Defined Benefit Pension Transfer / Insistent Client Advice.

dunstonh

I also spoke to Standard Life and they have told me that their stakeholder pension does not allow drawdown. They also said that they would only accept a transfer through the IFA or company and that I won’t be able to do it. 

I don't know if the Standard Life stakeholder was ever confirmed as using intermediaries only or direct to consumer.    The Aviva one was confirmed as being available without intermediaries.    The comment from Standard Life suggests intermediary only.

Aviva's stakeholder 'Offers access to flexi-access drawdown and other pension freedoms': https://connect.avivab2b.co.uk/adviser/retirement/individual-pensions/stakeholder-pension/

This is a quirk with Aviva on many of their legacy plans.  We see it all the time.  They say they support drawdown on the policy details sheet, but when you ask about a method, you usually find only single lump sum UFPLS is available or, in some cases, full crystallisation only with no ability to mix and match crystallised and uncrystallised.    And often no ability to pay regular income but ad-hoc lump sums only.  

However, it doesn't matter as the OP would only be using Aviva as a stepping stone.

Vegasjay

@Macron

I hope you are well. Thank you for your reply and comments. I did thank Pension Works for their help. I’ve managed to find another company called Pensionhelp. I’ve completed their triage service tonight so will wait to hear back. Fee is £4000 tbc. Fingers crossed but incase If you have any recommendations for IFAs that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the links on the Aviva stakeholder pension. I’ve read them and that looks positive. I did call again today to clarify everything but waited 55 minutes before I had to give up. I did try the call back function as well but no call received so far. I’ll keep trying until I talk to them confirm everything before I open the pension. Thank you very much for your help. 

Vegasjay

 dunstonh‘

I hope you are well. Thank you for your reply and comments. 

1. Standard Life. Yes the advisor confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to do the transfer myself and that it could only be done via the IFA who has given me the full advice. 

2. Aviva. Thank you for the link. Macron gave me the same link too and this sounds positive. I’ve been trying 2 days to talk to them to confirm and clarify everything without luck but I’ll keep trying until I get answers. I just need flexibility and the ability to take out lump sums as first priority. Thank you for your help. 

Vegasjay

@Marcon I hope you are well. Thank you for your reply and comments. I did thank Pension Works for their help. I’ve managed to find another company called Pensionhelp. I’ve completed their triage service tonight so will wait to hear back. Fee is £4000 tbc. Fingers crossed but incase If you have any recommendations for IFAs that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the links on the Aviva stakeholder pension. I’ve read them and that looks positive. I did call again today to clarify everything but waited 55 minutes before I had to give up. I did try the call back function as well but no call received so far. I’ll keep trying until I talk to them confirm everything before I open the pension. Thank you very much for your help.

Update 7/3/25 ( apologies I sent yesterday’s message to the wrong name ). 

Hi Marcon - I hope you are well. I finally managed to get through to Aviva today ( another 40 min wait  ) after getting passed on from one department to the next. The stakeholder pension does allow draw down and it will accept defined benefit pensions but only through a IFA and I’m not able to do this myself. The advisor did say that they did have advisors in-house that deal with pension transfers above £250k. So looks like I can’t do any transfers myself. 

I’m progressing everything with Pensionhelp and have a telephone call appointment Weds 12/3/25. They said if they do advise the transfer then they can transfer into something that I have asked for or they will recommend a suitable product that gives me what I need. I’ve got everything crossed for this. Will wait to see what happens. I’m still researching other IFAs incase too. Thank you for your help. 

Marcon

dunstonh said:

I also spoke to Standard Life and they have told me that their stakeholder pension does not allow drawdown. They also said that they would only accept a transfer through the IFA or company and that I won’t be able to do it. 

I don't know if the Standard Life stakeholder was ever confirmed as using intermediaries only or direct to consumer.    The Aviva one was confirmed as being available without intermediaries.    The comment from Standard Life suggests intermediary only.

I've never had direct experience of Standard Life but relied on others posting here - not always a good idea!

