This week the shopper visits central Croydon, seeking an answer to a pensions query. Aunt Jane is about to take a long-deserved retirement from Croydon Council and her nephew wants information about deferred benefits pensions. Will his aunt be able to unlock a cash sum from her pension pot – based on a £45,000 salary – to clear the outstanding £20,000 on her Thornton Heath mortgage and have a sunshine holiday? The shopper asked the IFA experts.
Taylor James Financial Services
Independent Adviser
4th Floor, AMP House, Dingwall Rd, Croydon CR0 2LX
Speed of response (time of call): 5.02pm. Answered after two rings. 5/5
Telephone manner: Very open and willing to help. 5/5
Relevant qualifications: Level four diploma. 5/5
Payment method: £150 per hour, but was told advice and execution would be “no more” than £1,000. 5/5
Guidance given: On retirement the alternatives were to take the option of a continued sum every year, or give up some of that pension in return for a tax-free lump sum and a slightly reduced pension. The adviser said that with the caveat of not knowing any of the specific details about the shopper’s aunt's situation he would suspect that the lump sum would be enough to pay off the remainder of the mortgage. 4/5
Knowledge: Very good. Nice to have a clear explanation of the basics of defined benefits pensions, and not the assumption that the shopper already had the information. The adviser took a step-by-step highly informed approach. 5/5
Email/web:
toby.keats@taylorjamesfs.co.uk
5/5
Verdict: Good and solid advice given. Although the shopper was given the ballpark figure of no more that £1,000 there was a little hesitancy on exactly how much the figure would come to. Generally very professional.
Total Score: 34/35
Croydon Financial Services
Independent Adviser
11 Point Central, Sydenham Rd, Croydon CR0 2DU
Speed of response (time of call): 5.10pm. Answered after two rings. 5/5
Telephone manner: Friendly and direct. 5/5
Relevant qualifications: Level four diploma. 5/5
Payment method: £150 per hour (plus £60 per hour admin charge). 5/5
Guidance given: The adviser said that the shopper’s aunt’s length of service (more than 20 years) put her in “good stead” for a “decent sized” pension. The shopper was told that there would probably be an option for the aunt to take a lump sum from the scheme, which would be “tax-free cash” and the total of that tax-free cash was “likely” to be enough to cover the remaining balance of the mortgage. 5/5
Knowledge: Very thorough. 5/5
Email/web:
jamesh@croydonfinancialservices.co.uk
www.croydonfinancialservices.co.uk
5/5
Verdict: It was interesting to be given another investment option.
Total Score: 35/35
Baker, Gladstone & York
Independent Adviser
Rathbone House, 22-26 Tanfield Rd, Croydon
Speed of response (time of call): 5.16pm. Answered by member of staff and transferred to pensions adviser – took more than 30 seconds. 3/5
Telephone manner: Friendly at first, but became dismissive. 3/5
Relevant qualifications: Level six diploma. 3/5
Payment method: Only recommendation was a complete pensions consultation at £2,500. 4/5
Guidance given: The shopper was told the aunt could ask for a “retirement projection” from the local council. The adviser checked that this was not an early retirement, and then was told that if it was a standard retirement the entitlement would be “limited” to what the council would offer unless the retirement included not taking benefits and becoming a “deferred member” and asking for a “cash equivalent transfer value”, which would open up other options for pensions investment. 4/5
Knowledge: Good, but unnecessary, if adviser could not offer the service required. 4/5
Email/web presence
aaron.ogorman@bgyifa.co.uk
5/5
Verdict: Although the adviser was not impolite when saying there was little he could do for the shopper’s aunt, he dismissed an hourly rate – this could be company policy – for an expensive “under the bonnet” total pensions advice solution.
26/35
Royal London
Provider
Speed of response (time of call): 12.03pm. After 48 seconds and two stages of automated response, the shopper got through to a representative in two rings. 5/5
Telephone manner: Chatty and friendly. 5/5
Relevant qualifications: Representative was not officially financially qualified, but when asked said they had received “a lot” of training from Royal London. 2/5
Payment method: 1 per cent annual management fee on the fund. 5/5
Guidance given: The shopper was asked if the aunt had an annuity or possibly a Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) pension – now handled by Royal London. When told the shopper was not quite sure, was told that a defined benefit scheme could indeed include a lump sum that could be “anything up to 25 per cent of the total fund value tax-free”, and was also taken through becoming a “deferred member” to allow the cash equivalent transfer. 4/5
Knowledge: Good, but a little surface level without enough depth. 3/5
Email/web presence
3/5
Verdict: With the information given of the shopper’s relative’s salary (£45,000), job, years working for the council (23), age, suspected retirement age and amount remaining in the mortgage (£20,000), more detail was expected but, when pushed for, was not delivered.
Total Score: 27/35
