DB Pension Transfer Statutory Advice. 3 May 2020 at 3:42PM edited 3 May 2020 at 3:53PM in Pensions, Annuities & Retirement Planning 51 replies 3.9K views

VeganBart

I have recently become 55 and wish to cash in 2 small pensions that I have but as they won't allow me to cash them in in full I first have to Transfer them to another pension which I am going to do with Pension Bee then withdraw in full over the next two tax years.
One of them and possibly both of them have a transfer value over 30,000 so I am required to take advice that I don't want or need, I'm a big boy capable of making adult decisions.
What is the cheapest and fastest way of getting advice? I don't care about the quality of the advice as I have no intention of following it and Pension Bee will accept the transfer with negative or positive advice.

xylophone

Safeguarded benefits?
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/495377/pension-benefits-with-a-guarantee-factsheet-jan-2016.pdf

https://www.pruadviser.co.uk/knowledge-literature/knowledge-library/pension-transfers-conversions/
It won't be cheap or quick.

https://adviserbook.co.uk/ Tick "confirmed independent" and "pension transfer" when the menu comes up.

Albermarle

What is the cheapest and fastest way of getting advice? I don't care about the quality of the advice as I have no intention of following it

IFA's with the relevant qualifications are not that numerous and now the FCA has clamped down hard on defined benefit transfers ( due to lots of past problems ) many of these IFA's have walked away from the area altogether. They are worried that they will get sued in future for the advice given if it all turns out wrong.

If you go to an IFA with the approach mentioned above, then they will almost certainly say they don't want you as a client and you will be snookered I am afraid.

VeganBart

Albermarle said:

What is the cheapest and fastest way of getting advice? I don't care about the quality of the advice as I have no intention of following it

If you go to an IFA with the approach mentioned above, then they will almost certainly say they don't want you as a client and you will be snookered I am afraid.

I get that but how should I approach them? I want to avoid a situation where I waste a lot of time only to have them refuse to sign the relevant form then have to start again with a different IFA

dunstonh

What is the cheapest and fastest way of getting advice? I don't care about the quality of the advice as I have no intention of following it and Pension Bee will accept the transfer with negative or positive advice.

If you want cheapest then why not let the IFA transfer it?   If you state you are cost focused, they will have cheaper options than pensionbee.

I get that but how should I approach them?

Phone them up and ask them if they do defined benefit transfers?   and if they will do it if you choose the provider rather than the IFA (many wont) or if you pick the invesmtents rather than the IFA (many wont).

AnotherJoe

Albermarle said:

What is the cheapest and fastest way of getting advice? I don't care about the quality of the advice as I have no intention of following it

IFA's with the relevant qualifications are not that numerous and now the FCA has clamped down hard on defined benefit transfers ( due to lots of past problems ) many of these IFA's have walked away from the area altogether. They are worried that they will get sued in future for the advice given if it all turns out wrong.

... which can happen even if the advice is "dont transfer" but you do, hence the walking away

OP may be a "big boy" but the financial authorities treat you as if you are 11.

VeganBart

The reason I'm not keen on letting the IFA do the transfer is that i want to avoid a potential situation where the advice is not to do it and I have to start over again, whereas with PB they will do the transfer with negative advice.
Fast is more important to me than cheap tbh

Dox

VeganBart said:

The reason I'm not keen on letting the IFA do the transfer is that i want to avoid a potential situation where the advice is not to do it and I have to start over again, whereas with PB they will do the transfer with negative advice.
Fast is more important to me than cheap tbh

Establish at the outset what forms the DB scheme(s) require the IFA to sign and ensure, before you go ahead and seek the advice, that the IFA will sign to say the advice has been given. That's all they need to do - the DB scheme won't want to see the advice or know what it is. They only need to confirm that you have 'received' advice from a suitable person who holds the necessary permissions to advise on DB transfers.

You are not an attractive proposition for an IFA , so make sure you've definitely got one lined up ready to go before you get an up to date CETV quote - always assuming your schemes are currently issuing such quotes (at present many aren't). Also be aware that is going to cost you a fair slug of two quite modest transfer values.

Colin_1234

I too wish to transfer a DB pension to PensionBee that has a value of over £30,000. I need to be able to access my pension pot now.  All IFA's I have recently spoken to are unable to help me when they find out its a DB pension I want to transfer. I spoke to one yesterday who advised me that the network he is part of don't support DB pension transfers anymore. They are worried about being sued in the future for giving bad advice. All I want to be able to do is to access my own money. If I was able to sign a declaration to say I will never sue the IFA in the future I would. The firm that administers my pension will still proceed with the transfer if the IFA advises against it.  If the value was below £30,000 the transfer would have been completed by now without any issues. If you were lucky enough to find an IFA to sign the transfer form you would still need to pay the person £2,500. This is a ridiculous situation that the FCA needs to change quickly.

Thrugelmir

Colin_1234 said:

This is a ridiculous situation that the FCA needs to change quickly.

Too many poorly advised transfers already for that to happen. 

Densol

I have a CETV of £93,000. It was just a very old Pru pension from the 80’s which I had forgot about !! I thought Id have ten quid in it so mega surprised !
Anyway I found a IFA and he quoted around £4000 to do the paperwork to transfer

In the end I decided to just take the 25% lump sum and let it pay £200 a month from this Nov
Seemed all very complicated and I couldn't be bothered in the end to transfer it