Vegasjay said:

@Marcon I hope you are well. Thank you for your reply and comments. I did thank Pension Works for their help. I’ve managed to find another company called Pensionhelp. I’ve completed their triage service tonight so will wait to hear back. Fee is £4000 tbc. Fingers crossed but incase If you have any recommendations for IFAs that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the links on the Aviva stakeholder pension. I’ve read them and that looks positive. I did call again today to clarify everything but waited 55 minutes before I had to give up. I did try the call back function as well but no call received so far. I’ll keep trying until I talk to them confirm everything before I open the pension. Thank you very much for your help.

Update 7/3/25 ( apologies I sent yesterday’s message to the wrong name ). 

Hi Marcon - I hope you are well. I finally managed to get through to Aviva today ( another 40 min wait  ) after getting passed on from one department to the next. The stakeholder pension does allow draw down and it will accept defined benefit pensions but only through a IFA and I’m not able to do this myself. The advisor did say that they did have advisors in-house that deal with pension transfers above £250k. So looks like I can’t do any transfers myself. 

I’m progressing everything with Pensionhelp and have a telephone call appointment Weds 12/3/25. They said if they do advise the transfer then they can transfer into something that I have asked for or they will recommend a suitable product that gives me what I need. I’ve got everything crossed for this. Will wait to see what happens. I’m still researching other IFAs incase too. Thank you for your help. 

Not sure exactly what question you asked of Aviva, but that's not the answer I would expect you to have received (and certainly not in line with the one I was given by someone much higher up the food chain than the helpdesk). Still, you seem to have found a way forward, so no matter - but I guess it emphasises how important it is to always check things thoroughly for yourself before proceeding.

Vegasjay

@Marcon

Hi Marcon. I hope you are well. Thank you for your message. I told the advisor that I wanted to open the stakeholder pension and that before I filled out the online application I had a few questions. First did the stakeholder allow drawdown and he confirmed yes. Secondly does it accept transfers from defined benefit pensions and can I arrange the transfer myself. This is where I was told that I was not able to do this myself and that I had to seek independent financial advice and that the IFA would then have to arrange the transfer and I couldn’t do it myself. I’ll try to find a email address ( unsuccessful so far ) for Aviva and ask my questions again to be double sure. 

Interesting that you were given a different answer by someone higher in authority. I won’t know until I get the abridged advice or full advice what Pensionhelp will advise so I might have to look at this again ( Aviva stakeholder pension ) or find another IFA for advice. I’ve got everything crossed with Pensionhelp but I’m also prepared for it not being positive too. I’ve found out how hard it is to do something like this. Thank you for your help and I’ll keep you posted and If you have any further advice or any recommendations for any good IFAs or companies then that would be greatly appreciated. 

Vegasjay

@Marcon

I hope you are well. I wanted to ask If you did have the name or contact details of the person at Aviva that you spoke to so I can maybe talk to them about arranging the stakeholder pension myself. Thank you for your help. 

Marcon

I'm afraid forum rules forbid the provision of that sort of personal information.

From what you've posted, it sounds as if the wires have crossed somewhere - I suspect the person you spoke to at Aviva misunderstood what you were asking. You need to be very clear that you will have received regulated advice and can prove that to Aviva and all you want to do is arrange the actual transfer for yourself after you have received advice.

Vegasjay

@Marcon,

Hi Marcon. Thanks for the message. Ok understood about the rules. Apologies I wasn’t aware of that. Understood what you said about Aviva and that makes sense. I’ll see what happens with Pensionhelp this week and take it from there. The Aviva stakeholder pension is a very good option and back up. Thank you for your help again. Have a good week. 

Vegasjay

@Marcon,

I hope you are well. I just wanted to let you know that I managed to sort out my defined benefit pension transfer. Pensionhelp managed to arrange everything. They were totally understanding of my situation and the financial advisor that provided the advice has 36 years experience and was totally empathatic. I spoke to them beginning of March and the transfer was done by 7 May. Their fee as previous was £4000 which they took from my pension after the transfer. They did look at the stakeholder pensions at Aviva as well as Standard Life but they found a more competitive pension at Scottish Widows. I’m very happy. It was a lot of stress. Initially Aptia were it would take 6 months to transfer across to Scottish Widows but they did it super fast. I’ve already received my 25% tax free cash lump sum too. Just wanted to say thank you very much for all your help and advice on this as well as the rest of the forum. Take care.