Standard life changing fees without notice

Goldygoldfinch

I've been a long time lurker of these forums, but this is the first time I've needed to post a thread!

I have a standard life pension through an old employer which was originally set at a charge of 0.4%, discounted from the standard fee of 1%.

When I left that employer, I was advised by standard life I'd keep the discount, and they sent me a letter confirming that was the case.

As I became self employed I've carried on paying sporadically into that pot, and the paper statements I had for the first few years showed that it had kept the discount.  The more recent 'paper free' statements don't actually show the charges at all, but the discount was still shown on the online dashboard.

A few weeks ago I logged in to make a payment to find the fee shown of the dashboard had changed to 1%, so they've removed the discount some time in the last six months or so, seemingly without notice. I can't remember exactly when I last logged in, but last year it definitely still showed a discount on the dashboard.

Surely, they should have given me notice of some kind, even if they are allowed to change the fee? I've double checked my emails, there's nothing in their secure mailbox and no letters or anything to indicate any change.

When I first queried it, they sent me what felt like a fobbing off response claiming the discount stopped in 2012 when I left the employer, so I've emailed back with their own letter and the statements showing that wasn't the case, and am now waiting another 15 working days for them to respond!

Is this dodgy practice on their part, or am I expecting too much? 

It occurs to me that there must be an awful lot of these ex-employer pots where people have been told explicitly they'll retain any discounts, so surely standard life can't be allowed to just change the fees without telling anyone?!

dunstonh

It occurs to me that there must be an awful lot of these ex-employer pots where people have been told explicitly they'll retain any discounts, so surely standard life can't be allowed to just change the fees without telling anyone?!

It is probably better not to hypothesise scenarios until the facts are known.

When I first queried it, they sent me what felt like a fobbing off response claiming the discount stopped in 2012 when I left the employer, so I've emailed back with their own letter and the statements showing that wasn't the case, and am now waiting another 15 working days for them to respond!

in 2012, it was commonplace for discounts to end when you left employment.  The ban on differential charges didn't happen until 6th April 2016.

You need to be a bit more patient and wait for their response.

etienneg

I'm in a similar position in that I left employment (8 years ago) with a (small) Standard Life DC pension pot with discounted charges. My employer had set this up when the DB scheme had ended 2 or 3 years previously. I've just checked, and there is no change to my charges, that are listed just as before:

Charges 0.995%
Your discount 0.550%
What you pay 0.445%

I think there is negotiation of charges at the time the employer sets up the scheme, so yours may be different.

I'm trying to think what may have caused a change, other than a removal/reduction of the charges, in case something has confused you. The charges are dependent on the investment; has yours changed recently? My 0.995% figure is made up mostly of the investment AMC (annual management charge), with a small amount added.

Albermarle

My experience may help.
I have an ex employer SL pension. Some years ago ( but still many years after I had left the company) I asked for written clarification of the discount I was till enjoying as it was not totally clear.
I received a clear message saying I had a discount of 0.55% .
At a later time I downloaded their app, where the discount was plain to see, but it was now less than 0.55%.
Cue a complaint.
It turned out that the discount did not apply to new contributions, so my discount had been diluted.
Cue louder complaint and some comments from me  about transferring to Vanguard.
The CS person found a recording of my previous conversation/correspondence, and admitted I had mistakenly not been told about the discount not applying to new contributions.
End result discount increased to 0.65% and £200 compensation. 

so I've emailed back with their own letter and the statements showing that wasn't the case, and am now waiting another 15 working days for them to respond!

This was not my experience- the responses were often within hours, so this part was quite impressive. However as I had a decent sized fund I was a Priority Plus client, so maybe that helped.
Also it was before they were bought by Phoenix. I think some of the original SL CS team were disbanded and it has been  more centralised.

Moonwolf

Albermarle said:

This was not my experience- the responses were often within hours, so this part was quite impressive. However as I had a decent sized fund I was a Priority Plus client, so maybe that helped.
Also it was before they were bought by Phoenix. I think some of the original SL CS team were disbanded and it has been  more centralised.

