Petition about DB pension transfers - please sign and share

[Tinsey]

Having battled unsuccessfully so far my low value pension transfer, I have created a government petition to allow an opt-out of the financial advice for low value DB pensions transfers.

Can I please ask you to sign and share if possible. I will also post it on MSE at some point but any ideas where else to go with it gratefully received.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/652230

Sorry, better link:

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/652230

£250k is not a low value pension pot!!!

I would support you at below £50k. You will consider me biased as I'm one of those pesky regulated DB Transfer advisers. Don't underestimate our value in preventing clients from making costly mistakes that are not in their best interests. It's true that we can't predict the future but we can ask the right questions and consider all the angles. If a transfer is appropriate we will support it.

That's a pity.

May I please ask how much you charge for the advice and whether it's UPFRONT or deducted from the transfer value?

If inflation and recession continue we will get there soon enough, your fees will go up whilst our deferred pensions will shrink. But that's not your problem. Let's not forget pensions are taxable, so net would be a lot less that £200k.

So glad government is protecting £1m+ pension savers and ripping off pensioners but again, it's not your problem, in fact they are keeping you busy.

And why the advice on transfer is the most expensive advice you have to pay? Not debt or tax or whatever else.

I tried 3 providers, from memory AJ Bell was one, and they said not under £250k.

@Sunseed you can still support the petition, nothing much is likely to happen for decades if conservatives stay in power.

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding here, are you wanting to switch your DB to DC? Isn't DB better?

Yes DB is better for the majority of people. And you have to have advice to stop people being blinded by the cash now sum and forgetting they probably have another 30 years to live.

@SecondUsername4me that's what government want u to believe - not always - ONLY if you live long enough and no one can guarantee that. Plus life expectancy has dropped since COVID so actuarial tables based on averages don't necessarily apply.

My deferred pension transfer value is from 30 odd years ago, tiny, c£100k giving about £250 p/month which wouldn't even pay for monthly supermarket bills.

Basically government wants me to sell the house first before using up the pension?

@Tinsey I can only speak for my charges but they vary depending on complexity and on the transfer value, and subject to a minimum fee of £3,000. This sounds expensive but when you break down the number of hours a case takes and the hoops we have to jump through to satisfy both the FCA and the PI insurers that we have done a thorough job these fees are fair. I am aware of other firms that charge distinctly more but they may have higher overheads, don't want the work or are profiteering.

Fees can be paid on presentation of an invoice or, if the transfer proceeds, the fee can be paid as a deduction from the funds. This method is preferable because they are paid gross instead of after any tax deduction, which is better for a client. I never ask for payment upfront. I wait till the job is done, the personalised advice and recommendations have been delivered and the client fully understands.

DB Transfer advice is a very high risk area for advisers because the responsibility stays with us forever and we can be sued at any time. We have to have robust processes and procedures that can evidence our thinking and defend our position if we end up in court. PI insurers don't like this and charge accordingly, so those costs are inevitably passed on to the client.

There are several scenarios in which a transfer is something of a no-brainer in terms of being in a client's best interests. There are also scenarios which cannot be supported and I will turn away. Many are in the middle and are impossible to determine without gathering a great deal of pertinent information, which is what the FCA expects us to do and without which we cannot give our best advice.

@Sunseed sorry, I have replied to you on the wrong thread 🙁

But if your pension pot is 250k now, why move it at all? I don't get it.

@Tinsey I've replied on other thread.

@SecondUsername4me it's not a pot, it's a transfer value of DB pension,and it's only about £100k (was a year ago, prob below that now).

I want to convert it into a pot (DC) which would allow me flexible access.

DB is not always better as there’s little flexibility, particularly if you want to retire early, if the scheme factors in a spouses pension and they’ve already died (as my husband has) and/or if you want to leave the residual to someone one your death. I don’t have £250k left in a DB scheme, but a reasonably significant 6 figure sum based on recent transfer values. But the pensions they’ll deliver are not that material in the scheme of my retirement income, and aren’t easily accessible until at least 60. It’s an expensive uphill battle to carry out something that should be easy for the financially literate.

@Tryingtokeepgoing thank u for adding your common sense voice. Definitely not better for someone over retirement age.

I’ve just seen that you are already receiving the DB pension…does the pension even allow transfers once it’s started paying? I think that’s an extra level of complexity to consider.

No, I am not recey the pension, I am over scheme's retirement age and still trying to transfer it. Obviously once it's in payment u can't do anything else.

Any financial advisors who can do this for £3k or less - please feel free to PM me