Combining pension - Destination pension pot provider unresponsive

S

Springers

Registered User
Messages
32
Hi,

My spouse made the following requests a few months ago to combine pension pots from 2 previous employments to current one:

Previous employment A - DC pot A
Previous employment B - DC pot B

Current employment C - DC pot C

Note that employment B and C share the same pension provider (BoI).

She completed all the required forms and sent them to all parties in February. Yet, no transfer has been processed so far.

The internal DC company advisor left and hasn't been replaced yet so the HR provided a call centre contact number.

Despite several emails asking for an update the last 3 months and calls with false promises without any callback, no progress has been observed.

I would like to know the correct procedure to follow to get this sorted. I believe I should make an official complaint first? and them, how long should I wait before the next step? What would be the next step? etc


PS: I am not a native speaker so let me know if I need to rephrase certain points.
Thanks in advance for your help on this!
 
Why does she want to combine the pension pots ?

Having multiple pension pots will most likely give her more flexibility when it comes to claiming her pension. For example, deciding when to start taking the pension, how much tax-free lump sum to take,...

Also, having multiple providers may provide better returns and less volatility
 

I do agree with the point above.

However, the sums involved are low:
DC pot A: around €4500
DC pot B: around €1500

We decided to transfer these amounts to the biggest pot as we thought these amounts were so low that we couldn't benefit from them independently.

Can she claim pensions with these low amounts?
 
Bank of Ireland Life and New Ireland are the same company. As a broker, dealing with New Ireland's pension scheme area for the past few years has been VERY slow and disorganised. Our experience suggests that the simple transaction you have requested will take a lot longer than three months to complete.
 

Thanks for the feedback. I assume that I will start to think about making a complaint after 8-9 months.
 
I'd take the gloves off now and in your email to the provider I'd CC the Central Bank becuase, ..the Central Bank may decide to investigate serious or systemic general complaints about regulated financial service providers. That's what they told me when I raised the issue of Inter-Company Transfers with them (Annuities are a disaster because quotes last from 5 to 10 working days only). These issues are systemic. enquiries@centralbank.ie

I'd provide a timeline again so that the CB can see the dates. I'd have a look at the fund/s you're moving from/to and see if there is a financial loss to you already because of the delay. I'd log the formal compalaint now as the FSPO are swamped with maladministration complaints and the initial wait time (until your case is dealt with) is circa 7/8 months from the date of complaint. It's a long process but follow it through and if you don't like the mediated offer, refuse it and let it go to full investigation.

The CB won't respond to you, they won't tell you how the investigation went, but they are interested in these issues and are clearly looking for evidence from customers and intermediaries.
 

I checked FSPO website, they recommend to make a complaint to Bank Of Ireland first => https://www.fspo.ie/make-a-complain...to-your-provider/financial-services-provider/

I then emailed BoI to make an internal complaint. With no surprise, I didn't get any response, it's been more than 20 working days so far.

Would anyone have the email address for BoI/New Ireland formal complaints? I found this link (https://www.bankofireland.com/help-centre/customer-complaints-process/?) but unsure if it applies to pension schemes.

I believe FSPO will accept a complaint in case BoI doesn't provide info on how to make an internal complaint?
 
I understand what the FSPO recommend but if you can't even get an acknowledgement that your compaint is logged then it's highy likely that BoI/NI are just hoping you'll 'go away'.

The FSPO said in 2023 report "In addition to encouraging providers of financial services and pension products to work to reduce the number of complaints arising, I also encourage them to adopt an approach of seeking, where possible, to resolve complaints quickly withtheir customers. It is clear that many of the consumers making complaints to this Office could have had their complaints addressed by their provider, at an earlier point in time".

The workforce in FSPO increased by 42% in 2023.

How the CB didn't read that red flag and start an investigation into systemic service failures is baffling as it's looking like the complaints procedure part of the Consumer Protection Code isn't fit for purpose.

It's a bank you're dealing with. It's about margin/profit and shareholders. There's no money in complaints handling as that would involve providing resources to handle them properly - money that could be added to the bottom line for shareholders.

I'd still go to the CB with a copy of all your corresponence to date and wait for BOI to contact you. If they don't, then CB aren't doing their job. They cannot sit idly by and pretend they don't know about these issues.

Plus, I'd print the correspondence and do a nice hand written letter to Myles O'Grady asking him for his help.
 

Thanks for the thorough response.

I will now use all the available paths to get this sorted:

1- Inform CB with all details from the very beginning
2- send a registered hand written letter to Myles O'Grady
3- log a complaint to FSPO
 
BoI finally transferred the previous DC pots to the current one successfully.

On top of that, the complaint manager offered a couple of hundred euros as a compensation for the financial loss.

I assume that CCing FSPO and Central Bank did the trick (that was the last email I sent, I stated that I would log a formal complaint with FSPO if no acknowledgment is given).

@MrEarl and @GSheehy Thank you for your valuable advice!
 
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