Aegon pension - missing transaction history

avocado07

Does anyone have a similar experience? There are a couple of months of my pension contributions are missing. Mar, Apr, Aug, Oct this year for example. 

I chased my employer to fix this and received just two months of my contributions after I raised this issue with HR for 5 months time, but the rest of the missing are not been received yet I have no idea how..

It is really difficult to reach out to them by phone, email, or SNS. They ignored my requests. Found horrific reviews on Google. People are struggling to get support from them for months or year.

My employer informed me last time 'I am not the only one'. What's wrong with Aegon? Customer service seems dead for year now. 

Marcon

avocado07 said:

My employer informed me last time 'I am not the only one'. What's wrong with Aegon? Customer service seems dead for year now. 

So what's your employer doing about it? I'd be pressuring them - and if you can find colleagues in the same boat, ask them to join you in 'encouraging' your employer to talk to their chosen pension provider.

In the meantime, get yourself some free, expert and impartial help to sort out your problem: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-problems

avocado07

Marcon said:

avocado07 said:

My employer informed me last time 'I am not the only one'. What's wrong with Aegon? Customer service seems dead for year now. 

So what's your employer doing about it? I'd be pressuring them - and if you can find colleagues in the same boat, ask them to join you in 'encouraging' your employer to talk to their chosen pension provider.

In the meantime, get yourself some free, expert and impartial help to sort out your problem: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-problems

Thanks for your kind reply. I am chasing them every week and I feel I am bothering them, mostly it is problem from Aegon's side. The good thing is my employer actively supported me to resolve this issue, but all things are managed by Aegon. I don't know who else in our company is having the issue as it's a giant company and I may only person who is chasing a lot? Not many people don't care about their pension I felt.

If it is not resolved in the next couple of weeks then I will contact the person in the link that you shared thanks! 

gm0

Your employer is one actor in this.  Aegon another. 

The trustees of the scheme if it is an occupational trust may well be a third.  And it is they who decide who the admin company is.  And how much to pay them for how sophisticated a web site etc. Aegon may be providing funds and pension product, and doing scheme pension admin here.  Depending upon the nature of the setup.

Trustees may therefore provide another line of feedback/escalation

Scenario

The paying of contributions by your employer for payroll may happen promptly or be subject to delay and error

The application of funds transferred in to investments at unit price x on date y - may also happen promptly or less promptly at Aegon and there is likely a service level around this in the contract between the scheme and them.

Reporting of that 2nd activity to you in the form of reports/emails/web site access may also not be "instant" and may involve an additional reporting step or completion of the monthly data upload cycle of activity at Aegon for that particular scheme once funds are applied and any checks as may or may not exist are done.  It depends on the scheme and its record keeping, their IT and processes. And for admin stuff - what they are commissioned to do.  They may not be very apologetic about visibility delays if they are not in fact expected to provide very much at all in the contracted admin service.  And certainly won't run off to invest in modernising it on their own.

All this happens in a world where people are saving their pensions for 30-40 years.  And the general level of service was historically a "looking back at an effective date" letter or emailed pdf in recent history with a report of activity once every 12 months - for last year, produced well after year end.

Some schemes are modernised.  Some are not and generally don't meet "modern" expectations of instant access to information.

If it is an occupational trust scheme it is for the trustees to decide what they want to do and when to pay (from scheme charges/employer subsidy) to modernise it.  Typically this decision making happens at renewal of the admin contract - every 3-5-7 years or so.

Trustees are generally not there to fix individual problems - not the point of the extremely part time and generally unpaid responsibility.  Not a helpdesk.  But if they are not fed honest information about what is going on they won't know how bad things have become.  And they may get a more intelligent escalation response from Aegon.