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St James Place - Advice Please
Comments
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Is that total including his DB pension? Which is valued at 20x pension plus lump sum...if he had 500k just in DC arrangements he could easily breach LTA with a decent NHS DB pension on top...
Yes the total includes his NHS Pension which is only £6K per annum
Further update, we wrote to SJP again (with a completed retrospective Lifetime Allowance Form) asking them to Reclaim the tax from HMRC and move the pension pot into Drawdown but they said that because we had raised a formal complaint they have effectively frozen the account until such time as the Complaint is resolved. They estimate this will take between 8-12 weeks for a formal response from SJP.0 -
Surely that should be a maximum of 8 weeks from the date of the complaint?
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/time-limits0 -
Further update, we wrote to SJP again (with a completed retrospective Lifetime Allowance Form) asking them to Reclaim the tax from HMRC and move the pension pot into Drawdown but they said that because we had raised a formal complaint they have effectively frozen the account until such time as the Complaint is resolved.
How have you phrased the complaint? The best grounds would seem to be that SJP failed to make more of an effort to contact him (especially if he was paying for ongoing advice). And that they had the wrong postcode for him (assuming this was SJP's error).
Because he didn't return the form, as a pension provider SJP were duty-bound to pay a Lifetime Allowance charge as they were jointly liable. The question is whether as his adviser (assuming he was paying them for ongoing advice) they should have made more of an effort, instead of sending him the form and then simply paying the tax when he didn't respond. And whether it was their fault the form didn't get to him due to using the wrong postcode.
"Freezing his account", whatever that means, would appear to be vindictive. If he is eligible to reclaim the tax there is absolutely no reason for SJP to delay doing so. The facts of the complaint aren't going to change.
If I was him I would find an IFA with a view to reinvesting the money that has been dumped in cash, assuming he isn't planning to spend it in the short to medium term.
Do you have Lasting Power of Attorney for him?
They have a statutory duty to provide a final response within 8 weeks.They estimate this will take between 8-12 weeks for a formal response from SJP.0 -
Surely that should be a maximum of 8 weeks from the date of the complaint?
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/time-limits
There is nothing to stop you going over, it just means that after eight weeks the consumer can go to the Ombudsman without waiting any longer.
The only consequence to SJP is that they have to pay a potentially avoidable case fee to the FOS, which given their size and the way they operate is a business expense.
The Ombudsman takes months and months to allocate cases, so practically speaking, SJP will have come up with their final response long before the case reaches an adjudicator.
You would think the regulator might look dimly on a firm that repeatedly fails to meet the statutory deadlines, but this is SJP we're talking about.0 -
I don't have Power of Attorney but we are in the process of applying. My relative has written to SJP giving me authority to act on his behalf.
Interestingly, it was the original SJP Service Desk contact and also FA Partner who suggested we raise a formal complaint because they both stated that there was no mechanism for the Tax Charge to be recovered from HMRC. We now know this information is incorrect (thanks to this forum).0 -
Bad experiences all round with the St James Place profit hounds... Will anything ever get done about this.. Read the Times Article... "champers and safaris the secret diary of a saint james place adviser"
It says it all - Empathise please.... What can be done about this? Anything?0 -
still waiting for a formal response to the complaint0
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So if more than 8 weeks from the date of complaint and you have had no response, you could take it to the Ombudsman as said in post # 15still waiting for a formal response to the complaint
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain0 -
Update re SJP
We finally received a phone call from SJP. They have now reclaimed the tax from HMRC and posted the monies back into his pension fund account.
We now intend to transfer the funds to another provider.
Thanks all for the help and particularly the link to the HMRC Pension Manual which was very informative.0 -
He is now 783/6/2017 on his 75th birthday
Just an observation, that may seem pedantic - these dates and figures are inconsistent so at least one must be wrong! That's not of any direct relevance to anyone on here but attention to detail is important if you're going to act as attorney for your relative and deal with HMRC, pension companies, financial advisers, FOS, etc, on his behalf....7th Aug 2017 (1 month after his 75th birthday)0
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