Has anyone had any experiences with ReAssure?

burt_custard

How do!. 

First time posting in the forum (I think) so apologies if I put this post in the wrong section.

My question is this, has anyone had anything do with ReAssure? I ask because quite frankly they've been the worst company I have had to deal with and it's got to the point where I'm at my wits end.

It started back in January when my father received a letter from them saying they've been trying to contact him in regards to a pension policy he had with Barclays that they'd taken over.

My father knew nothing about this and after speaking to them it turned out a pension policy he took out back in the 90s had matured and there was a fair amount that could be cashed out so he asked if they could send him the information so he could go through it.

Now at this point I should state that my father has developed memory issues which could well be alzheimers (he's had the tests and we're just waiting on the results now) so he said that if they needed to get in touch with him about the policy then they have his permission to speak to either my mother or myself without having to go through all the security stuff with him each time before passing the phone over and the person on the other end said they where happy to do that but they'd need it in writing. Okay, not a problem we got that sorted and the next time we contacted them they were more than happy to speak to Ma right away and said the letter had been accepted and her and my name were now on the list of people they could discuss things with. However the next time we got in touch the guy on the other end was incredibly rude, said the letter wasn't acceptable and refused to speak to Ma so we had to go through the whole security thing with Dad again before the guy would even acknowledge the question Ma was trying to ask and every time we've been in touch since it's a different matter, sometimes they're happy to talk to her or myself straight away other times they point blank refuse to speak to either of us but this is the least of the issues we've had with them.

We've been in touch with them at least 20 times since January and every single time we've been told contradictory information, we've been told they haven't received documentation we've sent recorded delivery (the tracking shows it had been delivered and signed for), they've told us they have stuff that we haven't sent because it hasn't been asked for. we keep being told the payment will be made within 10 days (their website states 5 days tops), we've been told "it's ready to be sent to the back room" for the payment to be made, we've been told they need more information sending in after we've been told that they have all the information required to make the payment. We just can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone at that place and last Friday it got to the point where I blew my top and gave the person on the other end both barrels yelling which is very unlike me and all I got was a generic apology and that "they can't pick and choose what information they'll accept to make the payout" which is weird because that is exactly what they've been doing.

It seems as though they're knowingly withholding payment now and it's seriously affecting my father. He can barely afford his bills and these a**holes are withholding thousands from him. The last thing I said to the person on the phone was I'd be contacting the ombudsman and possibly small claims court and they didn't seem to care because they just said "well complaint is in place and being looked at" which is impressive as we hadn't filed one yet but you bet we have now,.

I've looked on Trustpilot, their rating is 4.1 and on further inspection all the negative reviews mirror exactly what's going on with my fathers policy but the weird thing I've noticed is the very moment a low rating is recorded then five or six glowing reviews appear straight away and there's something off about the positive ones, they all seem very samey to me and left by people who don't seem to have reviewed anything else so I can't help but think ReAssure are using bots for reviews. I just think ReAssure are liars and con artists.

Has anyone had any success getting their pension from them or does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to get what's rightfully my fathers?

Thanks in advance.

dunstonh

My question is this, has anyone had anything do with ReAssure?

yes. plenty of times.

I ask because quite frankly they've been the worst company I have had to deal with and it's got to the point where I'm at my wits end.

To be honest, I don't find them that bad. They have their moments (usually not supplying all the requested info on the first attempt) but overall, you get there in the end.   

 The last thing I said to the person on the phone was I'd be contacting the ombudsman and possibly small claims court and they didn't seem to care because they just said "well complaint is in place and being looked at" which is impressive as we hadn't filed one yet but you bet we have now,.

Employees will not care if you do that. They will just accept it. That is the same with most large companies.  You don't have to file a complaint.  The member of staff will do that with an expression of dissatisfaction. 

 I just think ReAssure are liars and con artists.

That is libel.  Its best not to start going down that route.

Has anyone had any success getting their pension from them or does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to get what's rightfully my fathers?

Yes.  

You haven't told us what you are trying to do with your fathers pension.  Is it small pots rule lump sum?  UFPLS? drawdown? Annuity?

burt_custard

He wants it all taken out and put into his account.
You[re the only person who seems to have had an okay time with them, you must be really lucky because the more I hear about this company and the more we deal with them nobody seems to have a good word about them.
they’re just full of contradictions so until my father gets his money I’m going to be convinced they are con artists and I’m not afraid to say it, I’ve gone on record stating it.
the point is, it doesn’t matter what I think, nobody seems to know what they’re doing there so I have zero trust in them.

