Can’t get DH’s pension he left me

[Offtowalkthedoggie]

DH passed away just over 12 months ago. Due to a lot of grief, et cetera, I didn’t really deal with sorting out the pension he had left me until July.

It’s an Aegon pension and I instructed a financial advisor after much discussion to move it to Scottish widows for me. Apparently, Aegon have lots of software issues and it’s taken until a couple of weeks ago just to get it in my name at Aegon themselves.

I am fortunate, I have a job which covers my bills, but surely it can’t take this long to transfer my deceased husband’s pension into my name. I hate to think how things would be if I actually needed to be drawing on that pension.

I’ve taken to speaking to the financial advisor every week now it just doesn’t seem to move on and there’s always an excuse. It could be earning a lot more money in Scottish widows. I feel I’m being taken for a mug somewhere but I’m not sure whom by.

i’d appreciate anyone’s thoughts on what I can do to move it on and I’d be interested to know if anyone else is having the same problem.

Try getting in touch with The Times Money expert as they seem to be great at getting these issues sorted and getting compensation. Also consider contacting your MP for help.

First you'd really need to complain to the pension company - ask for their complaints procedure and follow that through, then take it externally if you don't get a resolution. https://www.aegon.co.uk/support/complaints

This is the most sensible route. Complaints process and then ombudsman if no action.

Have you tried speaking to Aegon directly? It could be the financial advisor who has messed up.

I am with Aegon and I am entirely unaware of any problems with them. However, I am aware of lots of issues with Scottish Widows - see this FB group - Scottish Widows Complaint Platform - https://www.facebook.com/groups/767899080602048
I moved mine out of SW and into Vanguard. Good luck x

Thank you all. I will start with Aegon themselves.

Scottish Widow funds maybe available via your Aegon pension. Did your adviser look at switching funds within Aegon?

Where I used to work, they worked to a target of 8 days. Where this was exceeded, if the investment increased in value over this period, they wpuld pay the difference.

Personally I’d get rid of the financial adviser as the only one getting anything out of this saga is him!!! Contact the company yourself and tell them you are dealing with this now yourself and want the cheque sent to you! What you do with it then is up to you

Why are you paying the financial advisor for this - they will most likely be getting money via commission and /or percentage of funds under management.

Contact Aegon directly, they will have a whole department focusing on complaints, so if you don’t get immediate help from customer service lodge a complaint and it will be dealt with quickly!

and if at all possible, make a formal complaint against your financial advisor / the company they work for via the FCA. They seem to have exploited your vulnerable position, an as a grieving widow you will be classified as a vulnerable customer!

Steps to File a Complaint Against a Financial Advisor:

1. Complain to the Firm: Write directly to the financial advisor or their firm outlining the issue and desired resolution. Keep copies of all correspondence.
2. Wait for the Final Response:Regulated firms must provide a final response within 8 weeks.
3. Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS): If you are unhappy with the response, or 8 weeks have passed, contact the FOS.
4. Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
5. Phone: tel:0800 023 4567 0800 023 4567
6. Report Misconduct to the FCA:While the FOS resolves individual disputes, you can report unethical behavior or potential financial crime to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate.
7. Email: [email protected]
8. Phone: tel:0800 111 6768 0800 111 6768
9. Financial Conduct Authority | FCA +5

Key Information:

• Time Limits: Generally, you must complain within 6 years of the event, or 3 years from when you realized there was a problem.
• Compensation: The Financial Ombudsman can award compensation for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience.
• Whistleblowing: If you are reporting a firm, you can contact the FCA's intelligence department directly.

Hi OP, I used to process these cases in a past life for a different company, and it shouldn't take this long, the only exception would have been if they were waiting on information from you that you hadn't yet received.

I would cut your advisor out as they rarely chase with enough effort IME - are you paying him or is he earning commission instead? If it's the former I would definitely stop chasing him.

The next step is to raise a complaint with Aegon. Ask them for a timeline of events since you contacted them in July, and tell them you require profit/loss calculation to be carried out once the transfer/purchase has been completed. They won't be able to do this until everything is completed, but they can do it, and they should. It'll identify if you are worse off as a result of the delays and if you are, they should return you to the correct position.

