Clerical Medical Customer Service

ClericalMedicalVictim

Has anybody experienced the appalling standards of customer service being delivered by Clerical Medical of late ? I would be interested in gathering a body of affected customers with a view to achieving a satisfactory level of conduct by Clerical Medical. In response to my recent experiences I have been told that Clerical Medical have installed a new IT system that is causing widespread problems - I am assuming I am not the only person affected ?

dunstonh

Has anybody experienced the appalling standards of customer service being delivered by Clerical Medical of late ?

Of late?    Or pretty much from the point Lloyds Bank integrated them into Scottish Widows.

I have been told that Clerical Medical have installed a new IT system that is causing widespread problems - I am assuming I am not the only person affected ?

The old CM systems had issues and I have noticed online valuations have not been available or porting through to our back office software.  However, CM plans have done that on and off every few years for the last decade.

That said, their telephone line and providing of information manually is no different to usual (i.e. within 10 days).

What is your issue?

Marcon

ClericalMedicalVictim said:

 I would be interested in gathering a body of affected customers with a view to achieving a satisfactory level of conduct by Clerical Medical. 

How do you imagine you'll do that? Vote with your feet - move your funds.

ClericalMedicalVictim

Voting with my feet is an option, but why should I go to the trouble and expense of doing so - is it asking too much of any company to do the basics right ?
I surely can't be the only person affected by this IT mess - how can a company, especially in a regulated industry get away with launching a disfunctional system ? The expense of getting things right will be born by policyholders losing out; I'm pretty confident those that launched an untested system won't be missing out financially. The only reason this hasn't hit the headlines as TSB did is that people haven't been impacted with day to day cash issues.

dunstonh

Voting with my feet is an option, but why should I go to the trouble and expense of doing so - is it asking too much of any company to do the basics right ?

What makes you think it is an expense?    CM were good in their day but its rare to come across a CM plan that cannot be improved upon with modern options.

The only reason this hasn't hit the headlines as TSB did is that people haven't been impacted with day to day cash issues.

Exactly. It hasn't been impacting people on any widespread basis.

You still haven't said what your issue is.

Marcon

ClericalMedicalVictim said:

Voting with my feet is an option, but why should I go to the trouble and expense of doing so - is it asking too much of any company to do the basics right ?

It's what most sensible people do in any field where they are dissatisfied with the service they are receiving. Why would pensions be any different? Very easy to transfer, and likely to have little or no 'expense' involved. As dunstonh has pointed out, you could do a lot better by going elsewhere.

Do you want to stick where you are and go on fussing, or do something which would not only solve your problem but possibly improve things for you? You are using the moniker 'Clerical Medical Victim' but haven't said why/what you're a victim of, other than complaining about poor customer service.

Far more trouble to go the route you are proposing...how many people are likely to be interested?

barnstar2077

If you give some details about your current financial situation then you may be able to get some suggestions as to a suitable alternative.  As said above, the cost of transferring would likely be non existent, and you will save yourself a lot of stress. 

the-e-dealer

ClericalMedicalVictim said:

Has anybody experienced the appalling standards of customer service being delivered by Clerical Medical of late ? I would be interested in gathering a body of affected customers with a view to achieving a satisfactory level of conduct by Clerical Medical. In response to my recent experiences I have been told that Clerical Medical have installed a new IT system that is causing widespread problems - I am assuming I am not the only person affected ?

Absolutely. 4 months and they still havent moved my pension to a better provider as requested. Duplicate forms sent to me. Missing forms Mistakes failures to get back to me 3 Complaint Managers so far. Why should it be hard to move a relatively small amount of money - 72,000. So easy to take out of a bank. Im seriously thinking of campng outside their head office. 

Sarahspangles

the-e-dealer said:

ClericalMedicalVictim said:

Has anybody experienced the appalling standards of customer service being delivered by Clerical Medical of late ? I would be interested in gathering a body of affected customers with a view to achieving a satisfactory level of conduct by Clerical Medical. In response to my recent experiences I have been told that Clerical Medical have installed a new IT system that is causing widespread problems - I am assuming I am not the only person affected ?

Absolutely. 4 months and they still havent moved my pension to a better provider as requested. Duplicate forms sent to me. Missing forms Mistakes failures to get back to me 3 Complaint Managers so far. Why should it be hard to move a relatively small amount of money - 72,000. So easy to take out of a bank. Im seriously thinking of campng outside their head office. 

It’s really cold in Scotland at this time of year.

dunstonh

Absolutely. 4 months and they still havent moved my pension to a better provider as requested.

I have transferred 2 CM pensions in that period and both took about 2 weeks.  No forms required as both CM and receiving scheme use Origo.

Duplicate forms sent to me. 

Why do you need forms?

the-e-dealer

they require forms to be filled in before they will do transfer.I am trying to move to Legal And General.  I'll build a bonfire of all the daft paperwork they have sent me multiple times.