Pru stakeholder pension accepts insistent clients where they already have a policy

dunstonh

xylophone said:

the block isn't at the product level but at the agency/intermediary level.  i.e. their own in-house staff are classed as intermediaries and don't hold the permissions to transact DB transfers in.

 As I mentioned in previous discussions on this theme,  I still wonder why the providers are not protected by the legislation that states that  a stakeholder pension must accept transfers from other registered pension schemes.

Stakeholder legislation was created in the late 90s.    A very different marketplace back then. Retail distribution and product manufacture are considered two different things.  Even when both sides share the same logo.  Probably no-one thought about it as the expectation was that they would be transacted through agencies via intermediaries.

Linton

xylophone said:

the block isn't at the product level but at the agency/intermediary level.  i.e. their own in-house staff are classed as intermediaries and don't hold the permissions to transact DB transfers in.

 As I mentioned in previous discussions on this theme,  I still wonder why the providers are not protected by the legislation that states that  a stakeholder pension must accept transfers from other registered pension schemes.

They may be protected, they may not.  Seen as the issue has never been tested (AFAIK) surely no-one knows.  Why should anyone take the risk?  The potential losses are far higher than the gains.

ISTM the that the lack of clarity arises because the rules on insistent clients are being decided ad hoc by the FCA and the Ombudsman rather than legislation as Parliament only did half the job.

Marcon

dunstonh said:

The application form is dated August 2021.  However, they are not reporting the product as being available via the usual research data sites.     You could question why they would update the form if it's not available.   However, it is also possible that no-one withdrew the old form and the stationary people just updated it.   All Pru forms we were redone dated August 2021 to reflect their new branding.

There appears to be no links on their website suggesting the stakeholder pension is open to new customers.

Have they confirmed it is open and that they will accept DB transfers? - as per the other stakeholder providers, the block isn't at the product level but at the agency/intermediary level.  i.e. their own in-house staff are classed as intermediaries and don't hold the permissions to transact DB transfers in.

Apologies - I am wrong.

I was doing some late night browsing, remembered that the Pru's knowledge library had long said stakeholders had to accept all transfers, found their form and precisely because it was dated 08/21 thought that meant they were open to new business. Hence my happy post...urgh. Thank you for putting me right. I'll change the title on the thread.

They have confirmed that they accept DB transfers for existing stakeholder customers (and need to know if someone has received advice from a financial adviser) but I appreciate that's not much help for  anyone who doesn't have a stakeholder with them.

dunstonh

Apologies - I am wrong.

It was a nice try.  The fact the application was updated 2 months ago did give some hope but in reality, it just highlighted how the big insurance companies often don't have a clue what forms are in their literature library.