Problem with LGPS AVCs with Prudential

MX5huggy

No, I’m not inclined to complain, but it’s getting there. What’s the procedure for a successful complaint (£500 being successful) . Some interesting stats https://www.pru.co.uk/about/complaints-data/

OldBeanz

My wife received £200 from them as payments weren't changed and they would not invest the monies now or give credit for the missed profit.
They went back to the Financial Ombudsman saying
1. they did not accept my wife's complaint was in December,
2. that she should have complained sooner
3. and that it was up to her to go back through the school office to the payroll company (she did not want to as it is a local primary school and the benefit of going direct to the Pru was a small element of confidentiality). By the time she started that process this site was already complaining so she stopped. 
1. The complaint she made is still on their new secure web site - dated 11/12. They haven't bothered looking at information held under complaints on the new web site
2. The email she wrote to them on 26/11 complained about the pay she would receive on 30/11; They haven't checked the wife's email correspondence with them.
3. She contacted the Payroll staff directly after this and they deny receiving a letter (letters in the 21st C) and the process was for the Pru to check the amounts received matched what was asked for. Changes worked for her April 21 pay so the system works. I fail to understand why they accept these changes but have no responsibility for checking if they work. They haven't followed their own processes.
I threw in that they did not give me more ammunition by not undertaking a Subject Access Request within the specified 30 days and dumping a confidential email from their secure system onto an unclassified email.
Apart from that...

Steve33

bioboybill said:

Has anybody else had any further success with these? Even though I got my £500 compensation from them I haven't dropped my complaint, as I'm not confident that their poor service won't recur. I'm already starting to wonder if my April payment will show up anytime soon!

I still haven’t received the £300 ex gratia payment promised on 17th March. Yesterday afternoon my account was fully updated. But whether I’ll ever get the £300 and how long it will take to pay my belated lump sum - who knows! Just looking forward to being paid my pension - savings have dwindled.

2J66

Update on my post from 7th May.  I have received a letter from Prudential accepting that my claim should have been paid on 31/12/20.  To calculate the loss they revalued the claim amount  increasing it by 8% per year "in line with Financial Ombudsman Service Guidelines".  In addition, as an apology for the poor service provided they awarded a payment approximately half of the revalued 8% noted above.  The total is ~4% of the sum the invested which is more than the fund would have accrued in the overdue time period. The 10 working days for the payment to be made to my account is not yet up but it least I have the commitment in writing with the Ombudsman option waiting in the wings. 

bioboybill

Still no sign of my April payment. Looks like the £500 compensation and heartfelt apology wasn’t so heartfelt overall lol. Maybe they should spend their money on running their business properly instead of paying out compo.

TVAS

Insurance companies like government departments have a track record of disastrous IT programmes. I suspect the Pru is going from mainframe (expensive to run and uses lots of electricity) to a cheaper admin system I also suspect they failed to have the right people on board who are to be fair rare business analyst whose first career was pensions admin for an insurance company. I worked on a project in 2008, annuitants did not get their monthly or annual annuity, drawdown customers did not get their annual drawdown. It was really bad for exactly the same reason as the Pru without Covid. It will get sorted and this is one of the reasons why one should keep one's paperwork just in case of loss of data at the Pru end. Good luck to you all.

MX5huggy

Jan, Feb and March payments turned up over night. Just April missing now. 

OldBeanz

Having made a complaint to the authorities that changes in payments were not being actioned; which the Pru replied to; then taken the matter back to the authorities as the Prudential's account was wrong in so many ways; we thought this would sort itself out and we could move on while the process plodded on. At the beginning of March we changed the payments for the wife's pay due at the end of April, the first in this FY. A letter promptly arrived from the Pru acknowledging the changes. At the end of April the correct amount was taken from her pay; hurrah. This week she received a letter stating that the changes had not been made but the change would go ahead from May's pay. If I do not complain to the payroll system then that lets the Pru off the hook.
They are still screwing up. 

bioboybill

My April payment finally hit my account last night. Down to just one month late now for me, but their communication is still seriously lacking. They ignore all emails and messages and have blocked me from commenting on their FB page even though I’ve only commented on there two or three times.

2J66

Update on my post from 13th May. The payment was made direct to my account bringing to an end the whole sorry tale.  The AVCs were disinvested 4 months late following an absence of communication by Prudential and the submission of a formal complaint which was upheld and did the trick.  Based on this experience would I ever use or recommend the use of Prudential in future? No.  That is a pity, as AVCs are a great way of saving close to retirement but unfortunately my pension fund did not allow a choice of company.