My SL Pot is an ex BT with 0.75% points discount, which gives me a total charge of 0.288% on my funds at the moment. I am also a Priority Plus client and I’ve kept my discount including for new contributions . I do have a record of them promising it wouldn’t change without notice. I suspect the value of the pot makes a difference.

Goldygoldfinch

dunstonh said:

It occurs to me that there must be an awful lot of these ex-employer pots where people have been told explicitly they'll retain any discounts, so surely standard life can't be allowed to just change the fees without telling anyone?!

It is probably better not to hypothesise scenarios until the facts are known.

When I first queried it, they sent me what felt like a fobbing off response claiming the discount stopped in 2012 when I left the employer, so I've emailed back with their own letter and the statements showing that wasn't the case, and am now waiting another 15 working days for them to respond!

in 2012, it was commonplace for discounts to end when you left employment.  The ban on differential charges didn't happen until 6th April 2016.

You need to be a bit more patient and wait for their response.

I appreciate that discounts usually ended pre 2016, however it was sold as a perk at the time that the discount wouldn't end, and it didn't end for 12 years. It's the sudden change now with no communication which I find annoying as anything - but I will wait for their answer. Thank you for your reply

Goldygoldfinch

etienneg said:

I'm in a similar position in that I left employment (8 years ago) with a (small) Standard Life DC pension pot with discounted charges. My employer had set this up when the DB scheme had ended 2 or 3 years previously. I've just checked, and there is no change to my charges, that are listed just as before:

Charges 0.995%
Your discount 0.550%
What you pay 0.445%

I think there is negotiation of charges at the time the employer sets up the scheme, so yours may be different.

I'm trying to think what may have caused a change, other than a removal/reduction of the charges, in case something has confused you. The charges are dependent on the investment; has yours changed recently? My 0.995% figure is made up mostly of the investment AMC (annual management charge), with a small amount added.

My figures before they shifted the discount were very similar, but with a slightly different AMC so the total charge before any discounts comes to 1.1%. 

As far as I can see nothing has changed, the fund is the same, I haven't requested a change of investment, and they haven't notified me of any change in investment.

The employer did have a separate financial firm in to give us a brief session explaining the terms and do an individual risk profile, so I assume the discounts were negotiated via them, which might be the issue. If i'd been a bit older and wiser, I'd have asked a few more probing questions at the time!

Goldygoldfinch

Albermarle said:

My experience may help.
I have an ex employer SL pension. Some years ago ( but still many years after I had left the company) I asked for written clarification of the discount I was till enjoying as it was not totally clear.
I received a clear message saying I had a discount of 0.55% .
At a later time I downloaded their app, where the discount was plain to see, but it was now less than 0.55%.
Cue a complaint.
It turned out that the discount did not apply to new contributions, so my discount had been diluted.
Cue louder complaint and some comments from me  about transferring to Vanguard.
The CS person found a recording of my previous conversation/correspondence, and admitted I had mistakenly not been told about the discount not applying to new contributions.
End result discount increased to 0.65% and £200 compensation. 

so I've emailed back with their own letter and the statements showing that wasn't the case, and am now waiting another 15 working days for them to respond!

This was not my experience- the responses were often within hours, so this part was quite impressive. However as I had a decent sized fund I was a Priority Plus client, so maybe that helped.
Also it was before they were bought by Phoenix. I think some of the original SL CS team were disbanded and it has been  more centralised.

Thank you for this. In the very small print of the original agreement, it does mention changes to 'group discounts', which could 'stop, continue or reduce' if I left the employer group, so that may be what they're relying on - it also says in that circumstance I'd be given 3 month notice before any change, which I definitely haven't had.

However, we were told at the time we'd keep it and I also have that letter sent by SL after I left the job saying I'd keep the discount on both that pot and any others I may choose to transfer in, so it's seems they've given muddled information! 

They've also carried on giving me the same discount for 12 years, on new contributions as well as the initial pot, so it really has come out of the blue. 

It is a relatively small fund so I'm not on their priority list!  I'm just approaching the threshold for their lowest tier of 'large fund discount', so at least I'll get that, unless I decided to shift it elsewhere.