Pension bee, yes or no?

nicemiss65

Is it a good idea to combine the two with pension bee and just have one lot of paperwork?

Albermarle

As currently they are CETV's from DB schemes , you can not take them as cash lump sums .
So you will have to transfer them to Pension Bee ( or similar ) and then  get the money out . Makes sense to transfer them both to the same place.
Be aware the transfers will take a few weeks .

LHW99

If both went to Pensionbee, its possible the total would be above £10k now, so wouldn't come under the small pots rule. Doesn't that affect the amount that could be put into a pension going forward?

Albermarle

LHW99 said:

If both went to Pensionbee, its possible the total would be above £10k now, so wouldn't come under the small pots rule. Doesn't that affect the amount that could be put into a pension going forward?

You are right, but I had rightly or wrongly assumed from the OP's posts that they would not be putting more than £4K into a pension anyway going forward, as they needed this £10K in cash urgently .
OP - If there was any possibility that you may wish to contribute more than £4Kpa to a pension in future , then please say and we can change the advice - as in this case you would be better to transfer each of the existing pensions to a separate new pension rather than just to one. 

wjr4

How much will the pensions provide as income in retirement? Pensionbee charge £480 for drawdown and withdrawing all the money within a year. I personally think that is a lot to charge! 

dunstonh

wjr4 said:

How much will the pensions provide as income in retirement? Pensionbee charge £480 for drawdown and withdrawing all the money within a year. I personally think that is a lot to charge! 

  I don't blame them.   They are not a charity and such a transaction is costly.   A fee like that suggests it exists as a passive blocker for someone trying to take advantage of their service by using it in ways not intended.   If the individual doesn't pay to cover costs it would inevitably need to be found elsewhere.   Smaller providers and those that focus on lower values (on the whole) don't have the scale to cross-subsidise in the same way that the larger providers can.   Many robo providers are willing to run, often quite significant, losses as they grow their market share as its a long game being played.  However, someone transferring a pension to them to only draw it in full within 12 months is not a transaction any provider wants.

Plus, if you are a provider that relies on internet forums, websites and social media etc, you know that any potential "loophole" in your charging that allows a low cost solution for a certain transaction will be highlighted on the internet and you suddenly get a large influx of transactions in an area where you really don't want them.    A passive fee blocker doesn't harm the clients you are looking to grow and reduces the clients you dont want. 

nicemiss65

Thank you for all your comments, sorry I thought I had made it clear I needed the money quickly so I would not be adding any more for any long term plans, its purely because I have to, "move them to use them", so to speak. I do not mind paying £480 to pension bee if there is not a vast difference between them and any other provider as I believe they take care of all the paperwork for you.

SallyRoberts19

I would not touch them with a bargepole if I had my choice over again.  I have had so many problems with them and on attempting to withdraw my pot they keep being unable to "verify" my very standard bank account with NatWest!  I am beside myself.  They are absolute thieves.  

NoMore

Just to note before anybody starts replying to the OP, this thread is over 3 years old and has been brought back to life by the previous posters compliant about PensionBee itself.

Albermarle

NoMore said:

Just to note before anybody starts replying to the OP, this thread is over 3 years old and has been brought back to life by the previous posters compliant about PensionBee itself.

Plus the new poster should be careful about slandering companies on a public forum ( their last sentence) , however frustrated they are.