I am going to name and shame yet another ‘big company’. We have a couple of pension transfer cases for clients, with time limits on transfer values upon which the clients have based their decisions to transfer and yet the months go by and still they have not acted.
They are chased… and chased… but still no action and meantime the investment markets are doing what they do. Only a few years ago these companies would have sent the money to any old scheme buying hotel rooms in Cape Verde Islands or ethical forestry and carbon credits on the Moon but today, they won’t send the money to an HMRC approved and FCA regulated Pension Trustee Company without quadruple and unnecessary checks it seems. It is wholly unacceptable and negligent on the part of these entities.
We have another case with Mercer where the multimillion-pound scheme has written to the client twice now saying that the funds will be delayed as the scheme has needed to sell investments to raise the money… settlement is two days on the stock market these days so what on earth is going on? Isn’t it about time these entities were properly regulated?
Reassure – Inappropriately named
Clever marketing departments need to make sure that the names they choose for their companies are delivered in practice. So, a staff member chose to transfer her £25,000 ‘Reassure’ pension to her Company scheme with ourselves. The paperwork was all appropriately sent-off last October. As we do for all clients, we chase progress to ensure the transfers are progressing – especially as money and markets are involved. After initial delays with forms etc, on 28 January we were ‘reassured’ that they confirmed payment would be issued that day. It is now the middle of May and guess what – still no payment. What is wrong with these companies? A formal complaint noting the loss of investment return is already lodged – it is just not good enough.
