Best OnLine SIPP Platform for self managing drawdown specifically

shinytop

BPL said:

shinytop said:

I've done drawdown with HL and II and it's a fairly involved paper process.  The most complicated part is crystallising; varying income is simpler but still involving paper forms and taking days/weeks.  It's not even close to being like an online bank where you can withdraw instantly.       

Any preference between ii & HL? I was considering changing from Fidelity to ii or waiting a year and seeing ehat Vanguard is like..HL I am a bit wary of just from media reports e.g. Woodford, nothing else.
Our Company provided IFA recommends Curtis Bank (I hadn't heard of them either - guess it's a mates rates thing)

It's down to cost for me. If they cost the same I'd probably use HL for everything but for me, the fixed price of II, even with the added SIPP charges, is much cheaper.  But II is absolutely fine; everything works and they have a good phone help line. HL's involvement in Woodford has no effect on how they run their SIPP but remember II (and I assume others do the same) has its own recommended investments too.

g002ahe

Previously I used pensionbee for some of my accumulation pension pot. They were great at automating complex processes and pretty much everything for pension transfers (in and out) was done online.

So - just looked at https://www.pensionbee.com/drawdown

Is this comparable to other services out there? better or worse?
(i am not yet in drawdown)

RL11

I've been using HL for years to build up my pot and plan to stay with them for drawdown. 0.45% on funds is higher than some but no other costs, so expecting it to be pretty seamless. I've just started the ball rolling with considering drawdown or UFPLS for accessing my wifes SIPP via HL. Got sent forms for both. Neither look too onerous but I'm just not used to filling in forms these days. Their postal service is fast though. I changed bank details and had to be sent an activation code by post - got it the next day. Envelopes included with forms are all first class. Will look forward to the day I can easily operate the drawdown process online.

CFrog

I've been using HL for several months now.  The crystallizing process was a bit paper heavy and asked some basic questions but took about 2 weeks from receiving forms to getting 25% TFLS in the bank.  I hadn't realised but you have to go through this process for each of the DC pensions i transferred into my HL SIPP.
I know how much i want to draw down each month so i keep about 2 years requirement in cash in the SIPP (High maybe). I tell HL how much i want each month and the transfer goes through on the 28th of the month.
My plan is to 're- balance' my various SIPP investment buckets every 12 months or so and keep the cash topped up. ATM it's working fine but I've not looked at the charges HL make for providing the service.

Albermarle

but I've not looked at the charges HL make for providing the service.

Hl are one of only two main providers ( I think the only other one is Fidelity  ) that do not have any charges for drawdown, withdrawals etc . One benefit of paying a higher overall platform fee.

Linton

Albermarle said:

but I've not looked at the charges HL make for providing the service.

Hl are one of only two main providers ( I think the only other one is Fidelity  ) that do not have any charges for drawdown, withdrawals etc . One benefit of paying a higher overall platform fee.

BestInvest has free regular drawdown/withdrawals if your pot is more than £100K.  It would seem that if you start off with more than £100K it remains free even after your pot drops below that amount.

Freecall

BPL said:

Any preference between ii & HL? 

I don't know about HL but ii is pretty paper intensive.

I do one withdrawal a year via UFPLS and it takes about a month from initial application to cash in bank.

It is a 4 stage process where you have to print-off and post back lots of paperwork at each stage (some of it 20+ pages long) but I think that it is all regulator-driven so it is probably the same with every company.  It is the same each time though so when you have it sorted it is not difficult.

If you wanted regular payments I assume that once the amount was set up then it would continue automatically.

The speed and efficiency improved a bit when ii moved from using Hartley SAS to Barnett Waddingham a couple of years back but it is a million miles from being the on-line experience of the accumulation phase.