Pension advice

CommuterRevenge

Hi,
I started a review of my pensions.
I contacted Unbiased, having used them about 10 years ago and getting £1,000 voucher off initial advice.
Was allocated an adviser from a company (can I  leave them names off currently just in case?) and we started a emails, whatsapp messages, and a private locked site to get a quote. I  signed lettters of authority. Advisor has now come back with "Personal Initial findings report" that states I  should to change 3 of m 4 (former work) pensions. He has quoted nearly £5,000 and ongoing monthly well over £100 he say's he's discounted from 1.3% to 1%
I feel sick, becasue he has said I have to pay for the advice whether I take it or not.
Previous advice came with a small fee each month but I understand some up front fee. Last time was £500 albeit more work and for different products.
I am not expecting something for nothing, but he has said he put 5 hours work in.
I cannot pay £5000 if we don't take his advice, which I  don't want to given his fee charge, and he's not said even where it will be invested. He's stated merging the 3 will mean I am £50k better off, but half of that is taken up by 12 years till hopeful retirment age x he monthly fee.
Unbiased are sympathetic but aren't able to do much, the Financial Ombudsman says complain first and when it reaches stalemate contact them.
The crux will end up being £1,000 fee in his quote which he has said is for each of the 4 pension + some for the almost £5 fee, but one of which he has not even heard back from.
I asked him twice about fees/charges but got no response he talked about establishing a relationship.
I envisaged a quote, like a builder or car repair, but this insistance of a high feels he has used info about the pension and some savings to guess how much I can afford (not prepared to pay)

How much would be reasonable for work done to settle this? £500 for 5 hours work seem excessive offer but I would like a clean slate. It's left a nasty taste, and I am scared to death of making the wrong decision and diminishing and losing my pension pot.

Many thanks for help.

(PS can you change your username?)

JoeCrystal

That sounds really odd. What do the terms of business with your adviser say on the implementation and ongoing review charges? Last time I used an IFA to do the transfer, I knew what I was precisely paying for as a fixed fee, and the payment of the fixed fee came out of the pension fund itself. What is the size of the combined pension pot by the way? 

CommuterRevenge

JoeCrystal said:

That sounds really odd. What do the terms of business with your adviser say on the implementation and ongoing review charges? Last time I used an IFA to do the transfer, I knew what I was precisely paying for as a fixed fee, and the payment of the fixed fee came out of the pension fund itself. What is the size of the combined pension pot by the way? 

Thanks Joe, the combined pot is a bit over £150k.
The terms have only just come out with this findings report, but it's a paragraph nothing contractual I  can find, I  might be missing it as several methods used.
Same previously, it was all very clear.
Thank you.

dunstonh

I contacted Unbiased, having used them about 10 years ago and getting £1,000 voucher off initial advice.

Unbiased used to be a directory of advisers.  It is not what it used to be though as it has turned more into a lead generation site where adviser firms that need business pay unbiased to get enquiries directed to them instead.  Rather than being a directory of advisers where you select the one to contact. 

They also allow restricted advisers to be listed on the site now.  Most IFAs I know no longer pay for an entry and just have the free listing. 

I feel sick, becasue he has said I have to pay for the advice whether I take it or not.

That is correct.   An adviser is employed to give advice.  That is the service being provided and what you are paying for.   Whether you decide to follow the advice or not is up to you.  However, the adviser has done the job you employed them for.

Previous advice came with a small fee each month but I understand some up front fee. Last time was £500 albeit more work and for different products.

You say around 10 years ago. That was the era when commissions were paid.    Back then product charges were higher as the provider would pay commission to the adviser.  However, commission was banned at the end of 2012 and the industry went fee basis only on investment class business.   As product charges no longer had to cover the commission, the charges went down.    Apart from small investors, most people pay lower charges overall under the fee method than they did under the commission system.

I am not expecting something for nothing, but he has said he put 5 hours work in.
I cannot pay £5000 if we don't take his advice, which I  don't want to given his fee charge, and he's not said even where it will be invested. He's stated merging the 3 will mean I am £50k better off, but half of that is taken up by 12 years till hopeful retirment age x he monthly fee.

You are not required to pay any fee until you have been told what the fee is going to be and given the opportunity to withdraw without being liable for any fee.    That usually occurs relatively early on in the process.  e..g first meeting is free and the adviser explains their charges and you decide whether you want to proceed with the advice or not.  If you say no, there is nothing to pay. if you say yes, then you start incurring charges.

How much would be reasonable for work done to settle this? £500 for 5 hours work seem excessive offer but I would like a clean slate. It's left a nasty taste, and I am scared to death of making the wrong decision and diminishing and losing my pension pot.

£500 for 5 hours is not expensive or excessive.      However, based solely on what you have said (meaning we may not have the full story and just your interpretation and summary) you should not be paying anything if you were not informed of the fee before the work was started.   In which case, you should be considering a complaint.   

They key is the point you were told what the fees were going to be and if you decided to proceed beyond that point.

CommuterRevenge

Thanks so much DunstonH,
I won't quote your post just because it will be huge. I appreciate your comments as I  know you are a respected poster.
I did put trust in Unbiased, I  can see my errror there.
The part of the process that I think I am at is exactly this part " You are not required to pay any fee until you have been told what the fee is going to be and given the opportunity to withdraw without being liable for any fee."
but he has stated exactly the oppostite that I pay him nearly £5,000 whether I engage him to change the 3 pensions work or not.
I guess I am querying have I totally misunderstood in my thinking  all I have done is what we needed to get to the quote, which he can't do because he hasn't even got one of the pension providers info back yet.
I guess it would be simpler if we had met, but its such as requests were done on Whatsapp and one phone call
Sorry for the confustion about the £500, that was me guessing a  reasonable counter offer to settle if he inists payment for the initial findings
I wholly appreciate you are looking at my view only, and I have tried very hard to give the overal view but it clearly will be skewed.

Thank you very much for you help.

CommuterRevenge

Just to update.
I wrote back saying I wasn't proceeding on the back of having to pay whether I  take the advice or not, as trust had gone.
Adviser replied a while later apologising saying I don't owe any money, it was a misunderstanding and can be resolved over a phone call, and hopefully I will restore the trust. I think Unbiased did actually help by the wording.
A relief.
I'm going to take a step back and read through much more of this section of the forum and get a better steer.
Thanks for the advice.