DB Transfer Value

sgill06

I requested a statement of my DB pension at 55 in 2022.  I left the company in 2001.  When i received the statement transfer value of benefit at that time was approx. 63k.  The company gave us free advice, and after a very long conversation with the advisor, he recommended that i do not transfer my benefits away from the plan and his recommendations is the most appropriate way of meeting my needs and objectives. I then contacted PensionWise and due to my pension being DB and I'd already had advice to stay in the scheme, i would be very hard pushed to find a FA qualified to fight this decision.  

I went back to the initial advisor and complained that this wasn't fully explained to me at the time, that if they decided that it was in my interests to stay in the scheme that i wouldn't be able to go elsewhere, and also that the next steps following the outcome of the report were not properly explained to me. 

So in the end i left the pension as it was.  The company that are dealing with the pension now is Aptia, but previously was Mercer. I have now requested a new Transfer Value which came in approx. 30k.  So my point is, due to the advisor recommending that i stay in the scheme, in 2022, i have basically lost 30k off my pension.  Would i be able to complain to the Ombudsman? TIA.

MallyGirl

you have not lost anything. CTV have gone down significantly due to external factors - interest rates, gilts, ...
You will still get the same pension according to the rules in your scheme.

Cobbler_tone

You won't like the answers you are about to get.

The (transfer) value may have changed but the benefits of the pension won't have. In real terms you haven't 'lost' anything. Especially as to transfer it would have cost you a big chunk of it.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

sgill06 said:

I requested a statement of my DB pension at 55 in 2022.  I left the company in 2001.  When i received the statement transfer value of benefit at that time was approx. 63k.  The company gave us free advice, and after a very long conversation with the advisor, he recommended that i do not transfer my benefits away from the plan and his recommendations is the most appropriate way of meeting my needs and objectives. I then contacted PensionWise and due to my pension being DB and I'd already had advice to stay in the scheme, i would be very hard pushed to find a FA qualified to fight this decision.  

I went back to the initial advisor and complained that this wasn't fully explained to me at the time, that if they decided that it was in my interests to stay in the scheme that i wouldn't be able to go elsewhere, and also that the next steps following the outcome of the report were not properly explained to me. 

So in the end i left the pension as it was.  The company that are dealing with the pension now is Aptia, but previously was Mercer. I have now requested a new Transfer Value which came in approx. 30k.  So my point is, due to the advisor recommending that i stay in the scheme, in 2022, i have basically lost 30k off my pension.  Would i be able to complain to the Ombudsman? TIA.

Can you explain why you think you have "lost" anything?

Are you not still perfectly entitled to the exact same pension you earned whilst a member of the scheme?

sgill06

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

sgill06 said:

I requested a statement of my DB pension at 55 in 2022.  I left the company in 2001.  When i received the statement transfer value of benefit at that time was approx. 63k.  The company gave us free advice, and after a very long conversation with the advisor, he recommended that i do not transfer my benefits away from the plan and his recommendations is the most appropriate way of meeting my needs and objectives. I then contacted PensionWise and due to my pension being DB and I'd already had advice to stay in the scheme, i would be very hard pushed to find a FA qualified to fight this decision.  

I went back to the initial advisor and complained that this wasn't fully explained to me at the time, that if they decided that it was in my interests to stay in the scheme that i wouldn't be able to go elsewhere, and also that the next steps following the outcome of the report were not properly explained to me. 

So in the end i left the pension as it was.  The company that are dealing with the pension now is Aptia, but previously was Mercer. I have now requested a new Transfer Value which came in approx. 30k.  So my point is, due to the advisor recommending that i stay in the scheme, in 2022, i have basically lost 30k off my pension.  Would i be able to complain to the Ombudsman? TIA.

Can you explain why you think you have "lost" anything?

Are you not still perfectly entitled to the exact same pension you earned whilst a member of the scheme?

Yes i understand it's the same pension benefits but not the same value had i been able to take it in 2022.

sgill06

Cobbler_tone said:

You won't like the answers you are about to get.