OldScientist

I held two old fashioned plans with ReAssure (after they had taken over the plans from Windsor Life). One I cashed in early after two letters. The second I transferred to another pension (again on the basis of two letters - one to ask for a valuation in the event of transfer and one to order the transfer to take place). While the transfer took a month or so, it was otherwise a reasonable experience.

However, that is not to negate what sounds like a terrible experience with them.

LHW99

If they have your complaint - was it in writing (letter / email?) - for 8 weeks, then if you have no response / are unsatisfied with the response, you could raise it with the pensions ombudsman, although that could take longer than just leaving them to it.

Have you had a copy of their complaints procedure?

MeteredOut

My wife had an old Windsor Life pension that was transferred to ReAssure - she only recovered it recently and had to change get her name, address, marital status etc updated.

The address was fairly easy to change, but it took 3 attempts to get her name changed (despite providing all evidence at the same time) but it wasn't too painful. The online messaging system is a bit hit and miss.

xylophone

In the situation described, is it time for your father to grant you and your mother Power of Attorney?

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

It would be best to get on with this as soon as possible as it can take several weeks before the application is processed.

Albermarle

burt_custard said:

He wants it all taken out and put into his account.
You[re the only person who seems to have had an okay time with them, you must be really lucky because the more I hear about this company and the more we deal with them nobody seems to have a good word about them.
they’re just full of contradictions so until my father gets his money I’m going to be convinced they are con artists and I’m not afraid to say it, I’ve gone on record stating it.
the point is, it doesn’t matter what I think, nobody seems to know what they’re doing there so I have zero trust in them.

We get plenty of posts on the forum complaining about poor service from pension companies, and for sure Reassure are not the only ones mentioned.
Normally it is not a matter of trust/con artists, but poor/old IT systems, badly trained overworked staff working in a relatively complex area, and of forever changing legislation.
That does not mean you have not got a valid complaint, it is just not a unique situation.

burt_custard

xylophone said:

In the situation described, is it time for your father to grant you and your mother Power of Attorney?

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

It would be best to get on with this as soon as possible as it can take several weeks before the application is processed.

Funnily enough that has actually been applied for a few months back so I think we should have confirmation any day now if it’s all gone correctly. Thank you though, the response is still very much appreciated.

burt_custard

LHW99 said:

If they have your complaint - was it in writing (letter / email?) - for 8 weeks, then if you have no response / are unsatisfied with the response, you could raise it with the pensions ombudsman, although that could take longer than just leaving them to it.

Have you had a copy of their complaints procedure?

That’ s the thing, we didn’t actually complain as such we just said we were going to take it further as the handling has been terrible and when we contacted them again about something (probably something like one person said one thing, the next person contradicted them) we found out a complaint had already been registered which threw us and when we asked what it was about they couldn’t tell us and then this morning a letter from ReAssure arrived acknowledging that a complaint had been filed alongside a leaflet explaining the complaint’s procedure. 

This is what I mean about ReAssure saying they have stuff we haven’t sent and then saying they don’t have the stuff we sent that was sent by recorded delivery and the tracking shows it’s been delivered and signed for, we just keep getting told different things each time and nobody seems to be able to get their story straight.

burt_custard

Albermarle said:

burt_custard said:

He wants it all taken out and put into his account.
You[re the only person who seems to have had an okay time with them, you must be really lucky because the more I hear about this company and the more we deal with them nobody seems to have a good word about them.
they’re just full of contradictions so until my father gets his money I’m going to be convinced they are con artists and I’m not afraid to say it, I’ve gone on record stating it.
the point is, it doesn’t matter what I think, nobody seems to know what they’re doing there so I have zero trust in them.

We get plenty of posts on the forum complaining about poor service from pension companies, and for sure Reassure are not the only ones mentioned.
Normally it is not a matter of trust/con artists, but poor/old IT systems, badly trained overworked staff working in a relatively complex area, and of forever changing legislation.
That does not mean you have not got a valid complaint, it is just not a unique situation.

Aye that’s fair enough it just seems so far fetched even if we try and explain it to people we get ourselves confused. All I know is they can’t get their stories straight and just about every negative review on Trustpilot mirrors what we’re having to deal with.
at the end of the day they have my fathers money, they tracked him down and they just seem to be teasing him with it. The poor guy can barely afford his bills and they have thousands of his that they keep dangling infront of him.
he’s gotten considerably worse since all this started and I wouldn’t be surprised if the stress ReAssure are causing him is what’s making him worse.