Transfer Nightmare

Hi All,

I have a very small pension of around £7k from my first every employment and I opted to transfer this into my current employer's pension pot.

The process from my existing provider was marketed as being very easy and straightforward with everything being wrapped up within 30 working days. Almost one year later it is just about to happen, both sides have been extremely poor in dealing effectively with this and I have had to be very hands on in pushing both sides over the past two months to get us to this point.

I have advised both parties of significant failures, e.g. my new provider was not doing anything as they were waiting on documentation from my existing provider. When I contacted my existing provider they were missing documents from my new provider so they were not doing anything. This has been the case for many months with things like this happening.

My question is, am I entitled to ask for some compensation from both parties for these delays or it this out of the question?
«13456

Comments

  • Ganga
    Ganga Posts: 4,102
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Cotta wrote: »
    Hi All,

    I have a very small pension of around £7k from my first every employment and I opted to transfer this into my current employer's pension pot.

    The process from my existing provider was marketed as being very easy and straightforward with everything being wrapped up within 30 working days. Almost one year later it is just about to happen, both sides have been extremely poor in dealing effectively with this and I have had to be very hands on in pushing both sides over the past two months to get us to this point.

    I have advised both parties of significant failures, e.g. my new provider was not doing anything as they were waiting on documentation from my existing provider. When I contacted my existing provider they were missing documents from my new provider so they were not doing anything. This has been the case for many months with things like this happening.

    My question is, am I entitled to ask for some compensation from both parties for these delays or it this out of the question?

    The party holding the pension at the moment must be investing the approx £7000 so hopefully it is growing in value,if so they would not owe you any compensation exept for your time and trouble contacting them.
    ITS NOT EASY TO GET EVERYTHING WRONG ,I HAVE TO WORK HARD TO DO IT!
  • Cotta
    Cotta Posts: 3,667 Forumite
    Ganga wrote: »
    The party holding the pension at the moment must be investing the approx £7000 so hopefully it is growing in value,if so they would not owe you any compensation exept for your time and trouble contacting them.

    Thanks, it sounds unlikely that I will get anything then, I can't see them taking into consideration time and trouble contacting them.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    The process from my existing provider was marketed as being very easy and straightforward with everything being wrapped up within 30 working days.

    Not sure you can call it marketed as losing business is not really marketing.

    However, the process is easy. If both schemes using OPTIONS (ORIGO) then its a matter of days. If one scheme, or both, dont use ORIGO then its paper method and can take longer. 1-3 weeks typically. If one of the schemes is an occupational pension then it can take 1-6 months.
    I have advised both parties of significant failures, e.g. my new provider was not doing anything as they were waiting on documentation from my existing provider. When I contacted my existing provider they were missing documents from my new provider so they were not doing anything. This has been the case for many months with things like this happening.

    Sounds like ORIGO was not being used here. So, that makes it a paper method.

    Did you complete the discharge forms supplied by the existing scheme?
    Did you send those discharge forms to the new scheme?

    The receiving scheme will sit there waiting for discharge forms. The original scheme wont do anything until the receiving scheme send them the completed discharge forms and extra requested info.

    If no discharge forms were sent to the receiving scheme then it can effectively pause the transfer with both sides waiting for information.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • Cotta
    Cotta Posts: 3,667 Forumite
    dunstonh wrote: »
    Not sure you can call it marketed as losing business is not really marketing.

    However, the process is easy. If both schemes using OPTIONS (ORIGO) then its a matter of days. If one scheme, or both, dont use ORIGO then its paper method and can take longer. 1-3 weeks typically. If one of the schemes is an occupational pension then it can take 1-6 months.



    Sounds like ORIGO was not being used here. So, that makes it a paper method.

    Did you complete the discharge forms supplied by the existing scheme?
    Did you send those discharge forms to the new scheme?

    The receiving scheme will sit there waiting for discharge forms. The original scheme wont do anything until the receiving scheme send them the completed discharge forms and extra requested info.

    If no discharge forms were sent to the receiving scheme then it can effectively pause the transfer with both sides waiting for information.

    I was not involved directly until June. Until this point I was continually told that each party was awaiting feedback and there was nothing needed from me or that I could do.


    In June I really started to force the issue as it was going nowhere.
  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Cotta wrote: »
    I was not involved directly until June. Until this point I was continually told that each party was awaiting feedback and there was nothing needed from me or that I could do.


    In June I really started to force the issue as it was going nowhere.

    Raise it as a formal complaint with both schemes and see how they respond.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    The origo options transfer method was designed to make it quicker and easier. Where that cant be used, it falls back to a method that is little changed over the last 30 years and not at all consumer friendly. A method that was set up in the days there was virtually no DIY investing and the forms were not meant to be obtained or completed by consumers.

    In reality, probably neither were actually doing anything wrong as far as rules go. However, from a service point of view, the receiving scheme should have been more pro-active in chasing the required documentation and keeping you up-to-date. However, if the new scheme is an occupational scheme (rather than an individual or group scheme - i.e. run by a professional administrator) then they would not act in the same way a retail pension would. These are not retail products and you won't get retail levels of service with many of these.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • Cotta
    Cotta Posts: 3,667 Forumite
    bigadaj wrote: »
    Raise it as a formal complaint with both schemes and see how they respond.

    That's how it is now. Interestingly the current holding scheme have emailed me asking for my wrapper number as they cannot find the policy which is disappointing at this very late stage.
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 44,140
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Interestingly the current holding scheme have emailed me asking for my wrapper number as they cannot find the policy which is disappointing at this very late stage.

    This saga seems to be a textbook demonstration of how not to manage a pension transfer.
  • Cotta
    Cotta Posts: 3,667 Forumite
    Yes the saga continues with very little progress being made, I am not sure what else I can do at present.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards