Problems getting funds released from Prudential

BonBons2021

Hi, 
I posted last night about the fact we are selling our house and are struggling to exchange because our 'cash buyers' cash hasn't been forthcoming, all we knew yesterday was it was and investment acc, the funds had been requested around 22nd April and last week our buyer was told they'd been released and would be with him within 36 hrs, after it never materialised he was told yesterday it was 'awaiting manager sign off'. We went pretty balistic at all this and requested to know more info. Now we know the funds were requested on 20th April, they have 'settled', that the money is with the Prudential, and that the buyer's FA has stepped in and complained, the release is are apparently being signed off  today and we are told the funds would be released today alos, we asked to see evidence of this once it had happened, chased - nothing, so presuming it hasn't happened. 

Has anyone else had trouble getting their fund from a Pru investment, and how long should we expect it to take really? Have made the mistake of looking trustpilot and seeing the reams of 1* reviews. Really panicking it could be months.

We're applying for a rental property and it looks like we're going to have to pull out as we won't have exchanged by the time they ask for the bond.

MX5huggy

The Pru are in an almighty mess, don’t hold your breath, 1:20 hour wait on the phone not credited my account with deposits since November, through March the website said this will be sorted by the beginning of April, this statement stayed the same till April 15th now it says “as soon as possible”. 

But they are going to rebrand as M&G by Pru with a logo stolen from Orange so it’s all going to be fine. 

Thrugelmir

BonBons2021 said:

Has anyone else had trouble getting their fund from a Pru investment, and how long should we expect it to take really? 

Why did your purchaser leave it so late is the unanswered question. That's where the fault and blame lies. Easy to castigate others without the full facts an increasingly common trait these days. Speculation adds no value. 

BonBons2021

Well yes @Thrugelmir but now we just need to know how long it is going to take, we can only presume he's read the T&C's and didn't think there would be a problem.

dunstonh

Problems getting funds released from Prudential

That helps on two fronts.

Pru are suffering major servicing problems at the moment and taking weeks, if not months to get things resolved. It also suggests that it is an older fashioned product rather than a modern offering.

he funds had been requested around 22nd April and last week our buyer was told they'd been released and would be with him within 36 hrs

I suspect that is a fib.  Even the quickest providers cannot turn it around in 36 hours  The sale of funds takes either 2 or 3 days to settle.  Then you have the clearing cycle of 3 working days and a bank holiday in the middle.  36 hours is unrecognisable timescale either.  A day and a half is not how these things work.   However, your later information does indicate you are being fed a story.

It is easy to blame Pru for the service standards but no sensible person leaves money invested until the last minute before asking for the withdrawal.   If the money does turn up this week, then Pru have done it very quickly.   So, you should be angry with the individual.  Not the Pru.

BonBons2021

Thanks @dunstonh oh great, I knew they'd be with someone big, like I said we can only envisage that he didn't see a problem with being able to get hold of them, or he has been poorly advised himself. I do not understand what the problem is, he has the evidence of the sale, so surely it's just pressing a few buttons to make a transfer, how can that take months. Are they being investigated at all?

Thrugelmir

BonBons2021 said:

Well yes @Thrugelmir but now we just need to know how long it is going to take, we can only presume he's read the T&C's and didn't think there would be a problem.

I doubt it's a question of T&C's. More a question of leaving it rather late then demanding priority treatment. Anyone would think that companies have staff sitting around with nothing to do, waiting for a job to emailed in to action.  Time management is a rarely taught skill these days unfortunately. 

dunstonh

I do not understand what the problem is, he has the evidence of the sale, so surely it's just pressing a few buttons to make a transfer, how can that take months

When you invest money, the money does not go the investment firm.  They are taking your money and buying investments with it.    Those investments have to be sold before the money is returned to the investment firm.    Once the money has returned to the firm, then they can release it to the individual.  With Modern investments firms a withdrawal request  tends to arrive about 1 week and 1 day later (excluding bank holidays).   However, he is with the Pru.  The Pru does not have a modern whole of market trading platform. Its products are either legacy (no longer open but from a different era) or basic/old fashioned and running on clunky software with manual work required.   Old fashioned products that need surrenders take longer than modern trading platforms but are still faster than they used to be 10 or 20 years ago.  it could even be a pension drawdown case (The Pru retirement account being their main current product) and that could see money having to go through payroll before it's released and Pru need about 13 days for that from the point it is keyed as well as the drawdown regulatory processes.

However, you shouldn't be assuming that the Pru are doing anything wrong and there may not be a problem. The timescale for a legacy product is still in the ballpark expectation for when it could arrive.

As has been said several times, this is the fault of the individual leaving it ridiculously late. There is no indication that it is Pru that is doing anything wrong here yet

Sandtree

MX5huggy said:

But they are going to rebrand as M&G by Pru with a logo stolen from Orange so it’s all going to be fine. 

That would be odd given the "Pru" in the UK is owned by M&G plc after it was spun out of Prudential plc a couple of years ago. Pru plc operates in far east and africa, the Pru in the USA was never part of Pru plc but Jackson group was and they divested them after divesting M&G

MX5huggy

Sandtree said:

MX5huggy said:

But they are going to rebrand as M&G by Pru with a logo stolen from Orange so it’s all going to be fine. 

That would be odd given the "Pru" in the UK is owned by M&G plc after it was spun out of Prudential plc a couple of years ago. Pru plc operates in far east and africa, the Pru in the USA was never part of Pru plc but Jackson group was and they divested them after divesting M&G

You right it’s going to be called Pru part of M&G plc, Really catchy, I can see they hope to drop the Pru bit long term. https://www.pru.co.uk/refresh/ 

Sandtree

MX5huggy said:

Sandtree said:

MX5huggy said:

But they are going to rebrand as M&G by Pru with a logo stolen from Orange so it’s all going to be fine. 

That would be odd given the "Pru" in the UK is owned by M&G plc after it was spun out of Prudential plc a couple of years ago. Pru plc operates in far east and africa, the Pru in the USA was never part of Pru plc but Jackson group was and they divested them after divesting M&G

You right it’s going to be called Pru part of M&G plc, Really catchy, I can see they hope to drop the Pru bit long term. https://www.pru.co.uk/refresh/ 

No way, the US company and Pru PLC spent vast sums over who can use which brand where. Without doubt a similar discussion and agreement would have been struck on the demerger and M&G continuing to use Pru here... the brands got a couple more decades value before those that remember "the man from the pru" are no longer potential customers.