Direct benefit pension transfer

SteveB45

I have followed this thread with great interest as it is very relevant to me too.

Why is it that, as the beneficiary of the DB pension pot(s), one is not able to voluntarily sign a form that will indemnify the Financial Advisor and SIPP provider against any future legal action regardless of their advice/recommendations?
If I want to transfer my DB pension pot(s) to my own SIPP .. and the provider/caretaker company that are looking after my SIPP are willing to accept that transfer .. and I sign the waver of legal action .. then surely I should be able to arrange and progress the transfer?   

My own pension pot, from two DB pension schemes, has a value over £401K and I would like to transfer it to my own SIPP.
Yes, I could leave it alone but when I die the annual pay-out (to my Wife) is basically halved and when my Wife dies the annual pay-out stops. However, if I transfer it, then the pot value remains the same, is not annuitized, can be managed as a draw-down pot and remains part of my estate which can be passed on to my Wife and then onto my Family.

Yes, I have to manage the SIPP for myself, but the SIPP provider and other advisor Companies, like Motley, and our own Financial Advisor who helps us with our ISA pots, all provide regular and valuable information .. so we are not alone in this activity.

Should we, and how can we,  escalate and encourage a more public discussion on this topic so that even more people can be made aware of the severe short-comings and somewhat punitive restrictions of the current arrangements?
Cheers

Marcon

SteveB45 said:

Why is it that, as the beneficiary of the DB pension pot(s), one is not able to voluntarily sign a form that will indemnify the Financial Advisor and SIPP provider against any future legal action regardless of their advice/recommendations?
If I want to transfer my DB pension pot(s) to my own SIPP .. and the provider/caretaker company that are looking after my SIPP are willing to accept that transfer .. and I sign the waver of legal action .. then surely I should be able to arrange and progress the transfer?   


Should we, and how can we,  escalate and encourage a more public discussion on this topic so that even more people can be made aware of the severe short-comings and somewhat punitive restrictions of the current arrangements?
Cheers

Because the great leaders of the nation, in their wisdom, have put this legislation in place To Protect You (and in many cases the protection has proved extremely valuable, however much those being protected disagree with being protected!). If you could simply avoid it by signing a wavier, it would frustrate the objective of the legislation.

There's plenty of public discussion going on about this at all levels both within the industry and in consumer forums like this. The FCA's current sledgehammer approach guarantees that nothing will be changing any time soon.

dunstonh

Why is it that, as the beneficiary of the DB pension pot(s), one is not able to voluntarily sign a form that will indemnify the Financial Advisor and SIPP provider against any future legal action regardless of their advice/recommendations?

Because disclaimers are disregarded if the person signing it is unable to understand or comprehend the subject. 

If I want to transfer my DB pension pot(s) to my own SIPP .. and the provider/caretaker company that are looking after my SIPP are willing to accept that transfer .. and I sign the waver of legal action .. then surely I should be able to arrange and progress the transfer?  

Nope.

Yes, I could leave it alone but when I die the annual pay-out (to my Wife) is basically halved and when my Wife dies the annual pay-out stops.

Have you compared to cost of life assurance into your potential scenarios?   Death benefits are sometimes mitigated by an affordable life assurance (subject to age/health etc).   It is one of the things that need to compared.

However, if I transfer it, then the pot value remains the same, is not annuitized, can be managed as a draw-down pot and remains part of my estate which can be passed on to my Wife and then onto my Family.

Pensions do not form part of the estate.

Should we, and how can we,  escalate and encourage a more public discussion on this topic so that even more people can be made aware of the severe short-comings and somewhat punitive restrictions of the current arrangements?

You cannot.    The regulator rules the roost (and overrules the Government at times) and it believes that around 4 out 5 people are better off sticking with DB schemes.  Historically, they are quite correct.     Although that figure is likely to be wrong at this time.        There is absolutely no appetite to row back on this. Indeed, it is more likely to become harder.

LHW99

If I want to transfer my DB pension pot(s) to my own SIPP

There is no "pot" as such for a DB pension
When you have one, the agreement is that you pay in for however many years, and the trustees pay you a certain income when you retire.

You wish to change the contract mid-way.

Albermarle

On a more practical level, how about keeping one DB pension and transferring the other . If you keep some guaranteed income then it is more likely ( but not certain ) that an advisor will give a positive recommendation to transfer . Also I think the smaller the amount of money being transferred the more likely you will find an advisor to take it on ( not sure about this but seems logical) 

Marcon

Albermarle said:

On a more practical level, how about keeping one DB pension and transferring the other . If you keep some guaranteed income then it is more likely ( but not certain ) that an advisor will give a positive recommendation to transfer . Also I think the smaller the amount of money being transferred the more likely you will find an advisor to take it on ( not sure about this but seems logical) 

The key thing (at least for the ceding DB scheme) is receiving advice, not following it - so 'getting a positive recommendation' doesn't matter if someone is determined to go ahead regardless.