The (transfer) value may have changed but the benefits of the pension won't have. In real terms you haven't 'lost' anything. Especially as to transfer it would have cost you a big chunk of it.

I'm looking for help so will take all the answers i can get, good or bad :-:smile: I realise the benefits are the same whenever i take my pension but had i been able to take it when initially requested, it would have been much more than what it is now, even with costs

Dazed_and_C0nfused

sgill06 said:

Cobbler_tone said:

You won't like the answers you are about to get.

The (transfer) value may have changed but the benefits of the pension won't have. In real terms you haven't 'lost' anything. Especially as to transfer it would have cost you a big chunk of it.

I'm looking for help so will take all the answers i can get, good or bad :-:smile: I realise the benefits are the same whenever i take my pension but had i been able to take it when initially requested, it would have been much more than what it is now, even with costs

You might want to read that back, it simply doesn't make sense.

Do you mean you actually want to give up this guaranteed for life pension in return for a one payment into a DC pension?

Cobbler_tone

sgill06 said:

Cobbler_tone said:

You won't like the answers you are about to get.

The (transfer) value may have changed but the benefits of the pension won't have. In real terms you haven't 'lost' anything. Especially as to transfer it would have cost you a big chunk of it.

I'm looking for help so will take all the answers i can get, good or bad :-:smile: I realise the benefits are the same whenever i take my pension but had i been able to take it when initially requested, it would have been much more than what it is now, even with costs

My DB pension was valued at nearly £700k in 2022 and today just under £450k. It doesn’t really matter but appreciate if you thought you could just lay your hands on £60k and didn’t need the pension….P.S. you were never going to be easily able to lay your hands on it and in answer to your actual question, no. 

You are lucky to have some guaranteed pension set up.

dunstonh

, i have basically lost 30k off my pension. 

No you haven't.    Your defined benefits are still what they were previously, albeit higher due to annual increases.

What you are referring to is the CETV but that is irrelevant unless you are looking to transfer.

Would i be able to complain to the Ombudsman?

You can complain about whatever you like.  However, there is absolutely no chance of success for you raising a complaint on that basis as there is no wrongdoing.

I went back to the initial advisor and complained that this wasn't fully explained to me at the time, that if they decided that it was in my interests to stay in the scheme that i wouldn't be able to go elsewhere, and also that the next steps following the outcome of the report were not properly explained to me. 

That is also an incorrect assumption. you are free to go elsewhere and take advice.    However, in general with only 1 in 10 DB holders being suitable to transfer, the odds are always against you.   

Yes i understand it's the same pension benefits but not the same value had i been able to take it in 2022.

That doesn't matter though as it has no impact on your benefits.

HappyHarry

You can, of course, complain about the advice and you can then take your complaint to the ombudsman.

However, given that the FCA ask advisers to start with the assumption that a DB pension transfer is unlikely to be in the client’s best interest, then you are likely to get nowhere.

You would have to complain that the advice you received in 2022 was incorrect, and due to this incorrect advice you are financially worse off.

You are not any worse off than you were in 2022, as you still have your DB pension. Do you think you can succeed in a complaint that the advice to retain your DB pension was incorrect? 

I am yet to see the FOS uphold such a complaint, though if anyone does have a link to such a case I would be very interested.

Lowtrawler

sgill06 said:

Cobbler_tone said:

You won't like the answers you are about to get.

The (transfer) value may have changed but the benefits of the pension won't have. In real terms you haven't 'lost' anything. Especially as to transfer it would have cost you a big chunk of it.

I'm looking for help so will take all the answers i can get, good or bad :-:smile: I realise the benefits are the same whenever i take my pension but had i been able to take it when initially requested, it would have been much more than what it is now, even with costs

Back in 2022, £63k would likely have bought you a £1,500 per year index-linked annuity. Today, £30k will likely buy you a £1,500 per year index-linked annuity. The market has moved and hence the reduction in transfer value. In pension terms, there is no difference between the £63k and £30k.