Annuity dilemma

dunstonh

Spivo46 said:

Canada Life are the best quotes on the market at the moment. i decided against going with them due to the reviews / ratings on Trust Pilot. Retirement Line gave exactly the same quotes. So, going with L&G who seem a little more reliable 

L&G are very sluggish at the moment.   Nil communication on enquiries and taking ages to isse after the money has been sent.   I'm surprised they havent lowered their rate to take off some of the demand. 

GSP

dunstonh said:

Spivo46 said:

Canada Life are the best quotes on the market at the moment. i decided against going with them due to the reviews / ratings on Trust Pilot. Retirement Line gave exactly the same quotes. So, going with L&G who seem a little more reliable 

L&G are very sluggish at the moment.   Nil communication on enquiries and taking ages to isse after the money has been sent.   I'm surprised they havent lowered their rate to take off some of the demand. 

How long on average are they taking dunstonh?
They have had my money for a fixed term annuity over a couple of weeks now. Can I expect to wait much longer before receiving my first monthly payment?

polar_pig

Spivo46 said:

Canada Life are the best quotes on the market at the moment. i decided against going with them due to the reviews / ratings on Trust Pilot. Retirement Line gave exactly the same quotes. So, going with L&G who seem a little more reliable 

I've taken out an annuity with Canada Life earlier this year. I too was worried about the Trust Pilot ratings. I went with them anyway as they gave the best quote and it seemed that many of the negative reviews were regarding customer contact. I figured that may be a problem whilst setting the annuity up, but thereafter I probably wouldn't need to contact them very much, if at all for years. Like a lot of companies, it can be a bit hit and miss depending upon who you get to speak to, but some are very good. When I found a good one I always dealt with that person by email. I did the application myself and it took a few months, but now all set up and running smoothly.

dunstonh

How long on average are they taking dunstonh?

I have one on the go at the mome.  The funds were sent to L&G two weeks ago but nothing yet from them.     It is monthly in advance and L&G should backdate it to receipt of funds but it is frustrating to a) not be able to speak to them on the phone b) not get any answer to emails sent to them.

I've taken out an annuity with Canada Life earlier this year. I too was worried about the Trust Pilot ratings. I went with them anyway as they gave the best quote and it seemed that many of the negative reviews were regarding customer contact.

CL had similar issues with capacity but they have lowered their rates since and not currently competitive in most cases.   This has allowed them to recover somewhat.

The problem is that annuities were virtually a dead product but suddenly, they are back in favour but the administration hasn't been ramped up because the expectation is that they will go off the boil again when rates begin to fall.

westv

dunstonh said:

How long on average are they taking dunstonh?

I have one on the go at the mome.  The funds were sent to L&G two weeks ago but nothing yet from them.     It is monthly in advance and L&G should backdate it to receipt of funds but it is frustrating to a) not be able to speak to them on the phone b) not get any answer to emails sent to them.

I've taken out an annuity with Canada Life earlier this year. I too was worried about the Trust Pilot ratings. I went with them anyway as they gave the best quote and it seemed that many of the negative reviews were regarding customer contact.

CL had similar issues with capacity but they have lowered their rates since and not currently competitive in most cases.   This has allowed them to recover somewhat.

The problem is that annuities were virtually a dead product but suddenly, they are back in favour but the administration hasn't been ramped up because the expectation is that they will go off the boil again when rates begin to fall.

Presumably they won't fall to the rubbish rates of previous years though? I know nobody has a crystal ball though!

BoxerfanUK

polar_pig said:

Spivo46 said:

Canada Life are the best quotes on the market at the moment. i decided against going with them due to the reviews / ratings on Trust Pilot. Retirement Line gave exactly the same quotes. So, going with L&G who seem a little more reliable 

I've taken out an annuity with Canada Life earlier this year. I too was worried about the Trust Pilot ratings. I went with them anyway as they gave the best quote and it seemed that many of the negative reviews were regarding customer contact. I figured that may be a problem whilst setting the annuity up, but thereafter I probably wouldn't need to contact them very much, if at all for years. Like a lot of companies, it can be a bit hit and miss depending upon who you get to speak to, but some are very good. When I found a good one I always dealt with that person by email. I did the application myself and it took a few months, but now all set up and running smoothly.

