Insistent client pension transfer

JustinCase2689

I noted Malthusian’s comment earlier in this thread 'If I really wanted to prove this was possible I'd seriously consider using £16 of my own money to open one just for the satisfaction of winning an argument on t'Internet. (I'm taking a pass myself as I don't have enough interest), I was puzzled why anyone would post just to contradict someone else, especially when the ’someone else’ seemed to have done pretty thorough homework. The comment also seemed to be at odds with the forum’s rule of ‘Don’t rely – verify!’.

I also noted Malthusian’s comment ‘…the only possible reason that anyone would want to open a Stakeholder Pension in 2023 is that they want to transfer in a DB pension after being advised not to, which Aviva - like every single other pension provider - doesn't want to be involved with?’ Again I was puzzled – why would an insurance company offer a product and then refuse to let anyone buy it? 

So I asked a friend to follow Marcon’s advice – not least for the benefit of other users of this forum who might value accurate information. They sent off Aviva’s application form + their £16 cheque. A week later, they noted that their cheque had been cashed, and they have now received the paperwork confirming their stakeholder pension has been opened. That was it; no other action/interaction needed. I have spoken to Aviva, and they confirmed that stakeholder schemes have to accept transfers from UK registered pension schemes, and that I could arrange the transfer myself, provided I had received (not necessarily followed) regulated advice if my DB transfer is £30K+. 

Kelso44’s post on 3 March confirms their partner successfully transferred to a stakeholder against advice. I can’t post the link because I’m new to this site. 

So I think we now have the answer as to whether you can, but whether transferring at all, never mind against advice. and now that transfer values have fallen back so much in the last year or so, is another matter!

Silvertabby

JustinCase2689 said:

I noted Malthusian’s comment earlier in this thread 'If I really wanted to prove this was possible I'd seriously consider using £16 of my own money to open one just for the satisfaction of winning an argument on t'Internet. (I'm taking a pass myself as I don't have enough interest), I was puzzled why anyone would post just to contradict someone else, especially when the ’someone else’ seemed to have done pretty thorough homework. The comment also seemed to be at odds with the forum’s rule of ‘Don’t rely – verify!’.

I also noted Malthusian’s comment ‘…the only possible reason that anyone would want to open a Stakeholder Pension in 2023 is that they want to transfer in a DB pension after being advised not to, which Aviva - like every single other pension provider - doesn't want to be involved with?’ Again I was puzzled – why would an insurance company offer a product and then refuse to let anyone buy it? 

So I asked a friend to follow Marcon’s advice – not least for the benefit of other users of this forum who might value accurate information. They sent off Aviva’s application form + their £16 cheque. A week later, they noted that their cheque had been cashed, and they have now received the paperwork confirming their stakeholder pension has been opened. That was it; no other action/interaction needed. I have spoken to Aviva, and they confirmed that stakeholder schemes have to accept transfers from UK registered pension schemes, and that I could arrange the transfer myself, provided I had received (not necessarily followed) regulated advice if my DB transfer is £30K+. 

Kelso44’s post on 3 March confirms their partner successfully transferred to a stakeholder against advice. I can’t post the link because I’m new to this site. 

So I think we now have the answer as to whether you can, but whether transferring at all, never mind against advice. and now that transfer values have fallen back so much in the last year or so, is another matter!

Transfer factors for the LGPS are set by GAD, rather than being linked to the value of Gilts.

Back in the heady days of private sector DBs offering 40 X the annual pension being given up, the LGPS GAD factors were nearer 20 X.  Yet people did, and still do, transfer out.

Albermarle

So I asked a friend to follow Marcon’s advice – not least for the benefit of other users of this forum who might value accurate information. They sent off Aviva’s application form + their £16 cheque. A week later, they noted that their cheque had been cashed, and they have now received the paperwork confirming their stakeholder pension has been opened. That was it; no other action/interaction needed. I have spoken to Aviva, and they confirmed that stakeholder schemes have to accept transfers from UK registered pension schemes, and that I could arrange the transfer myself, provided I had received (not necessarily followed) regulated advice if my DB transfer is £30K+. 

Thanks for confirming that as it was never 100% sure.

I also noted Malthusian’s comment ‘…the only possible reason that anyone would want to open a Stakeholder Pension in 2023 is that they want to transfer in a DB pension after being advised not to, which Aviva - like every single other pension provider - doesn't want to be involved with?’ Again I was puzzled – why would an insurance company offer a product and then refuse to let anyone buy it?

I think what Malthusian's comments meant was that stakeholder pensions are now an out of date product. So if you were wanting to open a new pension to contribute in the normal way, then there are many better options.

So the question is really is why do Aviva still offer a stakeholder pension, when almost all other providers have stopped.? There can not be many new customers, and potentially there could be future trouble if insistent clients transfer in, and make a mess of it and blame Aviva. They would probably be legally OK but other providers have run a mile from this sort of business, mainly to avoid any reputational damage I guess.