Aviva Pension Customer Service

dosh37 · 17 September 2019 at 1:52PM

Has anyone else experienced poor customer service from Aviva?

I have been attempting to request a Pension Transfer Form for two weeks.
I have phoned Customer Services three times.

The first time I was told a form would be sent by email.

The second time I was told a form would be sent through the post and that I should receive it within 6 days. This time I was told it was not possible to send the form by email.
Nothing arrived.

Today I phoned Customer Services for a third time. This time I was told a form would be sent by email. Again nothing has arrived.

Why does it take Aviva so long to process something as simple as a request for a standard transfer form?
I am disgusted with the level of service I have received for a such simple request.

I'm even having second thoughts about transferring another pension to Aviva if this is an indication of the level of service I can expect.

When I tried to login to my account today I get a message:-

A number of our systems, including Quotes and MyAviva are currently unavailable. New claim notifications and urgent servicing requests are still available, phone numbers can be found on our contact us page. www.aviva.co.uk/contact-us. We're Sorry for any inconvenience.

So then I tried to use their online complaints form. I spent some time entering my complaint and all my details.
When I clicked on the submit button I just got a message to the effect 'There was an error'. No indication what the error was.
All the information I had entered on the form was lost.

So far it's been one of the worst customer experiences I have ever encountered. :mad:

SonOf · 17 September 2019 at 2:18PM

Has anyone else experienced poor customer service from Aviva?

Depends on which Aviva you are talking about. They have a number of legacy companies that they have bought which have issues inherited. Some areas are poor with service. Others good. The old Friends Provident side or the old AXA side are not that good. Aviva platform is very good. Legacy Norwich Union, CU etc tends to be weak. Aviva Life on the more modern systems is usually much better.

I have been attempting to request a Pension Transfer Form for two weeks.

Why do you need a "pension transfer form"? I assume you mean a discharge form. However, Aviva support Origo on virtually all of their pensions. So, a discharge form is not required.

Why does it take Aviva so long to process something as simple as a request for a standard transfer form?
I am disgusted with the level of service I have received for a such simple request.

Possibly as you are requesting something that is no longer required?

I'm even having second thoughts about transferring another pension to Aviva if this is an indication of the level of service I can expect.

Can you clarify if you are transferring out or in?

You say pension transfer form but if you are transferring in then there is no pension transfer form. Maybe this is confusing them as well?

When I tried to login to my account today I get a message:-

Aviva has been offline for good chunks of today. We could not get in earlier either. It has been effectively read only most of the day.

dosh37 · 17 September 2019 at 6:10PM

I want to transfer in a L&G Stakeholder Pension.

When I phoned Aviva to ask how I go about this, they said they would send me a transfer form. I expected to be able to fill in the transfer request details online but could find no way to do that on the Aviva website.

No one mentioned anything about Origo. I don't even know what that is.

xylophone · 17 September 2019 at 6:19PM

dosh37 wrote: »

I want to transfer in a L&G Stakeholder Pension.

When I phoned Aviva to ask how I go about this, they said they would send me a transfer form. I expected to be able to fill in the transfer request details online but could find no way to do that on the Aviva website.

No one mentioned anything about Origo. I don't even know what that is.

Google is your friend

https://www.origo.com/services/OrigoTransferService/All_Customers.aspx

We have over 70 customers using our Origo Transfer Service which equates to over 120 brands. Find out more about Origo Transfer Service >

Please note: Origo Transfer Service can only be used by platforms, third-party administrators, providers, SIPP & SSAS providers and other organisations. Origo Transfer Service cannot be used by Advisers or individuals. who wish to move their pension

Our customers are:

6. Aviva

37. Legal & General

xylophone · 17 September 2019 at 6:24PM

https://www.aviva.co.uk/retirement/pensions/transfer-your-pension/

Whether you want to transfer into an existing pension you have with us, or you want to open a new Aviva Pension and transfer into that, we’re here to help.

I wonder what is going wrong?

Albermarle · 17 September 2019 at 6:40PM

Aviva platform is very good. Legacy Norwich Union, CU etc tends to be weak. Aviva Life on the more modern systems is usually much better.

I had a retail pension ( ex employer ) pension with Aviva and I was never that impressed.
One off payments never arrived in my pension and always needed a chase up ' Yes we can see it but for some reason has not gone into your pension'
I asked it would be better to change my pension to a more modern one as it did not support drawdown and the charges were not that competitive ' You can do but for the new pension the call lines are always jammed '
Call centre people were always pleasant but I got the impression not that experienced .
One plus point. When I transferred the pension to another provider it happened within 48 hours !

dosh37 · 17 September 2019 at 7:31PM

xylophone wrote: »

Google is your friend

https://www.origo.com/services/OrigoTransferService/All_Customers.aspx

We have over 70 customers using our Origo Transfer Service which equates to over 120 brands. Find out more about Origo Transfer Service >

Please note: Origo Transfer Service can only be used by platforms, third-party administrators, providers, SIPP & SSAS providers and other organisations. Origo Transfer Service cannot be used by Advisers or individuals. who wish to move their pension

Our customers are:

6. Aviva

37. Legal & General

How does that help?
Origo is not a service that can be used directly by customers like myself.

dosh37 · 17 September 2019 at 7:43PM

xylophone wrote: »

https://www.aviva.co.uk/retirement/pensions/transfer-your-pension/

Whether you want to transfer into an existing pension you have with us, or you want to open a new Aviva Pension and transfer into that, we’re here to help.

I wonder what is going wrong?

Poorly trained monkeys working in Customer Service is what's going wrong.

It's not like I'm making some obscure arcane request. Surely transferring a pension from another provider is a process Aviva carry out all the time. Why is it so difficult? Why is it taking so long?

I made a fourth phone call to Cutomer Services around midday.
I was told a form would be emailed. I made sure they had the correct email address. I also asked them to phone me when it happened. I received no phone call and no email.
The Aviva website is still down. :wall:

SonOf · 17 September 2019 at 8:25PM

I want to transfer in a L&G Stakeholder Pension.

You dont want a transfer form. You want an application form. However, Aviva may not accept it without an intermediary depending on which Aviva pension you are on.,

I expected to be able to fill in the transfer request details online but could find no way to do that on the Aviva website.

If its an old Aviva Life pension, then you wouldnt do. These versions were built on software a long time ago. They primarily distribute their products via intermediaries. Not direct to public. Although they do have a cut down direct to consumer version.

It's not like I'm making some obscure arcane request. Surely transferring a pension from another provider is a process Aviva carry out all the time. Why is it so difficult? Why is it taking so long?

Possibly as you are asking for a transfer form rather than an application form. Possibly as it is a transaction that they can only do with an intermediary.

The front line staff will take a message but if the message is asking for something that is confusing then that is possibly why it is failing. It's also likely that the request has gone into their general queries queue where it will take about 10 days for someone to pick it up.

How does that help?
Origo is not a service that can be used directly by customers like myself.

Your initial post was confusing as you said you were asking for a transfer form. In reality, it is not a transfer form that you need. At the point of mentioning Origo (which both L&G and Aviva will use to transfer for the pension), it appeared you were after a discharge form. Discharge forms are not required with Origo.

xylophone · 17 September 2019 at 9:43PM

How does that help?
Origo is not a service that can be used directly by customers like myself.

You posted

No one mentioned anything about Origo. I don't even know what that is.

As you seemed unaware of how to find out, I looked up the answer for you.

xylophone · 17 September 2019 at 9:45PM

Possibly as it is a transaction that they cannot do with an intermediary.

Without?:)

Aviva Pension Customer Service

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