Pension has finally landed - As an insistent client acting against advice -*DOORS CLOSED 03/09/2021*

Malthusian

I've tried AVIVA and Standard Life for a stakeholder and they wont accept an insistent client the latter may through an IFA.(?)

If you had opened one with a nominal £20 contribution and then told them you wanted to transfer a DB pension, they would be legally obliged to accept it.

However you have informed both of them that you want to transfer in a DB pension against advice, so the chances of them letting you open one are now slim to none. There is no legal obligation to accept business in general.

If you intend to care full-time for your parents, is selling the house and moving in with them an option?

It's not clear how the prohibitively complex process of cashing in the DB pension against advice has "ruined your life" when there's nothing stopping you from drawing income from either the DB pension or the SIPPs or both to meet your mortgage payments (perhaps after partially paying it off with whatever lump sums are available and don't involve paying excessive tax).

Marcon

DeadlyD said:

Both will accept an insistent client via an IFA.   Indeed, most providers offering products via intermediaries will.   THe IFA carries the liability in those cases, not the provider.   However, without an IFA, the provider would carry the liability.   So, providers will not accept insistent clients where it isn't going through an adviser agency.
 This filled me with hope that the IFA (I currently have pensions with SJP but they don't want to even carry the suitability) will take an insistent client on board however.. 
So, the PI insurers basically put a block on it by telling firms they would not cover insistent client cases.

So basically I won't find an IFA that will take me on as an insistent client because the IFA wont have insurance. 

I am devastated this has basically ruined my life. There is zero point asking for a transfer paying £6,000 for no IFA to take me on - is that right? 
Thanks for your straightforward response.. its a minefield to say the least. 

Have you asked your scheme if they will consider a partial transfer, which is exactly what it sounds: you transfer out the cash value of some of your DB benefits to a DC scheme, and leave the rest in the DB scheme (obviously it would then pay out lower DB benefits - the scheme would be able to tell you what these would be, if they do indeed offer partial transfers). 

You will still need advice because your total CETV is over £30K, but keeping some DB benefits can sometimes impact on the outcome of that advice process. 

xylophone

If you had opened one with a nominal £20 contribution and then told them you wanted to transfer a DB pension, they would be legally obliged to accept it.

Looking at the legislation, it would appear that this should be the case BUT.....

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6290902/db-pension-transfer-advice/p4

xylophone

I've waited until I am at an age I can retire. 

Do you mean that you have reached age 55?

Or that you have reached the age where you could take your DB pension with actuarial reduction?

Or without actuarial reduction?

Have you thought of  ways that you might achieve what you want without transferring your DB pension?

DeadlyD

dunstonh said:

All advisers have to have PI insurance. There is no choice. Advisers cannot transact in areas that they do not hold regulatory permissions or PI insurance on.   SJP is a tied salesforce and not an IFA.   They can restrict their services.  larger company FAs will restrict what will and wont do as they have to cater for hundreds or thousands of FAs that will have variable knowledge and ability.  So, you often find their systems and controls are set to cater for the lowest common denominator.

I am not saying your justification is strong.   Paying off the mortgage from the pension is rarely a good idea.  Inheritance can be just as long as you remain in a strong financial position.    Maybe you should speak with a large regional IFA firm.  Not a small local office but one that perhaps has a few branches in the local towns/city.  i.e. one that is not too small that it doesn't want to do DB transfers and one that is not too big and restricts more.

. I do have SIPPs too, am I missing something? 

So, could you use the SIPPs to achieve what you want and keep the DB scheme running?

Right so that's helpful, I need to find an IFA (I had no idea about SJP and what that means!) crikey. I guess I need to Google large regional IFA's I have tried Fidelity but not sure who Large IFA's are ..? Your assistance here on understanding is great thanks! 

I can use my SIPP 25% but on its own its not viable to take early retirement or care for my parents. Is there anywhere that advises what exactly is justification to transfer? I want to actually retire with investments managed so I can have an annual income but the annual from the DB is very, very small that's why I want it invested. Before anyone comments I do know the pitfalls but its just not worth enough and my circumstances are my husband retires 12 years later, so we will have other income. 

Dale72

Sounds like just the sort of situation that pension freedom was brought in for, but the cowards in the IFA cabal have put a stop to it.

DeadlyD

Malthusian said:

I've tried AVIVA and Standard Life for a stakeholder and they wont accept an insistent client the latter may through an IFA.(?)

If you had opened one with a nominal £20 contribution and then told them you wanted to transfer a DB pension, they would be legally obliged to accept it.

However you have informed both of them that you want to transfer in a DB pension against advice, so the chances of them letting you open one are now slim to none. There is no legal obligation to accept business in general.

If you intend to care full-time for your parents, is selling the house and moving in with them an option?

It's not clear how the prohibitively complex process of cashing in the DB pension against advice has "ruined your life" when there's nothing stopping you from drawing income from either the DB pension or the SIPPs or both to meet your mortgage payments (perhaps after partially paying it off with whatever lump sums are available and don't involve paying excessive tax).

Thanks. I haven't told AVIVA or Standard Life exactly - I called their hotline numbers and they said they wouldn't accept an insistent client. Do I still have a chance with the Stakeholder pension? is it AVIVA that would accept a transfer from a consumer without the IFA?  

I guess circumstances are very difficult to summarise here, but without the transfer I can't stop working, my husband and teenagers wouldn't want to sell the house to move in with my parents. There's a lot of other "life stuff" to consider. You are right there is nothing stopping me withdrawing from the DB as it is but it wouldn't feed the dog for a month. I could go on.. I want to be trusted with my own life and pension. 

xylophone

Thanks. I haven't told AVIVA or Standard Life exactly - I called their hotline numbers and they said they wouldn't accept an insistent client. Do I still have a chance with the Stakeholder pension? is it AVIVA that would accept a transfer from a consumer without the IFA?  

Did you see the link in my post above?

xylophone

Re finding an adviser.

You could try

https://adviserbook.co.uk/

Tick "confirmed independent" and "pension transfer" when the menu comes up.

Whether there is a pension transfer specialist should show under each listing.

DeadlyD

xylophone said:

Thanks. I haven't told AVIVA or Standard Life exactly - I called their hotline numbers and they said they wouldn't accept an insistent client. Do I still have a chance with the Stakeholder pension? is it AVIVA that would accept a transfer from a consumer without the IFA?  

Did you see the link in my post above?

I have just looked thank you. I have read through that thread a bit and it appears that there is still a catch that SL would need an IFA to approve the insistent client into a stakeholder pension, but then others say that its against the legal requirements and they must accept a DB transfer into a stakeholder. Which is correct? Think I'm going to open both an Aviva and SL stakeholder to be on the safe side. Who knows what a Regional IFA is?I've been sent all over on the web and I thought my SJP advisor was the specialist!!