Pensions Again...

[piggynose]

As i said in a previous post i've been told by my pension holders to fill in an option 32 pension transfer form, this came with a deadline. So afer reading the complex blurb/jargon, i was under the impression that i had to find a financial advisor by law. So for the last 2 weeks or so i've been searching the net to find one. I finally found one, anyway after going through the palaver of what i needed to do, i was then given an approximate cost for their services based on a percentage. After the initial shock of how much they charge, i contacted a friend/ex colleague, and explained my plight, he said that i dont need to pay for a FA, just needed proof that i consulted one.
Has anybody on here been through a similar experience?
oh its not over yet!!

[ubasses]

Todays Telegraph Money section has an article on this today. Regulations say that if the pot is over £30,000 it must be signed off by a Financial adviser, so if your fund is over this amount you are actually going to have to have financial advice. If below you can just go ahead.
It also goes on to say that IFAs are fighting shy of even doing any of this work and others are charging a fortune, may be worth a read if you can get the article on line.

[Zacs-Master]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/news/moving-pension-get-even-harder-expensive/

[fiction-factory]

Yes. I'm sure i replied (or was planning to reply) in a similar vein when you asked before. Moving out of a pension like yours is usually not recommended. Your provider will be worried you may sue them for negligence if it goes wrong. There is a legal requirement to get an FA to approve such an exit as ubasses says if the fund is worth more than £30000. When i asked FAs were scared of being sued for bad advice/neglience and either said they would not even look at it or would need to take out an indemnity insurance policy costing nearly £2000 to protect themselves.
Is the fund worth is worth less than £30000 then yes you normally can just declare you have taken advice, but maybe your provider can demand more than that.
Maybe like me they are not sure why you are even considering this option of an Option 32- it's rarely a good idea. Are there special circumstances?

[piggynose]

thanks folks for your input. my pension pot is said to be worth about £149,000, so 1 FA, said he would charge a percentage of about 3% so charging me about £4,500. special circumstances? well he said its above the average.

[piggynose]

one last thing, if i feel i shouldn't paid the FA their large fee, i have the ombudsman to fall back on.

[fiction-factory]

It's not far out of line with the £3000-£4000 I would have estimated, bearing the insurance/indemnity policy the FA would have to take out in case of a subsequent complaint from you that it was bad /negligent advice. You could shop around but advisers are nervous of recommending such transfers a sthey are rarely a good idea. I'm still not sure what the reason is for transferring out. What type of pension is it that you currently have?.

[piggynose]

ff, without going over the pension details, which are not at hand. its a works pension from 1976-1991. as i said previously i hadn't given it a thought until i accidentally met up with an old work colleague who got his sorted out a few years ago, but his was 1/2 of my pot. When i emailed the pension company they sent me all the blurb. And it clearly states it an option 32 transfer policy, and needs to completed soon.

[fiction-factory]

Thanks. I'm not sure why you'd want to transfer out of an occupational scheme and have to pay transfer fees and adviser costs and possible forgo some benefits. Have you been told how much your current policy/fund is worth and the potential / guaranteed benefits?

[bednobs]

do you HAVE to move it? if not, don't

[-SharonA-]

When I was asked if I had consulted a FA, I lied and said yes!! But I did not have the problem you're having.

[fiction-factory]

I think you need their sign off though if it's over £30K, Sahron.

[piggynose]

Sharon, so when they say they want you to consult a FA, all I need to say is yes?

[fiction-factory]

I'm not sure whether you are seeing my responses piggynose but I'll reaffirm that it needs signing off by an approved FA.

"The Trustees of the scheme can’t transfer any value of £30,000 or over unless this has been signed off by a regulated financial adviser with the required specialisms."
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/transferring-out-of-a-defined-benefit-pension-scheme

It's still not clear whether, when you say you've " been told by [your] pension holders to fill in an option 32 pension transfer form , this is followinga transfer request from you or whether they are instructing/encouraging/incentivising yo to do a transfer.

[piggynose]

ff, i've emailed my penison company, so waiting for a response. as i said before i was given this multi page document, which is called an option 32 transfer, being a little naive, i wasn't sure what was expected of me. so panicked and contacted 3 FA's got some quite large quotes. Now your saying that a FA needs to sign it off, for an exorbitant charge of £4,500? or less?

[piggynose]

typo..pension

[fiction-factory]

Looks thatw ay to me- although you could shop around for more quotes. As I have said a few times they will want to take out an insurance policy against being sued for recommending a product that is not generally a good idea. Some may refuse to sign it off at any price

[fiction-factory]

Piggynose- you say " as i said before i was given this multi page document, which is called an option 32 transfer,"
I was trying to establish the reason why they gave it you. Did you ask to transfer it or are they forcing you/ strongly encouraging you down that route.

[bednobs]

bloody hell it's like pulling teeth! you can't expect to get helpful answers if you only give 1/3 of the details!
Just to be clear, i am asking do you HAVE to move it, or have you independently decided to move it?

[piggynose]

keep yr hair on bedknobs! as i said before several times, when i was advised to contact my pension holder to see how my pension was doing, i was sent this " option 32 transfer multi page doc. which insisted on me seeking financial advise, which i did, and to my surprise, was given some pricey quotes. after talking to one FA, I was advised not to move it, as i was doing nicely, but i still have to get that multi page doc full of jargon filled in.

[bednobs]

no you don't! If you don't want to move it don't move it, and just don't fill in the form.