Aviva Customer Service & Website

dosh37

A couple of days ago I tried to contact Aviva regarding my pension.

I wanted to request a simple change to my investment funds.

When I logged onto the Aviva website I found that, unlike pension companies such as ReAssure, the Aviva website does not allow customers to request fund changes online.

Instead you have to call Customer Services by phone.

The big problem with that is that there is just a single 'MyAviva' Customer Service number that apparently handles ALL Aviva queries:

Car Insurance, Home Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Investments, etc as well as pensions.

There appears to be no separate number or automated call direction to put you directly through to the appropriate advisor so you end up on hold for what seems like an eternity while the system plays annoying music. At the moment, the Customer Service access appears to be overloaded with insurance related calls following storm Eunace. In the end I gave up.

The Aviva website does not provide a secure message facility to contact them.

Eventually I found a hard to find link to a webpage for pensions that were originally with Friends Provident before Aviva took over.

This provides a crude way to send an email message online using an HTML form. However there is no way to read message history.

There is a warning note on the page that seems to suggest that changes to investment funds cannot be made this way:-

https://www.aviva.co.uk/help-and-support/contact-us/investments-retirement-email-enquiries/pensions-retirement-general-enquiries/

"You can email queries to us by filling in the form below; we will get back to you in 72 hours. Please note that changes to Aviva policies cannot be completed through email, so to make changes please visit MyAviva. If you would like help right now, please contact us by live chat or phone."

I also tred to navigate the Aviva website in search of information on transferring pensions to another provider and consolidating pensions. After following several useless links, I ended back on the same page showing the MyAviva Customer Service phone number.

All in all I find dealing with Aviva for my pension extremely frustrating.

Is it just me or have other people found similar issues?

dunstonh

When I logged onto the Aviva website I found that, unlike pension companies such as ReAssure, the Aviva website does not allow customers to request fund changes online.

Aviva has taken on a number of old insurers over the years. So, in addition to its own plans, it has old AXA Sun Life or Friends Provident plans.  Neither of those had very good online systems and Aviva has yet to integrate them into their online systems.  Whereas their modern plans get much better online functionality.      For example, the Aviva platform uses FNZ software which is one of the best going.   Although Aviva haven't opened it up as much as other FNZ based platforms, it still offers decent levels.

There appears to be no separate number or automated call direction to put you directly through to the appropriate advisor so you end up on hold for what seems like an eternity while the system plays annoying music. At the moment, the Customer Service access appears to be overloaded with insurance related calls following storm Eunace. In the end I gave up.

There are a bunch of numbers specific to certain contracts for advisers.  When I ring those, they are answered as if it is either a customer or adviser ringing.     So, whilst they do have a catchall single number, they do also have a range of other numbers that can be used.

Eventually I found a hard to find link to a webpage for pensions that were originally with Friends Provident before Aviva took over.
This provides a crude way to send an email message online using an HTML form. However there is no way to read message history.

It is unfortunate that Aviva has yet to find a way to improve the online functionality of these legacy plans.    I suspect you won't see much improvement but I could be wrong.  These plans are closed for new business and in decline (i.e. as they are transferred out or benefits taken, there are no new business plans being added on this legacy system).    They also offer incentives to move them to the Aviva platform.    So, spending another billion pounds on software integration on legacy plans may not be money well spent.

I also tred to navigate the Aviva website in search of information on transferring pensions to another provider and consolidating pensions. You wouldn't expect any.   Just as you wouldn't with any other provider.

<span><br></span><span>Is it just me or have other people found similar issues?</span>

You have an old fashioned product but are looking for modern functionality.  A bit like buying an old black and white TV but wondering why it doesn't have Ultra HD widescreen and Dolby Atmos.

It is frustrating but unless there are any contractual reasons or benefits/issues that mean staying is best, you can always move it to a modern plan.  Whether that be with Aviva or another.

Thrugelmir

There's little point in investing capital into closed books which are being run-off. Simply a dead cost. Similar to the demised mortgage lenders after the GFC. The model will be to administer the remaining business until benefits are taken or the customer transfers their business elsewhere. 

dosh37

dunstonh said:

When I logged onto the Aviva website I found that, unlike pension companies such as ReAssure, the Aviva website does not allow customers to request fund changes online.

