Paying an IFA (firm) for final salary pension transfer advice

Albermarle

From memory from the numerous threads started by the OP and some with a huge number of replies , the final outcome was that he was advised not to transfer and  start taking the FS pension , despite the massive CETV ( x 50?) and pay the pension into a SIPP whilst he was still working.
I think the FS pension was automatically triggered when he reached 50 in May .
Now the bill for the ( negative ) IFA transfer advice has arrived , eventually.

83705628

Firstly I fail to understand why anyone would want to transfer out of a final salary, let alone the whole thing.
Secondly, a defined benefit pension (final salary is a type of defined benefit) cannot "trigger" automatically unless you requested it to go into payment. You can defer most of them I think until 75 ish? Depends if it's NHS, Teachers, USS, LGPS, Civil Service or whatever. So the information on which you are basing this complaint, that their delay meant it "triggered" and now you can't transfer anymore, cannot be true.
Thirdly why did you wait until the last minute?
If you can really be bothered, and to put it politely you come across as a firm negotiator, you could write to them and say "You failed to provide this service by the time you agreed to provide it and it is now of no value to me because of your delay, nor did I ask for you to go the lengths you have gone. You are entirely responsible for the inconvenience caused to me and I look forward to hearing how you intend to compensate me."
However they will likely respond:
"1. We provided the service to the standard requested and required within a reasonable timeframe given the circumstances.
2. There was no automatic trigger on this pension as you claim, you could have deferred it.
3. We provided sound reasons for disagreeing that you should transfer.
4. We are not responsible for you waiting til the last minute to start a process that might have taken longer than the time you had left before this "trigger date".
5. We acknowledge that you have experienced an inconvenience, and that our service is no longer of the same value to you as i was when you requested it, and therefore we are prepared to lower our fee to £3,000 in recognition of these factors.
We are sorry you have had this experience and wish you well in your retirement.
A fairly competent and reasonably well-priced IFA service."

bloosn

83705628 said:

Firstly I fail to understand why anyone would want to transfer out of a final salary, let alone the whole thing.

OK.
Final salary scheme - frozen pension.

Linked to CPI with a 2% cap.

No survivor's pension required.
No pension guarantee required

Moving out would allow approx twice the lump sum, and 5/3s greater income, from an endowment, at 55.
It would take well over twenty years off compounded 2% annual rises to reach the income that the endowment will pay from day one.
No survivor's pension required.
No pension guarantee required.

It seems the obvious move...but someone has to be paid several thousand pounds to "approve" it..and might not...

Albermarle

Moving out would allow approx twice the lump sum, and 5/3s greater income, from an endowment, at 55.

Are you aware that any CETV on offer will have dropped significantly in recent months?

Using an endowment for pension income is unusual AFAIK,  and  would be interested in the details.

p00hsticks

Be aware that this is a zombie thread over two years old that a first time poster has resurrected