

SonOf

somehow we managed to buy our little home outright 3 years ago without the aid of an IFA.

most IFAs do not get involved with mortgages. They leave it to mortgage advisers.

SO why won't Phoenix allow us to increase payments into a 20 year old Pension without paying for financial advice??

Probably as its out-of-date and may well be no longer open for new business or increments or is a version that could only accept transactions via intermediaries.

Who is the legacy Phoenix company (as Phoenix owns hundreds of dead, near death or unwanted insurance companies and has them on run down).

without paying for financial advice??

Paying for advice may well be cheaper than topping up a Phoenix pension.

LuckyPhil

SonOf, the pension was taken out in 1999 with Britannic Assurance.

lisyloo

xylophone wrote: »

You could always consider a transfer out to another provider.

Mine has an MVR of 28%

Get a transfer projection first

LuckyPhil

Thanks lisyloo. We asked for a transfer projection and they said that they couldn't give one as it would depend on what was happening in the Market at the time of transfer. We then asked them to send us a letter telling us historic MVR rates but the letter that they sent didn't mention MVR at all. Sigh.

lisyloo

They are being a nightmare as usual.
They can do a projection as I’ve had them before. It might be dates and not guaranteed but they can do it.

Why on earth would you want to increase payments to these people?

I can’t get my money from mine until 65 and can’t transfer it either.

If you want to persist then make a formal complaint an involve the ombudsman if necessary (which will take ages) but it seems crazy to want to increase with them, firstly because of the restrictions but also because their admin is a complete nightmare as you’re finding out.

Are you aware of all the implications? Charges? Age restrictions? MVR?
Doesn’t sound like you are on the MVR front.

SonOf

We asked for a transfer projection

You cannot get a transfer projection but you can get a transfer value. Either they are being obtuse or they misunderstood what you were asking for.

the pension was taken out in 1999 with Britannic Assurance.

Almost certainly old hat and can be improved upon with modern options and an IFA or DIY to modern plan could well be a lot cheaper.

We then asked them to send us a letter telling us historic MVR rates but the letter that they sent didn't mention MVR at all.

Is your fund subject to MVRs? e.g. if its a unit linked pension then MVR wont apply. Hence they will have nothing to tell you about.

LuckyPhil

lisyloo, we DID want to increase the payments into the pension BUT since phoning them we have definately changed our minds. I think we'll look into transferring it to another provider UNLESS they are gonna charge us too much. Sigh.

LuckyPhil

Cheers SonOf. I think we'll consult MSE again and transfer it to another provider that gets Martin's stamp of approval.