Restrictions on cashing out a Prudenital Stakeholder pension !

lynquin

I am 73 and planning ahead I wish to cash in my pension with Prudential before 75. I think I can get better returns from it than they have over the past 5 years.

I have been sent, on retirement at 66 years, all the information about this pension and my retirement choices. I have also reread now the information on line and the government pension rules.

Prudenital have refused to discuss this with me until they send  - by slow mail - all the information again. I seems this may take until March 5th or longer! 

I understand they have to prove they have informed me of my choices but they could do this by email  - I have now in front of me all the information they provide on line. 

I am amazed they can delay my access to my money in this way. Nothing in the government regulations  appears to say they must do this.

As someone who has planned my finances carefully and taken advice from professionals and Pension Wise I am, to say the least, frustrated  at this delay.  It annoys me they can do this .

Be warned!

flaneurs_lobster

Prepare to be further frustrated and annoyed, you will probably find that on completion and submission of the paper forms that will accompany your quote, the lead time to actually receiving any of your hard-saved money will be months rather than days or weeks. 

Marcon

lynquin said:

I am 73 and planning ahead I wish to cash in my pension with Prudential before 75. I think I can get better returns from it than they have over the past 5 years.

I have been sent, on retirement at 66 years, all the information about this pension and my retirement choices. I have also reread now the information on line and the government pension rules.

Prudenital have refused to discuss this with me until they send  - by slow mail - all the information again. I seems this may take until March 5th or longer! 

I understand they have to prove they have informed me of my choices but they could do this by email  - I have now in front of me all the information they provide on line. 

I am amazed they can delay my access to my money in this way. Nothing in the government regulations  appears to say they must do this.

As someone who has planned my finances carefully and taken advice from professionals and Pension Wise I am, to say the least, frustrated  at this delay.  It annoys me they can do this .

Be warned!

So you might have to wait a couple of weeks. Why is that such a big deal in the overall scheme of things?

dunstonh

Prudenital have refused to discuss this with me until they send  - by slow mail - all the information again. I seems this may take until March 5th or longer! 

Often the case with old fashioned products. 

I am amazed they can delay my access to my money in this way. Nothing in the government regulations  appears to say they must do this.

If you wanted something modern and fast then you should have transferred to a modern product.    You have an old fashioned product built on the rules of 2001 but want to carry out a transaction that didn't exist until 2016.

As someone who has planned my finances carefully and taken advice from professionals and Pension Wise I am, to say the least, frustrated  at this delay.  It annoys me they can do this .

I am surprised a professional adviser recommended you stay with the Prudential stakeholder as its been old fashioned for over 15 years.   Pensionwise don't give advice and wouldn't know.

I don't know why you are getting annoyed.  If you had a black and white TV would you now expect it to be in colour?

lynquin

Well thanks for replying but not in the least helpful .

dunstonh

lynquin said:

Well thanks for replying but not in the least helpful .

Its helpful as it explains why.     Knowing why something is what it is means you are no longer ignorant of the issues and can move on from making an rant based on ignorance to instead doing something about it.

As someone who has planned my finances carefully and taken advice from professionals and Pension Wise I am, to say the least, frustrated  at this delay.  It annoys me they can do this .

Picking up on this point again....    No, you haven't planned your finances carefully, and you haven't taken advice from professionals.  You had an obsolete product that couldn't do what you wanted but could be transferred to a modern plan that could.   If you had planned your finances carefully and taken professional advice, then you would not have suffered your issues.

Marcon

lynquin said:

Well thanks for replying but not in the least helpful .

It's funny how people find replies 'unhelpful' when they either don't support their post, or explain to them carefully and clearly what they have misunderstood.

The hurdles which pension providers have to navigate to demonstrate they have (tried to!) act in the best interests of customers become ever more rigorous. If anything goes wrong - in the sense that the customer doesn't like the outcome - then suddenly they are the villains of the piece and it's all someone else's fault.

In a world populated by an ever-increasing numbers of scams, and an enthusiasm on the customer's part for expecting everyone but the customer to foot the bill, complaining because attempts are made to keep you safe and properly informed is surely a cause for gratitude (and yes, I do get the annoyance bit!).

LHW99

Now you do have all the details, be aware that if you do "cash out" in one go its very likely you will pay (a lot) more tax than you would by taking it bit by bit.

And as it is an old-type policy, you may well have to arrange to move it somewhere more modern in order to do that.

Prudential will probably give you all the legal ways to access your pension - it doesn't mean that any specific one will be supported by the policy you have.