Lost Virgin Money Pension Transfer

simeon27

Has anybody else suffered at the hands of the Virgin Money Pension operators? I am having a terrible experience with Virgin Money I asked them to transfer my pension with them to Scottish Widows in March. After prompting they made a transfer on 21 May.  This did not appear in my account with Scottish Widows and they say it was returned by their system as it was not properly referenced by Virgin.  Virgin were in denial but eventually on 20 June they confirmed that another transfer had been sent and Scottish Widows had been advised.  Scottish widows say they are monitoring the account daily and it has not been received. 

You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world for the two parties to talk to each other, establish which account held the money and than complete the transfer properly but this seems beyond them.

I am at a loss as to how I can resolve this when it appears that two financial giants who are in direct contact with each other cannot resolve this.  It seems like this is something that just should not happen in a tightly regulated business, but it seems there is nobody that can step in to resolve this other than the Financial Ombudsman, after an 8 week wait.

Even after the money is located I have the issue of the loss due to it not being invested during this period to resolve,

As additional background a transfer from ReAssure to Scottish Widows, which was instructed after the Virgin request, went through without a hitch in less than 2 weeks.

Marcon

simeon27 said:

Has anybody else suffered at the hands of the Virgin Money Pension operators? I am having a terrible experience with Virgin Money I asked them to transfer my pension with them to Scottish Widows in March. After prompting they made a transfer on 21 May.  This did not appear in my account with Scottish Widows and they say it was returned by their system as it was not properly referenced by Virgin.  Virgin were in denial but eventually on 20 June they confirmed that another transfer had been sent and Scottish Widows had been advised.  Scottish widows say they are monitoring the account daily and it has not been received. 

You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world for the two parties to talk to each other, establish which account held the money and than complete the transfer properly but this seems beyond them.

I am at a loss as to how I can resolve this when it appears that two financial giants who are in direct contact with each other cannot resolve this.  It seems like this is something that just should not happen in a tightly regulated business, but it seems there is nobody that can step in to resolve this other than the Financial Ombudsman, after an 8 week wait.

Even after the money is located I have the issue of the loss due to it not being invested during this period to resolve,

As additional background a transfer from ReAssure to Scottish Widows, which was instructed after the Virgin request, went through without a hitch in less than 2 weeks.

This is the sort of head-banging scenario which, quite understandably, really winds people up. It is also fairly frequent and virtually all financial service providers drop the ball from time to time, so not really worth wasting energy hoping for that elusive perfect world...

First thing to say is that the money WILL be located so don't worry that it has gone permanently AWOL.

You are entitled to be put in the position you would have been in had the transfer been handled correctly and without undue delay (which is not the same thing as saying 'happens quickly'). Depending on the amount of the transfer and the funds in which you are invested, that could be a significant loss, little or no loss, or even a gain (sometimes delays work in your favour). I'd send the same email to both companies with the word 'complaint' in the subject line and ask them to sort it out between them.

If you don't like the answers you get, then your complaint is about maladministration, so it's one for the Pensions Ombudsman once the complaints procedures have been exhausted - but beware doing that unless you are sure it is worthwhile. There's likely to be a long wait and if the amount involved is modest, you might conclude that your time and sanity are more valuable.

dunstonh

Has anybody else suffered at the hands of the Virgin Money Pension operators?

Not here.  I find them slow but it gets there in the end.

I am having a terrible experience with Virgin Money I asked them to transfer my pension with them to Scottish Widows in March. 

 The receiving scheme controls the transfer.  Not the ceding scheme.  You don't ask Virgin to transfer the pension to SW.   You ask SW to transfer the Virgin pension to them.   So, this could be why you are suffered some of the issues you have had at the start.  Especially, if it was a non-origo transfer.

You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world for the two parties to talk to each other, establish which account held the money and than complete the transfer properly but this seems beyond them.

And all the HMRC information and pension-specific details that go with it.  Both from the receiving scheme and the ceding scheme.

As additional background a transfer from ReAssure to Scottish Widows, which was instructed after the Virgin request, went through without a hitch in less than 2 weeks.

Both of those companies use Origo (which is paperless with both of them).   The last Virgin money pension transfer I did, Virgin said they did not use Origo and they still required discharge forms.  So, its a very manual process but still controlled by the receiving scheme.

To be honest, your delay is not that long for a non-origo transfer.  You normally measure non-origo transfers in months rather than days.

FIREmenow

I think issues transferring out of virgin money I've seen on the forum have been more with ISAs than pensions, but is it possible that the underlying issue is the same - that virgin money is made up of multiple legacy banking systems from the companies they have taken over and they don't always talk to each other?

I know with ISAs the issue is the correct sort code (out of several VM use), and it going to the right department.

simeon27

Update: Scottish Widows have finally acknowledged receipt of the transfer which Virgin Money say they first sent on 21st May.  The value was £20+k and the investment already in Scottish Widows has been appreciating nicely during the 48 day period the money was 'missing' so I will be looking to get the gain due for lost days added  

ShaggyT

Yes I am having issues.  Going round in circles with them!   Have you any update or positive news?

ali_bear

I am in the process of transferring out of/closing a Virgin S&S ISA, they say the money should be with me in five days .. we'll see! 
But from what I gather the Virgin brand is just a cover for many different products and a basket case of back-office systems. Just try logging in to their internets to see what a mess it is.