Systemic incompetence - Aegon

dermotological

We're having a torrid time trying to cash in Aegon investments into an annuity.

The process has been ongoing since October, with an IFA charged to handle the transaction. Multiple documents submitted, multiple calls with 40 minute pickup times, multiple "confirmations" that Aegon has received all the necessary paperwork and authorisations, and today yet more requests for information, in an email so poorly presented it looks like the work of scammers:

Subject: XXXXXXXXXXX

Good Morning,

 Thank you for your sending us the paper work for settling your pension pot ,  we require you to submit the attach correct paper form . So please can you fill correct Form: 

• Complete form required Or submit via ORIGO 

 Form can be send by email in PDF format or can post on below:

As a consequence of all this delay, we are out of pocket by at least 3 months worth of pension annuity, and still with no final resolution date in sight.

There will be an official complaint raised but given the problems we're also having with Aegon on other accounts we hold with them, it all seems so trivial and toothless.

I want to highlight that we are not getting the service we expect, and it is having real financial consequences.

They might respond with "we don't comment on individual cases", but guess what - each and every single customer they have will experience them on an individual basis.

How can we make it in Aegon's interest to get our transaction completed?

eskbanker

dermotological said:

The process has been ongoing since October, with an IFA charged to handle the transaction.

[...]

How can we make it in Aegon's interest to get our transaction completed?

If you're paying an IFA for services, then they should be able and willing to expedite for you, or at least explain the process in more detail if that's not viable?

dunstonh

It is not for the policyholder to submit it via Origo.  it is the receiving scheme that does that.   So, why have they sent you that email?

I have transferred multiple pensions out of Aegon RC, Aegon Cofunds, Aegon TP and Aegon RR and apart from the odd one needing a nudge form, I haven't had any issues.   Just looking at the most recent and they took just over a week for a cash transfer.   The only one I haven't done recently is Aegon Scottish Equitable.

How can we make it in Aegon's interest to get our transaction completed?

What is your IFA doing?

Why are you receiving emails that thank you for sending them paper work?  Normally no paperwork is required by the ceding scheme unless its been caught by anti fraud measures (not applicable with an OMO or IVPPP as its secure income) or a company that doesnt use ORIGO or there are safeguarded benefits.

Are you trying to control the transfer from the ceding scheme end by mistake rather than let the receiving scheme take care of it?

dermotological

Quote: "Why are you receiving emails that thank you for sending them paper work?"

I think that's the nub of the problem. They shouldn't be sending anything to us since there's an IFA involved.

It's all part of the systemic omni-shambles that is our current experience of Aegon.

The IFA has made multiple calls, submitted multiple documents, and has been assured multiple times that everything is in order, and yet.... 

Enraging doesn't begin to cover it.

dunstonh

The IFA has made multiple calls, submitted multiple documents, and has been assured multiple times that everything is in order, and yet.... 

What documents has the IFA sent?
What you describe sounds non-standard.   So, something is happening that is unusual.

Are there guaranteed annuity rates on ceding plan?   
Is there any protected tax free cash entitlement?

I think that's the nub of the problem. They shouldn't be sending anything to us since there's an IFA involved.

Aegon won't know if an IFA is involved.  They will normally correspond with the receiving scheme (if its a standard transfer).   i.e. the receiving scheme has the application. The receiving scheme sends the transfer request via origo (all annuity providers use origo, so that is ok).  Aegon reply to the receiving scheme to confirm details unless something additional is needed.  However, they tell the receiving scheme that additional thing is.      The exceptions are nudge forms and anti-fraud forms.  They wouldn't issue an anti fraud form where the transfer is to an annuity provider as the things the fraud checks are for don't apply to annuities.

The receiving scheme will normally keep the IFA in the loop for the IFA to do any chasing (unless it is a guaranteed annuity rate that is being used).

Eyeful

How sure are you that the e-mails are coming from  Aegon?
I would have thought they would have addressed you by name.
Something that starts like "Good Morning" or "Dear Sir" is often used by scammers.

Cloudane

I am getting more and more uncomfortable with trusting my future to Aegon.  It's who my IFA signed me up with when I started my pension in 2012 but they've seemingly not updated their IT systems in the entire time I've been with them (in fact I'd say they were probably ageing in 2012).  I don't look at it that often but I fire up the website occasionally just to make sure nothing's off and it's almost always having endless timeouts as if it's being DDOS'd - it took me 2 hours of retrying last week to log in to the point I could see my total contributions.  

I've called them twice recently to try and change my Direct Debit to a new bank but they've been unable to check that it's actioned after keeping me on the phone with "uh sorry, I realise we've been sat here in silence for 15 minutes, the system is going really slow at the moment" before eventually giving up and asking me to call back later in the hopes that the server's hamster has been fed by then.  It doesn't bode well at all that my future relies on a company that has a non-functioning IT system, it's probably riddled with security holes.  IMHO when it's creaking at the seams this badly it's surely just one successful cyber-attack away from a MASSIVE headline scandal that costs a lot of people a lot of money.

Edit: Got through at a time when it was working just now.  I'd been asked to fill in a new DD mandate and send it either by post or an attachment on an online form so I went with the online form and "Change details" was the closest reason I could find.  As I suspected, it was just for changing basics like your name with the attachment used for supplying evidence (all I did was change the marital status from unknown while I was in there) so they missed the cover letter and DD mandate that I attached.  They're creating a new case for it. Interesting also that they didn't take one look at the "evidence" before completing it.

I could hear what sounded like an IBM Model M keyboard from the 1980s being used, so yeah.