Complain to pension company or ombudsman?

pitza

The coop and Scottish Widows policies were taken out in the early 1980s so are quite old.

My last pension was the best invest sipp , I have been self employed for the last 15 years of my working life.

"Just to keep you updated we have received an email from Scottish Widows confirming that Royal London require confirmation of the advice which has been provided from us in relation to the transfer."

 

dunstonh

"Just to keep you updated we have received an email from Scottish Widows confirming that Royal London require confirmation of the advice which has been provided from us in relation to the transfer."

That suggests the adviser hasn't completed the advice declaration referenced earlier in the thread. It also confirms that Royal London hasn't sent the money to Scottish Widows yet.

The coop and Scottish Widows policies were taken out in the early 1980s so are quite old.

That would most likely make the pensions either hybrid plans or Section 226 RACs. These often take longer. The Scottish Widows plan is more likely to be a heritage plan which requires more manual work. I would still have expected SW to be cheaper than the ex CIS plan. It may still be because, if RL haven’t sent the money yet and are still waiting for the advice declaration to be signed and returned by the adviser then SW still have a chance to beat them.

Before you go back to the adviser and harshly question why they haven't completed the advice declaration, It's worth noting that the last one I did with CIS didn't require the advice declaration, but they kept asking for it. I reneged in the end because it made no difference to the outcome other than keeping it on hold. I just added a context paragraph to their form, as what they asked me to sign didn't make sense. I wanted to protect myself in the unlikely event of an audit, but in reality, it will never see the light of day again. (A lifetime annuity is not a flexible option, and the advice declaration is not required by the regulator when a lifetime annuity is being purchased - only if flexible options are being purchased. However, CIS still required the advice declaration to be completed, even though neither tick-box option it asks to be completed actually applies.)

pitza

Many thanks for your help especially Dunstonh.