Aviva New Generation Personal Pension Scheme · CAS-30129-V8B7

CAS-30129-V8B7

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr T

Scheme Aviva New Generation Personal Pension Scheme (the Plan)

Respondents Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited (Aviva)

Legal & General (L&G)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

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Adjudicator’s Opinion

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Neither Aviva nor L&G responded to the Adjudicator’s Opinion, although as L&G has since paid Mr T its share of the £500 recommended by the Adjudicator, I assume it is in agreement.

Mr T did not accept the Adjudicator’s Opinion and his complaint was passed to me to consider.

Mr T provided his further comments which do not change the outcome. He says that:-

• He had very little option but to transfer back to Aviva. He had received a letter from L&G thanking him for accepting its offer and advising that it had requested the funds from Aviva. He had heard nothing further and assumed everything was fine. It was only when he was expecting the first payment that he received a telephone call from Birchwood saying L&G had suddenly reduced the offer by over £600 per annum. Birchwood advised that unless he requested a transfer back to Aviva that day he would have to accept the reduced offer.

• He was not prepared to accept the reduced offer. So he reluctantly agreed to the proposal to reverse the transfer.

• He did not include Birchwood in his complaint because at no time did either L&G or Aviva claim Birchwood was at fault. In all the paperwork he has seen L&G blamed Aviva, saying Aviva was late sending the funds, then had a problem with the policy numbers. Furthermore, it caused a third delay by adding a small amount of compensation so they could not match the funds.

• If L&G had informed him it was having problems which could affect its offer, he could have chased it up with Birchwood. But L&G never informed him, it just expected him to accept the lower offer.

• He does not understand anything about OMO or IV offers and that is why he used a financial adviser.

• The Adjudicator said that the transfer payment made by Aviva was just over £1,800 less than the original transfer value it had paid to L&G and that he could have waited for Aviva rates to improve. He had already lost enough of his funds and he did not see why he should have to wait even longer to draw his pension. It was the only income he had and he had no confidence in Aviva. He has the right to shop around for a better deal.

Ombudsman’s decision

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Birchwood was aware of the position. However, it confirmed that it was the IV basis that was required. Mr T’s completed application form was received by L&G on 17 September 2018. Had Mr T proceeded on the OMO basis, there would have been sufficient time to complete the transfer, and for the annuity to be established, using the higher factors, before the original quotation expired on 2 October 2018.

Mr T says he has not included Birchwood in his complaint. Birchwood is a firm, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, which provides financial advice. So it falls outside my jurisdiction. If Mr T has any concerns about its involvement in his case, he should refer these to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

9 CAS-30129-V8B7 There have clearly been areas, as identified by the Adjudicator, in which both Aviva and L&G have contributed to some unnecessary delays in Mr T’s transfer being processed. While these have not caused him any financial injustice, they will have caused him significant distress and inconvenience. I agree with the Adjudicator that an award of £500 would be appropriate in the circumstances.

I uphold Mr T’s complaint in part.

Directions

Within 14 days of the date of this Determination, Aviva shall pay £250 to Mr T for the significant distress and inconvenience he has suffered. This sum is in addition to the £50 compensation already paid to him for the delay between 23 to 29 November 2018 after it had received the funds back from L&G.

Anthony Arter

Pensions Ombudsman 23 March 2021

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