Clerical Medical told 'stop insulting clients' after two year pension issue

Clerical Medical apologised for the level of service it provided to an IFA and his client, whose request was only granted after FTAdviser contacted the company. 

The fund switch was first requested by the IFA in August 2020, after the closure of a property fund held in the portfolio had prompted a wider review of the pension’s holdings.

The two pensions were set up by the client for his two children, and a small amount of money invested into them each month.

Everything was wrong with the allocation of the fundsUnnamed IFA

The request was acknowledged by Clerical Medical immediately, however in October of that year the adviser received a form to re-confirm the property fund changes, a separate issue to the original fund switch requested.

The company responded to the completed form in early November, at which point Clerical Medical said the requested switch had also been done.

The paperwork, including valuations, seemed correct, the IFA said.

The IFA then received the client’s statement in April the following year, for the year to March.

“Everything was wrong with the allocation of the funds,” the adviser said. 

The pensions were still invested in the property fund that had closed, with this issue reported to the company in May.

Clerical Medical acknowledged this letter, however after being prompted by the adviser in June, the company said they were still looking into the matter.

This continued until November, when the adviser downloaded the client’s pensions statements, and the allocations were still incorrect.

Clerical Medical should stop insulting clients with the offer of £50 in compensationUnnamed IFA

This was despite Clerical Medical saying in August that the issue had been sorted on April 20 earlier that year, as well as £50 compensation being sent to both children (the holders of the pensions).

After realising the allocations were still incorrect, the IFA put in another complaint, after which Clerical Medical came back to ask whether the fund allocation figures were correct - on an internal system to which the IFA had no access.

“I suggested that maybe [the caller from Clerical Medical] go back to her admin department to find that out,” the adviser said.

Yet another switch statement was received, and then an investment change statement in February 2022, which was still incorrect.

The IFA said Clerical Medical in the meantime had closed the complaint down.

We’re sorry for the delay in processing the request to switch pension fundsspokesperson, Clerical Medical

“At this point we’ve got two pensions for two young kids that were taken out on exactly the same day with exactly the same premiums put in throughout. 

“[We are now] getting different valuations for each plan…they were both wrong.”

In July of this year, the complaint was escalated to a manager, however until Clerical Medical was contacted by FTAdviser, the IFA’s complaint was not acknowledged.

The IFA highlighted the issue that he did not know when the switch was made, nor the allocation history, making it very difficult to work out what the value of the pensions should be.

“[Clerical Medical should] stop insulting clients with the offer of £50 in compensation,” he said.

“After nearly two years and reams of incorrect statements and unbelievably lengthy correspondence, they still hadn’t done it.”

After being contacted by FTAdviser, the company checked both policies to ensure they were in the correct position, and will be providing the contribution breakdown as requested. 

Clerical Medical has also reimbursed the adviser for the time spent on this issue.

A spokesperson for Clerical Medical said: “We’re sorry for the delay in processing the request to switch pension funds and for our service, which has fallen short of the level advisers and their clients expect. 

“The switch instruction has now been completed, the policies are correct and we’ve offered an additional payment to both clients for the inconvenience caused.”

Earlier this year, an IFA called for an overhaul of the treatment of vulnerable customers after Clerical Medical took 15 months to pay out after the death of a client.

sally.hickey@ft.com