This is on the assumption that Aegon are actually responsible. Fron experience, it's often SW who hold things up, and this may become clear from Aegons timeline, in which case you reported above steps with Scottish Widows.

I’m sorry for your loss.

I’m not sure why you need to move it at all. There can be some advantages to consolidating pensions but this is really just the admin fee. As another poster said, if the Aegon pension is not performing well, adjust the funds in which it is invested. Fwiw I have an aegon pension that is doing nicely. If you want to transfer it anyway for ease of use or whatever, ditch the financial adviser. You really don’t need one for this and I am worried they are scamming you, as it shouldn’t take this long. Have you seen evidence that they are actually doing what they should be?

Thank you all for your information which I need to go away read properly and then decide what to do.

Aegon made it perfectly clear they wouldn’t deal with me unless I had a financial advisor. I’ve actually been through two because the first one head office wouldn’t deal with a transfer from a deceased person to myself but the local chap only found that out that literally at the moment the ongoing transactions were ready to go ahead. So that wasted three months of my life.

I’ll be beginning to feel let down by people left right and centre. I’m not sure where the problem lies, but I will start investigating.

Do you know if the scheme was DB or DC? Most Aegon offerings are DC but I think they may have some legacy DB schemes.

Aegon can require you to take financial advice if it's a DB scheme, and they can heavily encourage it for DC (although I don't think they can force it, but I could be wrong, it's been a while so legislation could have been tightened on that!) but they can't refuse to deal with you directly. Most scheme members I dealt with would get the advice on where to transfer then handle the process themselves.

Feel free to DM me, OP, if you want more guidance on the process. My job was responding to the complaints of people like you who had difficulties getting things done properly so I know what they can/can't do!

@FestiveFancy gives useful advice as do others.
My DH has been dealing with Aegon for the last six months trying to take his funds fron his pension and consolidate elsewhere.
The team in Edinburgh do return correspondence quickly but he has had to engage an IFA to make the move.
His IFA says it is not straightforward and they have quite a bit of work to do to prove that he has taken advice and follow necessary procedures.
I’m sorry you are going through this by offer solidarity in the amount of time it is taking.
In DH’s case it is pre 2004 so a legacy scheme.

Adding on to say that Aegon could not point him in the direction of a list of panel IFAs.

If it’s a DB pension or has a guaranteed annuity option, then prob best to keep where it is. Ask for an illustration of what it’s worth in your name and any benefits attached. If it’s DB, you usually lose out if you convert it to a DC pot, hence why they make you get advice before hand.

I moved DH's to a fund in my name with the same company and that took ages too. I don't think I lost out though, it was still earning all that time

If OP’s husband was over 75 that could land her with a huge tax bill.

Even then, there could be other potential benefits being lost. There is a reason they ask you to get financial advice.

I work in pensions. First you need to aak for their official complaints procedure and put in a complaint and askfor compensation. Tell them if their answer isnt satisfactory then you will go to the pensions Ombudsman amd make sure you too. If it doesn't speed things up at least you will be compensated for it.

My dad died in September - he had 5 pensions, I emailed them all myself, sent my mums details via email and I had them all sorted with statements within 3 weeks. Financial advisors take longer. Definitely do it yourself and complain to get it moving

So was it the previous advisor who suggested the transfer?

Can you say what sort of pension it is?

The can’t force you to get an IFA, but if it is a DB pension they can mandate you take financial advice before transferring as often that loses the benefits. Find out what you have at Aegon. Speak to them directly and escalate to complaints to get the right answers. Ombudsman threats should make that go faster. You will be classified as a vulnerable customer due to your loss and it sounds like their lack of clarity and speed is causing you “harm”…all words that they will fear under consumer duty regulations ;-)

I had mine with Scottish widows and transferred it myself to quilter. It was very easy - online switch service directly with them.

I would phone them and find out what’s going on as it should be quite straight forward now it’s in your name honestly.