An adviser trying to receive his fees from Scottish Friendly following the renewal of a client’s annuity growth account said he was left with “concerns” after difficulties in communication.
In a letter to Scottish Friendly, Financial Risk Management principal Julian Pruggmayer claimed that his client, identified as Mr B, had been sent a renewal package directly by the company, without any prior consultation with his office.
The renewal pack included a quotation, stating what income the client would receive and what fees Pruggmayer’s office would receive.
Pruggmayer lodged a complaint over Scottish Friendly going directly to the client.
We are now in the process of paying the annuity to the client.Scottish FriendlyHe said he had then produced a new illustration and, after the client stated they were happy to accept the quotation, sent a copy of it with the renewal applications to Scottish Friendly.
However, Pruggmayer claimed that no fees had been paid, despite several weeks passing.
He told FTAdviser he had then phoned to enquire where the fees were and, when he asked for the commissions department, he claimed he was told that it was a back office post and, therefore, he could not be put through.
Instead, he was informed that an email would be sent on his behalf to commissions, and that he would receive a reply within five to 10 working days.
Pruggmayer said the delays continued.
He also said he requested to be put through to Scottish Friendly’s compliance team, but Pruggmayer said the call handler told him that this was also a back office post and that he could not be put through.
“To find that, when I wish to speak to what is effectively the complaints department, I can’t be put through causes me some concerns”, he commented.
Pruggmayer concluded his letter by stating: “I look forward to receiving your excuses".
Follow-ups
In subsequent letters sent to Pruggmayer, Scottish Friendly explained its delay in paying fees by stating that it was required to obtain a further final lifetime annuity quote from Canada Life to determine the annuity income.
However, the company added that Canada Life had returned its quote without deducting the 3 per cent initial adviser charge, and therefore the quote could not be moved forward with.
Despite Scottish Friendly confirming that the correct quote was finally received at the end of July, Pruggmayer pointed out that the signed application was received by the company on June 15, thereby giving the company some four weeks before renewal to “sort things out”.
Canada Life retirement income director, Nick Flynn, commented: “We will progress this quickly to understand what has happened. In the meantime, I would be happy to discuss the matter directly with Mr Pruggmayer.”
Response
In response, a spokesperson for Scottish Friendly stated no detriment had been caused to the client as a result of the delays.
A spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for the delay in providing a quote to Mr Pruggmayer on his request and for the inconvenience this has caused.
“We are now in the process of paying the annuity to the client and can confirm that there has been no delay in the payment being received, therefore no financial detriment has been caused.”
However, Pruggmayer stated that “Scottish Friendly have had all the paperwork on this for more than six weeks and still have not paid us.
“We wrote to the chief executive two weeks ago and, like his payments system, he has not sent us anything either.”
Scottish Friendly has now stated its commitment that the payment will be made to Pruggmayer as soon as the company is in a position to finalise the renewal.
This isn't the first time Scottish Friendly has come under fire for its dealings with the same adviser; in 2021, FTAdviser reported that Pruggmayer had been left chasing money after being hospitalised.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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