iWeb SIPP PCLS

pale_male

Has anyone managed to get a pension commencement lump sum out of an iWeb SIPP? If so, how many months did it take? Did it require a complaint to the FOS/Pension Ombudsman or litigation?

I started the process two months ago and sent them what was purportedly the last form a month ago. They are earning interest on the cash I have put aside for the lump sum in the meantime. I have complained to both iWeb and AJ Bell, but have not even received an acknowledgment. In any case, no one at iWeb wants to take responsibility for what is ostensibly their SIPP product: all enquiries are referred to AJ Bell.

Any experience of transferring an iWeb SIPP to another provider would be very welcome. I have read elsewhere that it can take up to five months, but the prospect of attempting to draw income in future years while this SIPP stays with iWeb fills me with dread.

Fortnite_hero

Just completing a SIPP transfer to ii, it is now been 15 weeks and has been a running joke with the admin at interactive investor about how many obstacles Iweb can put in the way .

Good luck.

DavidT67

pale_male said:

Has anyone managed to get a pension commencement lump sum out of an iWeb SIPP? If so, how many months did it take? Did it require a complaint to the FOS/Pension Ombudsman or litigation?

I started the process two months ago and sent them what was purportedly the last form a month ago. They are earning interest on the cash I have put aside for the lump sum in the meantime. I have complained to both iWeb and AJ Bell, but have not even received an acknowledgment. In any case, no one at iWeb wants to take responsibility for what is ostensibly their SIPP product: all enquiries are referred to AJ Bell.

Any experience of transferring an iWeb SIPP to another provider would be very welcome. I have read elsewhere that it can take up to five months, but the prospect of attempting to draw income in future years while this SIPP stays with iWeb fills me with dread.

The right wing press spooked the pensioners with speculation on reducing the tax free cash allowance, that caused a massive spike in PCLS / TFC applications in the months before the budget, which didn't actually change the rules...

My provider normally takes less than two weeks to process a drawdown request, they now have a two month backlog and predicted eight weeks waiting time !

Yes, pension transfer times are measured in months, not weeks...  I suspect any transfer out request handled by the same team will now be slowed down even further.

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

Albermarle

DavidT67 said:

pale_male said:

Has anyone managed to get a pension commencement lump sum out of an iWeb SIPP? If so, how many months did it take? Did it require a complaint to the FOS/Pension Ombudsman or litigation?

I started the process two months ago and sent them what was purportedly the last form a month ago. They are earning interest on the cash I have put aside for the lump sum in the meantime. I have complained to both iWeb and AJ Bell, but have not even received an acknowledgment. In any case, no one at iWeb wants to take responsibility for what is ostensibly their SIPP product: all enquiries are referred to AJ Bell.

Any experience of transferring an iWeb SIPP to another provider would be very welcome. I have read elsewhere that it can take up to five months, but the prospect of attempting to draw income in future years while this SIPP stays with iWeb fills me with dread.

The right wing press spooked the pensioners with speculation on reducing the tax free cash allowance, that caused a massive spike in PCLS / TFC applications in the months before the budget, which didn't actually change the rules...

My provider normally takes less than two weeks to process a drawdown request, they now have a two month backlog and predicted eight weeks waiting time !

Yes, pension transfer times are measured in months, not weeks...  I suspect any transfer out request handled by the same team will now be slowed down even further.

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

Pension transfers in cash can happen in 48 hours, although probably a couple of weeks is more typical ( ignoring any current delays caused by pre budget panic)  Longer if one of the providers is not on the 'Origo' system.
In specie transfers will take longer, occasionally dragging on for months.

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

DavidT67

Albermarle

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

Seems like a lot of the new entrants have focused on accumulation and are not setup for all drawdown options (yet).  Often only offering UFPLS rather than FAD, and not accepting inbound transfers of pensions where TFC has been taken.

i.e. InvestEngine is accumulation only,  FreeTrade only offers UFPLS and won't accept pensions in drawdown, Nutmeg also doesn't accept transfer in of pensions in drawdown, etc. etc.

Chickereeeee

Fortnite_hero said:

Just completing a SIPP transfer to ii, it is now been 15 weeks and has been a running joke with the admin at interactive investor about how many obstacles Iweb can put in the way .

