Phoenix Life call centre fun

Consumer3

I’m sharing this as I’m still frustrated by a call we had with Phoenix Life last week.

From a previous thread I posted for advice on this plan, Mr Consumer still hasn’t moved his old Pearl/Phoenix Life pension, partly from time it’s taken to educate ourselves on SIPPs and funds, but mainly from poor information from their call centre staff.

Out of the blue he received two letters from Phoenix saying that he ‘might’ be a member and to contact them! We thought it was a scam as he’s still paying into it and they have had all his up to date info for years.  

We couldn’t get into the online log in, which worked fine before, so the only option was to call them.

They said the letters were a mistake and that during the last call with them our address had become unverified, not sure how that can even happen! We were offered £50 for the mistake as I said I wanted to raise a complaint. They blamed the previous call handler.

I then moved on to the fact that I wasn’t listed as a beneficiary, he added me in the online account last year and then noticed I had been removed. 

Call handler: There is no option on this policy to add a beneficiary. That must be why you were removed.
Me: (laughing) that must be a mistake I can’t imagine there’s any pension plan where you cannot note an expression of wishes.
Call handler: I’ll go and check.
Call handler: No there’s definitely no option to add one, make sure he just puts it in his will (!!)
Me: No it doesn’t work like that! You don’t put that in a will!  There must be a mistake!
Call handler: I’ll check again (on hold for 10 mins), ah yes my Manager and I have been through it and yes you can be added, I’ll send the forms out.

Thanks to this forum I feel more informed about pensions and was able to argue it but I’m really annoyed they can give out this sort of ‘advice’.

We need far more info about the plan before he moves it as there are large exit fees, but not sure whether it’s best to use the online secure message system or to write to them?  How can we trust that any reply they give will be correct!?

LHW99

Sounds rather like paying peanuts and getting.....

dunstonh

Thanks to this forum I feel more informed about pensions and was able to argue it but I’m really annoyed they can give out this sort of ‘advice’.

They don't give out advice.   Information only.  Duff information sometimes but that is all it is.      This is why advisers look to get information from providers in writing as it goes towards protecting our backsides.

We need far more info about the plan before he moves it as there are large exit fees, but not sure whether it’s best to use the online secure message system or to write to them?  How can we trust that any reply they give will be correct!?

ex Pearl plans are normally really good.  Phoenix got on top of the documentation on them a long time ago and we rarely have a problem.  They tend to be quick, provide all the information that is asked for and they use Origo.   Pearl V1s, V2s, V3 and V4 plans are usually easy to justify a move.   Some of their S226 RACs have valuable safeguarded benefits.  Some have guaranteed minimum values, some have double digit GARs.       But on some, the death benefits are paid to the estate if held beyond age 75.        Some of these things they don't offer up unless you ask about them.

gm0

Written query is best (however delivered - secure email or post).

Specialists still like to work quickly pasting known safe boilerplate that is on topic to the question but may not capture nuance.  But they will likely know the scheme rules unlike front line customer call centre.  And have looked up your product purchase / membership timing if that affects it. Best chance. They still are not helpful as in interpret what you meant/should have asked.  Smells of advice. Verboten.

But keep it simple. And prioritise.  A few questions not 20+

Eliminating all ambiguity before transacting may prove an exercise in frustration.  I went a bit too far with this and didn't get everything I wanted.  In hindsight I should have prioritised what mattered harder before asking slightly fewer questions.

xylophone

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6433421/help-understanding-old-pension-plan/p1

To try and understand the options with it, we managed to get an online login to Phoenix Life to view the plan but there’s not a lot of detail on there. We also called their customer services in the hope of drilling down the options, but the advisor must have literally been reading off the statement we already have and was getting things mixed up, saying things like the 4% charge was on the accumulation units. It didn’t give me much faith and stopped me asking further questions! 

Not much change in a year then.....

How old is your husband now?  When does he expect to take benefits from his pension plans?

Consumer3

@xylophone he’s 51 now and we are discussing timelines now. He lost his Father last year so time stood still for us whilst we sorted other family member’s admin. Time to get back to sorting our own now.

@dunstonh thanks we will make sure we ask the relevant questions in writing!

@gm0 yes good advice will keep it succinct and will aim to get the facts needed.
 

BoxerfanUK

My OH has been trying to transfer an old workplace pension with Phoenix for over 6 months now.  They are absolutely HOPELESS!!  After first dealing with my OH they then decide that they can’t deal with her because the pension is ‘in trust’ with her old employer.

They asked her to verify her address so  she first gave our current address, which they said was incorrect so gave our previous address (which is all it could have been) and they still said no.  Asked then what address they had on file and said ‘we can’t tell you’. We then ask to speak to a manager who then admitted that they migrated ALL Phoenix policyholders over to a new system a few months ago and they have had ‘issues’ since then! 

We then quoted policy numbers and a letter from them to my OH’s company financial adviser with my OH’s name and address on and they actually questioned how we were in possession of this letter!!!

 Tbh easier getting blood out of a stone then actually…. a) getting to talk to the right person in the first place and b) getting anything out of them.  They take FOREVER to actually do anything.  We are now in the process of getting the trusteeship removed so that Phoenix will deal with her, complicated by the fact that the old company has been taken over.

Consumer3

@BoxerfanUK that’s interesting and might explain why we suddenly got two letters stating he ‘might’ be a customer. They said that it was our address that had become unverified.

Suggest you do the same as us and put everything in writing rather than deal with the useless call centre. You could try registering with the online portal My Phoenix, if that helps. 

xylophone

Then as things stand at the moment,  it seems  he will have qualified for a full NSP.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79941790/#Comment_79941790

Has he checked again?

He has three pension policies, two with Pearl 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79934724/#Comment_79934724

Pot A, start date Jan 1994 called Pearl Pensions Mixed Fund, this is the plan he is still contributing to. The contribution, monthly policy fee and capital unit obligation increasing each year in line with NAE (Index of National Earnings).

This?

https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/P/pl17/pearl-mixed-unit-linked-pn/

Pot B, start date April 1993, then missing paperwork until a 1996 statement calling it Prosperity Pension Plan (Protected Rights). 
Then a letter from 2003 saying 'contracted out payments have not been received from the National Contributions Office'.
This was the plan he believed he started with a lump sum, however as the paperwork is missing I can't tell. It looks as if this one only had the contributions that would have gone into SERPS. 
In the current statements from Phoenix it's called Prosperity Pension Plan Unit-Linked, which is made up of Former Protected Rights (the whole of this pot). 

If the whole of the pot B is former protected rights then presumably this is not the plan to which he contributed a lump sum.


and one with Scottish Widows.

although he does have an old workplace pension from 2013 with Scottish Widows. It’s a Lifestyle one where the funds are starting to move this year, currently in Scottish Widows Pension Portfolio Two

You were dealing with a Chartered Financial Planner a couple of months back on behalf of a relative seeking an annuity.

Were you satisfied with his work? Was he independent?

Would it be worth your husband's consulting him concerning how best to go forward?

Consumer3

@xylophone
1 year left still as he is self employed, that’s another thread but he has plenty of time to add that year.
Yes just those pensions, the fund for Phoenix I will have to check tomorrow.
Yes the financial planner was quite good although we are still waiting for the annuity to go through so it’s been a bit slow but that was due to delays from Aegon. They do charge 2% though and we were hoping to DIY.

Consumer3

https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/P/pl17/pearl-mixed-unit-linked-pn/

@x@xylophone yes it’s in that fund for both Pearl/Phoenix plans, I’m sure it isn’t a fund we would pick nowadays.