Virgin Money's new pension terms

engagedandopen

I have just received a letter from Virgin Money about shutting my stakeholder pension and transferring the funds to their new personal pension.

In the new terms, they talk about which court they could sue you in depending on where you live, and that they can close your pension if staff say you've been abusive or threatening to them.

No-one should be disrespectful to pension staff, but I have never come across such confrontational terms for a pension - certainly not from the traditional providers.  I can't help comparing it to the Coutts vs Farage issue that was on the news not long ago.  It seems amateurish and unprofessional to me.

I guess the obvious riposte is that I should transfer out of Virgin Money then.

la531983

Why? Are you planning to be abusive to Virgin Money staff? Seems reasonable enough tbh, if they were abusive to you would you want to continue investing with them? Seems fair to apply the same rules in reverse, and certainly prudent to actually put it in writing in this way. 

squirrelpie

I think I'd look for a more objective test than "if staff say you've been abusive or threatening to them". An allegation of some fault is not proof of that fault, not even close.

LHW99

I assume they mean you would have to transfer the pension somewhere else, since if you are under 55, presumably they can't just send you a cheque (ensuring you have to pay a penalty to HMRC), as they could if they closed a normal bank account.

dunstonh

No-one should be disrespectful to pension staff, but I have never come across such confrontational terms for a pension - certainly not from the traditional providers

Stating which jurisdiction they would use is normal across financial products and services.  So, that bit is fine.

Inclusion of ending services for abusive people is increasingly common because, sadly, abuse is on the increase.

 I can't help comparing it to the Coutts vs Farage issue that was on the news not long ago.  It seems amateurish and unprofessional to me.

AFAIA, NF didn't swear to any staff member or do anything comparable to what Virgin are referring to.

I guess the obvious riposte is that I should transfer out of Virgin Money then.

Its been a poor quality plan for decades.  So, in there are plenty of other justifiable reasons for transferring it.  However, this clarification in the T&C is not one of them.  

SVaz

It depends on their definition of ‘abuse’ ,
given that Women have been arrested and detained overnight for the ‘hate crime’ of tweeting pictures of Suffragette ribbons and a Gay Man was threatened with arrest for his ‘opinions’.
All of us should be worried,  even if your opinions are deemed ‘correct’ now, what’s to say they won’t be ‘problematic’ in the future?
Nobody should be a target of abuse for doing their job but having a different opinion on things should never be considered abuse, even if the opinion is unpleasant or considered offensive.  

Nobody has the right to Not be offended, at work or anywhere else. 

QrizB

engagedandopen said:

I have just received a letter from Virgin Money about shutting my stakeholder pension and transferring the funds to their new personal pension.

I guess it will no longer be a stakeholder pension, with the niche-but-occasionally-useful benefit of being obliged to accept an incoming transfer?

Albermarle

QrizB said:

engagedandopen said:

I have just received a letter from Virgin Money about shutting my stakeholder pension and transferring the funds to their new personal pension.

I guess it will no longer be a stakeholder pension, with the niche-but-occasionally-useful benefit of being obliged to accept an incoming transfer?

Maybe soon to be followed by Aviva and Standard LIfe.

arnoldy

Yes but there is also an increase in the passive-aggressive Corporate signage and messaging. I am totally against any form of aggression or behaviour from the consumer or corporate behaviour. For example, a recent airport experience: waiting 3 hours in que for security with the old infirm and sick dropping like flies - when the security is only half manned. All around are banners about "abuse will not be tolerated" aka suffer in silence and dont raise concerns to the supervisors or managers, in case politely raising issues risks being put in the "abuse will not be tolerated bucket". Works both ways.

Pat38493

I’m a bit confused - are you saying that you have a Stakeholder pension with Virgin Money and they are trying to force you to close and transfer it, or are you saying you are transferring it on purpose and this is in the small print of the agreement?

Nebulous2

Albermarle said:

Inclusion of ending services for abusive people is increasingly common because, sadly, abuse is on the increase.

For some reason that I do not understand, some peoples behaviour towards customer facing staff, including more physical attacks on shop workers, has got worse since the Pandemic. Maybe it is those microchips that were in the Covid jabs 

Lots of people becoming more isolated and living in silos, where they are surrounded by like-minded people. Social media reinforces the views they have, by giving them more of what they like, increasing their confidence they are right. 

I'm a fan of working from home, or blended working, but in a workplace people have to get on together. That face-to-face experience was a great way of recognising the people you were prejudiced against were human beings as well. I used to tell staff "No-one says you have to be best friends with the people you work with, but you have to be civil and treat each other well in the workplace."