Aviva has taken on a number of old insurers over the years. So, in addition to its own plans, it has old AXA Sun Life or Friends Provident plans.  Neither of those had very good online systems and Aviva has yet to integrate them into their online systems.  Whereas their modern plans get much better online functionality.      For example, the Aviva platform uses FNZ software which is one of the best going.   Although Aviva haven't opened it up as much as other FNZ based platforms, it still offers decent levels.

There appears to be no separate number or automated call direction to put you directly through to the appropriate advisor so you end up on hold for what seems like an eternity while the system plays annoying music. At the moment, the Customer Service access appears to be overloaded with insurance related calls following storm Eunace. In the end I gave up.

There are a bunch of numbers specific to certain contracts for advisers.  When I ring those, they are answered as if it is either a customer or adviser ringing.     So, whilst they do have a catchall single number, they do also have a range of other numbers that can be used.

Eventually I found a hard to find link to a webpage for pensions that were originally with Friends Provident before Aviva took over.
This provides a crude way to send an email message online using an HTML form. However there is no way to read message history.

It is unfortunate that Aviva has yet to find a way to improve the online functionality of these legacy plans.    I suspect you won't see much improvement but I could be wrong.  These plans are closed for new business and in decline (i.e. as they are transferred out or benefits taken, there are no new business plans being added on this legacy system).    They also offer incentives to move them to the Aviva platform.    So, spending another billion pounds on software integration on legacy plans may not be money well spent.

I also tred to navigate the Aviva website in search of information on transferring pensions to another provider and consolidating pensions. You wouldn't expect any.   Just as you wouldn't with any other provider.

You have an old fashioned product but are looking for modern functionality.  A bit like buying an old black and white TV but wondering why it doesn't have Ultra HD widescreen and Dolby Atmos.

It is frustrating but unless there are any contractual reasons or benefits/issues that mean staying is best, you can always move it to a modern plan.  Whether that be with Aviva or another.

Interesting.

I have another Stakeholder pension, originally with L&G, that was taken over by ReAssure in 2020.

To me, the ReAssure website seems much more comprehensive and user-friendly than Aviva.

I am thinking of consoldidating my Aviva pension into ReAssure.

Hence I was looking for information on how to go about this.

From what I have read so far, opening a ReAssure 'Retirement Account' could be the way forward.

The management fees look reasonable compared to the 0.8% I am paying for the Stakeholder pension and the fees I am currently paying for the Aviva pension.

Albermarle

As said if you had an Aviva pension on the main website , you wouldn't be having these problems. 

When you want to transfer a pension , you do it via the provider you want to transfer to . You do not need to have any contact with the provider you want to leave. So if you want to transfer to Reassure , you need to do it via them .
Building your pension pot - ReAssure

dunstonh

I have another Stakeholder pension, originally with L&G, that was taken over by ReAssure in 2020.
To me, the ReAssure website seems much more comprehensive and user-friendly than Aviva.

Stakeholder pensions have been niche since about 2007.  So, they are a product in decline.    L&G never spent any money upgrading its individual pension range and sold its share in an investment platform as it decided to leave the individual pension market.  It sold its book cheaply to Reassure.   ReAssure didn't buy L&G.  Just the legacy book. So, it had no choice but to pay to put it on its software.  The fact it got the book cheaper made that easier.

There have been calls by some Aviva shareholders for Aviva to be broken up like all the other insurers.  So far it has resisted but many think it is undecided.    Legacy policies will be one of the first things to go.   So, do you spend the billion on upgrading their software or do you sell the book to a consolidator to focus on your core business?  Or do you wait and try and convert much of it to your new software until you believe what is left isn't likely to transfer and then sell it?

I am thinking of consoldidating my Aviva pension into ReAssure.It is a basic product with very basic options and twice the cost of alternatives that can do the same thing.   Nothing wrong with the product if you are after a basic option. However, when it comes to costs, that is a different matter.

The management fees look reasonable compared to the 0.8% I am paying for the Stakeholder pension and the fees I am currently paying for the Aviva pension.You would expect it to be cheaper as you have legacy products.  However, it's not as cheap as you think and ironically, Aviva's modern product is cheaper still.  Not that I am saying you should use them.  Perhaps just look around a bit more.