Good luck.

I had a similar experience, but about 5 years ago! I think it is largely because there are three parties involved - II, iWeb and AJBell.  I spent ages chasing all three, and I was never sure who was at fault.

IWeb are very good with my other investments, and good when holding my SIPP (I don't think I was ever charged anything by iWeb...), but the transfer out experience was poor,

Albermarle

DavidT67 said:

Albermarle

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

Seems like a lot of the new entrants have focused on accumulation and are not setup for all drawdown options (yet).  Often only offering UFPLS rather than FAD, and not accepting inbound transfers of pensions where TFC has been taken.

i.e. InvestEngine is accumulation only,  FreeTrade only offers UFPLS and won't accept pensions in drawdown, Nutmeg also doesn't accept transfer in of pensions in drawdown, etc. etc.

These are pretty small players, compared to Royal London, Aviva, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, HL, Fidelity, II, Nest  etc
Although not sure if all of those accept crystallised transfers.

FIREDreamer

Albermarle said:

DavidT67 said:

Albermarle

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

Seems like a lot of the new entrants have focused on accumulation and are not setup for all drawdown options (yet).  Often only offering UFPLS rather than FAD, and not accepting inbound transfers of pensions where TFC has been taken.

i.e. InvestEngine is accumulation only,  FreeTrade only offers UFPLS and won't accept pensions in drawdown, Nutmeg also doesn't accept transfer in of pensions in drawdown, etc. etc.

These are pretty small players, compared to Royal London, Aviva, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, HL, Fidelity, II, Nest  etc
Although not sure if all of those accept crystallised transfers.

Hargreaves Lansdown definitely accept crystallised funds, speaking from experience.

Albermarle

FIREDreamer said:

Albermarle said:

DavidT67 said:

Albermarle

Also with your pension in drawdown the choice of providers is now severely limited.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

Seems like a lot of the new entrants have focused on accumulation and are not setup for all drawdown options (yet).  Often only offering UFPLS rather than FAD, and not accepting inbound transfers of pensions where TFC has been taken.

i.e. InvestEngine is accumulation only,  FreeTrade only offers UFPLS and won't accept pensions in drawdown, Nutmeg also doesn't accept transfer in of pensions in drawdown, etc. etc.

These are pretty small players, compared to Royal London, Aviva, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, HL, Fidelity, II, Nest  etc
Although not sure if all of those accept crystallised transfers.

Hargreaves Lansdown definitely accept crystallised funds, speaking from experience.

So do Fidelity, although you have to call them to discuss, rather than just do an on line transfer.

dunstonh

Any experience of transferring an iWeb SIPP to another provider would be very welcome. I have read elsewhere that it can take up to five months, but the prospect of attempting to draw income in future years while this SIPP stays with iWeb fills me with dread.

The quickest transfers take about 3 days and the longest about 12 months (failed in-specie re-registations.  Cash transfers are typically 3-21 days.   inspecie transfers about 5 days to 3 months.

Providers are suffering on two fronts at the moment.  A deluge of people trying to get their 25% out before the budget created workflow issues and now many of those same people are now using their cancellation rights to put it back.

The big providers are not suffering as much on this as they have the resources to move around but the smaller providers with limited resources have seen their wait times increase significantly.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

Some of the robos and legacy plans won't take crystallised funds but all modern SIPPs will.

DavidT67

dunstonh said:

Providers are suffering on two fronts at the moment.  A deluge of people trying to get their 25% out before the budget created workflow issues and now many of those same people are now using their cancellation rights to put it back.

The big providers are not suffering as much on this as they have the resources to move around but the smaller providers with limited resources have seen their wait times increase significantly.

I knew that moving crystallised funds was less straightforward, but was not aware that that the choice of providers was really that severely restricted ?

Some of the robos and legacy plans won't take crystallised funds but all modern SIPPs will.

HL which normally take less than two weeks is now quoting eight weeks for FAD & UFPLS, so big providers seem to be suffering the same as smaller ones.

I gave examples of new entrants to SIPP market who don't accept drawdown pots, or even offer drawdown, so a stretch to say all modern SIPPs do.