Reclaiming St James Place costs

Cochranecottage

I’ve had a barrage of ads and calls about reclaiming charges on my St James pension and investments to the tune of £4200……..  is this like the PPI fiasco and is it legit?

katejo

Cochranecottage said:

I’ve had a barrage of ads and calls about reclaiming charges on my St James pension and investments to the tune of £4200……..  is this like the PPI fiasco and is it legit?

I briefly replied to ask for more details and they chased me with calls at inconvenient times so I got suspicious.  I sent them an email asking for the basis of their claim and they ignored it.  I have eventually had a reply. It seems that they are only interested in clients who invested with St James at least 10 years ago and have not been given a single  annual review appointment of their investments  since then. This doesn't apply to me. I only started with them 3 years ago and have had a review meeting each year. 

eskbanker

Cochranecottage said:

I’ve had a barrage of ads and calls about reclaiming charges on my St James pension and investments to the tune of £4200……..  is this like the PPI fiasco and is it legit?

Putting aside the risks of accepting cold calls, have SJP delivered what you signed up for, in terms of service, etc?

dunstonh

Cochranecottage said:

I’ve had a barrage of ads and calls about reclaiming charges on my St James pension and investments to the tune of £4200……..  is this like the PPI fiasco and is it legit?

Its not as simple as they claim but it is possible in some scenarios.

From 1st Jan 2013, any investments/pensions set up after that could only include ongoing remuneration to advisers in exchange for services provided.  However, anything sold before 1st Jan 2013 is exempt unless there is some form of disturbance by the adviser.  SJP reps don't control the investments.  So, there is rarely any disturbance.

So, the first exclusion is that your pension must have started after 1st Jan 2013.

Next, it wasn't until 3rd Jan 2018 that servicing was required to be "at least annually".   Prior to that, there was no definition on frequency. So, if the adviser terms said reviews every 2 years or every 3 years then they had to do it every 2 years or every 3 years.   Only from 2018 was it required to be annually.

So, that could be your second exclusion.

Next, the SJP rep could well be doing those reviews or offering them (you can turn them down - offering and you rejecting is fine).   So, if they have done or offered the reviews then there is nothing to complain about.

Lastly, if you believe that they have failed to deliver the service, then its only the adviser element that you can get back.   That is typically around 0.50% of the total charge. (approx 1/3 of the total)

If you do think you have grounds, you don't need a CMC.  You just raise the complaint with SJP and give your reasons for the complaint.   That is all the CMC does.  They use the free-of-charge complaints process that you use.  It's handled by the same staff at SJP under the same FCA rules.   The CMC is not a magic bullet to success.     INdeed, the FOS have said that the success rates with CMC complaints referred to them is lower than complaints made by consumers directly.

Lastly, why are you using SJP?   They are expensive.  You can save more money over the years by going for better value.

It seems that they are only interested in clients who invested with St James at least 10 years ago and have not been given a single  annual review appointment of their investments  since then. 

It will be less than 10 years rather than more than 10 years due to the rule change in 2013. (see points above).   Technically, you are in the time frame that would require "at least annually" for reviews.  So, they would consider you if you were not having reviews.

Bright_Star85

We have had these calls multiple times as we have been with SJP for many years. 
We spoke to our adviser and he said that they are ambulance chasers looking to make a quick buck. If a claim is successful they will take over half as commission. We were told if anyone wants to open a claim, claim to SJP as they will pay you and not the ambulance chasers. Lead to believe its 50% ish commission! 

We have been with SJP since the mid 90's and have been seen every at a minimum. No complaints from us! 

As for the comment above, SJP aren't expensive as others! Typical IFA slander.

dunstonh

We spoke to our adviser and he said that they are ambulance chasers looking to make a quick buck

They are.   However, they are able to jump on that bandwagon because SJP are paying millions out because of failings:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/investing/trouble-st-james-place/

As for the comment above, SJP aren't expensive as others! Typical IFA slander.

Slander?  Lets back it up with facts shall we?
On your other thread you said " Our costs are 1.78% pa sometimes a little more due to transaction charges."

I responded with "I have just finished a review where the ongoing cost is 0.82% p.a.". Plus, that person many years ago had a 1% initial charge whereas SJP charge would have been 5%.

You are paying more than double to get advice from a sales rep.   You have been brainwashed.   

QrizB

dunstonh said:

You are paying more than double to get advice from a sales rep.   You have been brainwashed.   

I read the comments here and on the other thread.

It sounds very much like a cult.

boingy

That particular poster has made three posts in total on these forums, all strongly defending SJP. Draw your own conclusions.

Bright_Star85

That particular poster, aka me, has only just joined? 

And I'm commenting on posts that have irritated me. As all this forum does is bash SJP when possible. And as soon as SJP is mentioned the IFA's of the forum jump all over it and it infuriates me as we know at first hand as clients how good they are to us and many of our family and friends and almost 1 million other clients over the years.
I'm defending SJP because we are clients. 

Absolutely Disgraceful behaviour.

MarkCarnage

Bright_Star85 said:

That particular poster, aka me, has only just joined? 

And I'm commenting on posts that have irritated me. As all this forum does is bash SJP when possible. And as soon as SJP is mentioned the IFA's of the forum jump all over it and it infuriates me as we know at first hand as clients how good they are to us and many of our family and friends and almost 1 million other clients over the years.
I'm defending SJP because we are clients. 

Absolutely Disgraceful behaviour.

Clearly you prefer the intangible 'softer' issues of SJP service, which is your right, but their charging structure and performance are facts, and they are pretty high for the former, and generally less than impressive for the latter. Bit rich to call it 'absolutely disgraceful behaviour' and 'slander'. Little wonder that some have questioned your motives. 

Bright_Star85

My motives are that myself / our family are clients. And we are more than happy with SJP. That's my rights to express here and anywhere else? Just like the IFA's of the forum express their dislike continuously when they have an opportunity it seems.

If SJP were awful and had done wrong to us then I obviously wouldn't be defending them. But they have been faultless and have always been there when we have needed them. 

As for performance, on average our returns have been 7.8% net of costs and charges over the last 10 years. We're happy with that!