Aegon pension transfer delay/complaint

nick1234

Hi

I have a pension pot at Aegon from an old employer connected to an email address i no longer have access to, in November i initated a transfer from Aegon to Vanguard and at the end of December Vanguard said Aegon were delaying this as they were awaiting signature verification.  They hadnt contacted me (by post/phone) requesting this and now claim they were emailing my old workplace address which i cant access and would bounce back.  During this period I havent had access to the account so unable to make investment changes

Now this week they claim they need a certified passport copy with a list of verifiers who can do this such as lawyer/teachers etc none of who i have access to and would be a huge inconvenient/cost to do this.  I transferred 3 other old pots and none of those requested this and would have done electronic id+v if necessary.

I raised a formal complaint with Aegon and still no response, having emailed them 2 weeks back which was ignored

Just wondering if i should now escalate to the ombudsman and what my chances of receiving any action/compensation would be? 

Tommyjw

Can't remember complaint timescales off the back of my head (a good thing i don't get many I suppose...) but 2 weeks seems like over the time where they simply have to atleast acknowledge they've received it (imagine they acknowledged it to your old email !).

They are free to ask for identity evidence as they see fit, there is no overriding rule they have to follow, that said I agree it is overkill. 

Ombudsman happens once your complaint has been dealt with if not to your satisfaction, or if the company have not dealt with your complaint, but I would suggest they would say two weeks is not at the level they can skip to that stage yet. Regardless, you go to the Ombudsman you'll be waiting months and likely much longer for an outcome . So at the moment, keep track of everything, copy of any email sent etc, chase the complaint, do what's asked to proceed with the transfer.

Compensation will be minor (e.g. £150) if ots just very bad service, compensation will be more if it can be evidenced their service has caused you a financial loss with e.g. the final transfer amount and if its lower than it may have been two weeks prior without their delays.

Marcon

nick1234 said:

Hi

I have a pension pot at Aegon from an old employer connected to an email address i no longer have access to, in November i initated a transfer from Aegon to Vanguard and at the end of December Vanguard said Aegon were delaying this as they were awaiting signature verification.  They hadnt contacted me (by post/phone) requesting this and now claim they were emailing my old workplace address which i cant access and would bounce back.  

The onus is on you to update the email address, especially if you've ticked the box asking them to use that for communications with you. Try emailing the old workplace address and see if it bounces back - and how quickly. Even if it does bounce, there's no guarantee Aegon will have seen it (e.g. could have been caught by their spam filter and be waiting for release). 

nick1234 said:

Now this week they claim they need a certified passport copy with a list of verifiers who can do this such as lawyer/teachers etc none of who i have access to and would be a huge inconvenient/cost to do this.  I transferred 3 other old pots and none of those requested this and would have done electronic id+v if necessary.

Quite right too. You could be any old person and they are erring on the side of caution. The fact you didn't update your email address has raised a red flag, which is why they are entirely correctly checking who you are. It would be much more inconvenient and costly if a scammer got their hooks into your pension savings.

nick1234 said:

I raised a formal complaint with Aegon and still no response, having emailed them 2 weeks back which was ignored

Just wondering if i should now escalate to the ombudsman and what my chances of receiving any action/compensation would be? 

Wouldn't it be quicker and easier to just supply the information you are being asked for? There's little chance of any ombudsman finding in favour of someone who hasn't updated their own contact details and is complaining because  the product provider is proceeding with proper care.

Pat38493

@Marcon probably part of the issue is that OP maybe doesn’t have a passport and getting one might cost a fair amount and take a while.   Having a passport shouldn’t really be the only possible way to prove your identity.

dunstonh

 I transferred 3 other old pots and none of those requested this and would have done electronic id+v if necessary.

ID&V is not required on a transfer out unless the receiving scheme has given conflicting information on the transfer request. Then its almost a dead cert that ID will be requested.

Although administrator controlled pensions frequently ask for ID.  

Is your pension administrator controlled (usually an employer scheme)?   In those cases, the administrator controls the process and requirements and will want things that the provider themselves dont need.

Just wondering if i should now escalate to the ombudsman and what my chances of receiving any action/compensation would be? 

Maybe no compensation as its unclear what your losses are.

I raised a formal complaint with Aegon and still no response, having emailed them 2 weeks back which was ignored

Did you use the complaints team email address or a general one?  
Did you send it to the right Aegon?  (Aegon Scottish Equitable, Aegon Retirement Choices, Aegon Cofunds, Aegon Retireready or Aegon workplace pensions)

@Marcon probably part of the issue is that OP maybe doesn’t have a passport and getting one might cost a fair amount and take a while.   Having a passport shouldn’t really be the only possible way to prove your identity.

Photo DL is an alternative and the request for ID is usually for a specific reason.  So, there may be other docs that can be used.

xylophone

I have a pension pot at Aegon from an old employer connected to an email address i no longer have access to

Were you not advised to keep all contact details updated when you left the employer/scheme?

During this period I havent had access to the account so unable to make investment changes

But why would you need to do this during a transfer out?

Now this week they claim they need a certified passport copy with a list of verifiers who can do this such as lawyer/teachers etc none of who i have access to and would be a huge inconvenient/cost to do this.  

Do you have access to a Post Office?

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification

dunstonh

Another thing it could be is that the message given via Origo doesn't match the issue.   There are defined rejection fields that do not cover all scenarios.  So, Vanguard may have been old it failed but the reason may not be the one they were told.   This happens a lot with workplace pensions.