How did you do that?  We've been considering 5 year fixed term annuity for my OH but was under the impression that it had to be done through an FA/IFA with Canada life.

From CL website; "You can transfer funds from a UK registered pension scheme. Unfortunately, we can’t accept applications from customers who want to use their open market option. You should speak with a financial adviser to see if our Fixed Term Income Plan is right for you."

GSP

dunstonh said:

How long on average are they taking dunstonh?

I have one on the go at the mome.  The funds were sent to L&G two weeks ago but nothing yet from them.     It is monthly in advance and L&G should backdate it to receipt of funds but it is frustrating to a) not be able to speak to them on the phone b) not get any answer to emails sent to them.

Thanks dunstonh, that’s not good at all on both issues with the phone and email. I did have a query from them from the information I sent them. Sounds like I will have to wait my turn again before someone picks up and deals with my annuity.  

polar_pig

BoxerfanUK said:

How did you do that?  We've been considering 5 year fixed term annuity for my OH but was under the impression that it had to be done through an FA/IFA with Canada life.

From CL website; "You can transfer funds from a UK registered pension scheme. Unfortunately, we can’t accept applications from customers who want to use their open market option. You should speak with a financial adviser to see if our Fixed Term Income Plan is right for you."

One of my pensions was with Utmost (legacy pension from Equitable Life). I had some health issues this year that meant I was entitled to an Enhanced Annuity. I spoke to Utmost and they said they don't do an EA, but they have some arrangement with Canada Life for customers in my situation that gives a slightly better quote. I contacted CL and they gave a slightly better quote than all the other open market quotes I received. I had to do all the application process with CL and Utmost, but it worked out OK.

BoxerfanUK

polar_pig said:

BoxerfanUK said:

How did you do that?  We've been considering 5 year fixed term annuity for my OH but was under the impression that it had to be done through an FA/IFA with Canada life.

From CL website; "You can transfer funds from a UK registered pension scheme. Unfortunately, we can’t accept applications from customers who want to use their open market option. You should speak with a financial adviser to see if our Fixed Term Income Plan is right for you."

One of my pensions was with Utmost (legacy pension from Equitable Life). I had some health issues this year that meant I was entitled to an Enhanced Annuity. I spoke to Utmost and they said they don't do an EA, but they have some arrangement with Canada Life for customers in my situation that gives a slightly better quote. I contacted CL and they gave a slightly better quote than all the other open market quotes I received. I had to do all the application process with CL and Utmost, but it worked out OK.

Oh ok thanks for letting me know.  Won't apply to us then but glad you managed to get it sorted for yourself anyway.  Thanks again.

dunstonh

polar_pig said:

BoxerfanUK said:

How did you do that?  We've been considering 5 year fixed term annuity for my OH but was under the impression that it had to be done through an FA/IFA with Canada life.

From CL website; "You can transfer funds from a UK registered pension scheme. Unfortunately, we can’t accept applications from customers who want to use their open market option. You should speak with a financial adviser to see if our Fixed Term Income Plan is right for you."

One of my pensions was with Utmost (legacy pension from Equitable Life). I had some health issues this year that meant I was entitled to an Enhanced Annuity. I spoke to Utmost and they said they don't do an EA, but they have some arrangement with Canada Life for customers in my situation that gives a slightly better quote. I contacted CL and they gave a slightly better quote than all the other open market quotes I received. I had to do all the application process with CL and Utmost, but it worked out OK.

A lot of providers have got into bed with an annuity provider.  Its a commercial relationship that benefits both the annuity provider and the original pension company.   The annuity provider gets an easy source of funds coming to them and the original provider gets paid commission for each case sent over.

Canada Life haven't been the best annuity provider on lifetime annuities for some time now.   Plus, the commission the pension provider took can be quite high and do more damage to the annuity rate than using an IFA.  The fact you used CL suggests it may have been when CL were offering better terms or it isn't a lifetime annuity.