Pru pension difficulties

SisterStressy

I’m in the process of dealing with my late brothers estate. Everything except his Pru pension has paid out.  He had a Pridential flexible retirement plan. We completed a form with all 7 beneficiaries names in November. All of us are family members.  I’ve chased the matter with his FA and have been told the following:-

" these things take a long time to deal with and the trustees of the pension (Pru) are still considering his case".

So even though he nominated his beneficiaries in a "letter of wishes" it is just that "his Wishes" and it does not mean the trustees (Pru) have to abide with his Wishes at all.

This is the same for all UK pension schemes and beneficiaries are really at the behest of the trustees.

Being pension law it also means the trustees are not obliged to follow his will either.


we are totally floored by this situation, my brother would never have paid into a plan if you knew they would hang on it like this, with no justification at all. It’s theft. 

Is there anything at all that I can do ? Is there an ombudsman or body that I can approach for help with this?  Even the FA said he’s never had a situation like this and he’s baffled. 

SisterStressy

I’m in the process of dealing with my late brothers estate. Everything except his Pru pension has paid out.  He had a Pridential flexible retirement plan. We completed a form with all 7 beneficiaries names in November. All of us are family members.  I’ve chased the matter with his FA and have been told the following:-

" these things take a long time to deal with and the trustees of the pension (Pru) are still considering his case".

So even though he nominated his beneficiaries in a "letter of wishes" it is just that "his Wishes" and it does not mean the trustees (Pru) have to abide with his Wishes at all.

This is the same for all UK pension schemes and beneficiaries are really at the behest of the trustees.

Being pension law it also means the trustees are not obliged to follow his will either.


we are totally floored by this situation, my brother would never have paid into a plan if you knew they would hang on it like this, with no justification at all. It’s theft. 

Is there anything at all that I can do ? Is there an ombudsman or body that I can approach for help with this?  Even the FA said he’s never had a situation like this and he’s baffled. 

SisterStressy

I’d like to add that all beneficiaries are the same as what was noted in my brothers will. 

Keep_pedalling

It’s not theft it will be paid out eventually. Usually the trustees will follow the wishes, but there are situations where they won’t. For instance if the holder wants his pension Togo to his best drinking buddy but also has a wife and children. 

The will has no bearing on this the pension is not heritable estate. 

RAS

The legal problem is that ATM if the donor instructs his pension provider how to divide the payout  becomes part of the estate and IHT becomes payable. 

The expression of wishes allows the pension trustees to pay out without deducting IHT. Read round here for those upset when the trustees pay the estate.

Some pension providers are likely on a steep learning curve working out how to handle the new rules.

Roger175

Prudential are an absolute shambles to deal with. I did a transfer away from them last summer and they were an absolute nightmare. They work at one pace which is almost backwards and every time you phone you get a different operative who gives you a different story.

I suspect the problem is that Prudential are simply very very slow and borderline incompetent in the way they deal with things, rather than anything more sinister. Good luck, but hopefully you'll get there eventually. 

Linton

In most cases the Trustees do follow the statement of wishes and only do something different if the wishes are "unusual" or no longer relevent.  eg leaving the pension to some one surprising rather than to the benefit of the deceased's dependents or leaving the pension to someone who had since died.

From memory there have been several postings about the time it takes Prudential to carry out basic tasks. I am afraid you will have to be patient.

dunstonh

we are totally floored by this situation, my brother would never have paid into a plan if you knew they would hang on it like this, with no justification at all. It’s theft. 

They cannot hang on to it.  
There will be justification
It is not theft.
They have a duty to ensure that the payment is to the correct people.

Is there anything at all that I can do ?

You wait.   

If the expression of wish is not typical (i.e. spouse or children), then it will be looked at more thoroughly for other potential beneficiaries.  i.e. births or deaths that may have occurred since the EOW was completed.

The provider will also contact the potential beneficiaries who were not included to ask if they believe they should be, and it will ask if others named want to be beneficiaries or not.      The speed of their replies and the comments they make will inevitably cause a delay.   

The administrators will then often need to go to the trustees if it falls outside of their normal agreed processes.  The trustees may only meet once a month.

Is there an ombudsman or body that I can approach for help with this?  Even the FA said he’s never had a situation like this and he’s baffled. 

An FA is unlikely to have a wide experience as they are limited to the products and services of their own company.  Usually, it is their employer's company that does these things.   As an IFA, I have had several like this over the years.  It's more typical when there is no EOW, or the EOW is out of date or written in a way that doesn't cover sufficient scenarios.

diveunderthebonnet

SisterStressy said:

I’m in the process of dealing with my late brothers estate. Everything except his Pru pension has paid out.  He had a Pridential flexible retirement plan. We completed a form with all 7 beneficiaries names in November. All of us are family members.  I’ve chased the matter with his FA and have been told the following:-

" these things take a long time to deal with and the trustees of the pension (Pru) are still considering his case".

So even though he nominated his beneficiaries in a "letter of wishes" it is just that "his Wishes" and it does not mean the trustees (Pru) have to abide with his Wishes at all.

This is the same for all UK pension schemes and beneficiaries are really at the behest of the trustees.

Being pension law it also means the trustees are not obliged to follow his will either.


we are totally floored by this situation, my brother would never have paid into a plan if you knew they would hang on it like this, with no justification at all. It’s theft. 

Is there anything at all that I can do ? Is there an ombudsman or body that I can approach for help with this?  Even the FA said he’s never had a situation like this and he’s baffled. 

Its not theft ,it might be slow ,they will pay out when they have done their due diligence .

Claude_and_Eustace

It took over a year for my husband’s pension provider to make a decision as they investigated several avenues. You do have to be patient to some degree but do keep in contact with them. I did complain about the unreasonable time taken (and the final decision they made!) at the end as they had all the information at the start - which they tried to deny to put the blame back on me! They sent me a small amount of compensation for the delay, but as I  said it was a lot longer than 3 months. They do need time to ensure they make a correct decision as they are legally bound.