arrangement costs??

catford

I have just had a quote from standard life to take the cash from my protected rights policy.The fund value is £44k,cash will be nearly £11k and they want £770+ to arrange it:eek:.
This seems like a lot to pay.:mad:
Is there anything I can to reduce the fee?:D

dunstonh

Are you misreading the cost of advice (commission) as a fee?

Is there anything I can to reduce the fee?:D

Firstly, standard life are rubbish on this so dont use them. Get an IFA to do it or do it yourself.

catford

dunstonh wrote: »

Are you misreading the cost of advice (commission) as a fee?



Firstly, standard life are rubbish on this so dont use them. Get an IFA to do it or do it yourself.

Hi-
The exact wording is -you did not seek advice from,and were not given any advice by,an advisor about these benefits.
For arranging these benefits we expect to incur sales costs of £771.03.

I don't have an IFA so how do I go about doing it myself??;)

EdInvestor

First check the FSA's annuity tables to compare what SL are offering

www.fsa.gov.uk/tables.

You can then approach the company offering the highest rate.

You can also crosscheck with the annuity calculator here: https://www.h-l.co.uk
HL will also act as advisor for you (for the same fee) to check if there are any better deals and arrange the sale. As will https://www.williamburrows.co.uk an annuity specialist.

Note that it's a requirement with a PR annuity to pay for a 50% spouse's pension, married or not. :rolleyes: I am not sure what assumption they make about the age of fictitious spouses.

dunstonh

Hi-
The exact wording is -you did not seek advice from,and were not given any advice by,an advisor about these benefits.
For arranging these benefits we expect to incur sales costs of £771.03.

I don't have an IFA so how do I go about doing it myself??;)

Thats not a fee. That is commission. When you go DIY many of the companies keep the commission that they would pay an IFA to themselves. That is the case here. It is not an explicit fee against your money.

You can also crosscheck with the annuity calculator here: www.h-l.co.uk
HL will also act as advisor for you (for the same fee) to check if there are any better deals and arrange the sale. As will www.williamburrows.co.uk an annuity specialist.

It is worth noting that whilst these will do it, they offer no cost advantages over a local IFA doing it for you. Plus, checks in the past by the IFAs on the board have found us able to beat the terms these internet IFAs offer. So, dont assume they will be cheaper. Especially if you are a smoker or on medication. Your local IFA is often the best bet on a transaction like this as they do all the work and can get at worst the same rate as the internet or best a better one.

Also, dont rely on the FSA tables. The irony here is that if, as advisers, we used the FSA tables in our research it would not be deemed accurate enough. The data is not updated frequently enough. Use it as a guide but thats all.

catford

EdInvestor wrote: »

First check the FSA's annuity tables to compare what SL are offering

www.fsa.gov.uk/tables.

You can then approach the company offering the highest rate.

You can also crosscheck with the annuity calculator here: www.h-l.co.uk
HL will also act as advisor for you (for the same fee) to check if there are any better deals and arrange the sale. As will www.williamburrows.co.uk an annuity specialist.

Note that it's a requirement with a PR annuity to pay for a 50% spouse's pension, married or not. :rolleyes: I am not sure what assumption they make about the age of fictitious spouses.

Thanks--have you any idea how much the average IFA would charge to do this for me??;)

Retired_I.F.A.

Have you considered leaving the money invested and drawing down an income from it instead of purchasing an annuity?

dunstonh

Thanks--have you any idea how much the average IFA would charge to do this for me??;)

You are better off on commission rather than fee with this transaction. In other words it wouldnt cost you a penny over doing it yourself direct. Until you get to around £100k fund commission is usually the cheaper option.