AON = Pension morons?
Discussion
AON were my pension provider when I worked for a Government organisation. I left after 14 months as I found an alternative position at another company.
They wrote to me in early June to tell me that the executives had decided that my length of service was too short to now be invested in the scheme. This was 6 years after I left the company.
I wrote to them to complain and they took 20 days to respond with a standardised template response. In the response they stated that they had passed my complaint to a dedicated complaints handler. Since then I have not heard a thing. That was last month.
They threatened that I would loose my pension contributions if I did not move my pension. As it was 6 years after I left the organisation, I couldn’t use CETV to transfer into my current pension (1 year rule), so I had to use an alternative provider who charged me a fee and will take a percentage every month. Not a great solution. I have completed transfer paper work and now AON have written to me asking me to send originals of my passport and driving licence to them via recorded post. No Way!
I have complained again as I cannot send these documents – I travel for a living and cannot send these. Their most recent letter advises that if I do not move funds by September, I lose all my funds. Yet they are asking for me to send original documents in the post. They take months to respond to any letters and when they do send a letter, it is useless and unhelpful.
Does anyone have experience of AON? Are they a group of morons?
They wrote to me in early June to tell me that the executives had decided that my length of service was too short to now be invested in the scheme. This was 6 years after I left the company.
I wrote to them to complain and they took 20 days to respond with a standardised template response. In the response they stated that they had passed my complaint to a dedicated complaints handler. Since then I have not heard a thing. That was last month.
They threatened that I would loose my pension contributions if I did not move my pension. As it was 6 years after I left the organisation, I couldn’t use CETV to transfer into my current pension (1 year rule), so I had to use an alternative provider who charged me a fee and will take a percentage every month. Not a great solution. I have completed transfer paper work and now AON have written to me asking me to send originals of my passport and driving licence to them via recorded post. No Way!
I have complained again as I cannot send these documents – I travel for a living and cannot send these. Their most recent letter advises that if I do not move funds by September, I lose all my funds. Yet they are asking for me to send original documents in the post. They take months to respond to any letters and when they do send a letter, it is useless and unhelpful.
Does anyone have experience of AON? Are they a group of morons?
AON are not morons, although their administration can be slow at times. Also, they may be acting on the instructions of the trustees of the pension scheme.
I suggest that you take one of the following actions:
1. You raise a formal complaint against AON by using the scheme's Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure. All schemes must have such a procedure and sometimes you can find a copy online if the scheme has its own website, otherwise you can ask AON for a copy. They cannot refuse to send it to you.
or
2. You could contact the Pensions Ombudsman's Early Resolution Service and ask them to investigate matters and seek resolution of your problems for you. Their service is free. You can get this started through the PO's website.
Unfortunately, it is generally the case that things do not move swiftly in the pensions business!
R.
I suggest that you take one of the following actions:
1. You raise a formal complaint against AON by using the scheme's Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure. All schemes must have such a procedure and sometimes you can find a copy online if the scheme has its own website, otherwise you can ask AON for a copy. They cannot refuse to send it to you.
or
2. You could contact the Pensions Ombudsman's Early Resolution Service and ask them to investigate matters and seek resolution of your problems for you. Their service is free. You can get this started through the PO's website.
Unfortunately, it is generally the case that things do not move swiftly in the pensions business!
R.
AON are not morons, although their administration can be slow at times. Also, they may be acting on the instructions of the trustees of the pension scheme.
I suggest that you take one of the following actions:
1. You raise a formal complaint against AON by using the scheme's Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure. All schemes must have such a procedure and sometimes you can find a copy online if the scheme has its own website, otherwise you can ask AON for a copy. They cannot refuse to send it to you.
or
2. You could contact the Pensions Ombudsman's Early Resolution Service and ask them to investigate matters and seek resolution of your problems for you. Their service is free. You can get this started through the PO's website.
Unfortunately, it is generally the case that things do not move swiftly in the pensions business!
R.
I suggest that you take one of the following actions:
1. You raise a formal complaint against AON by using the scheme's Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure. All schemes must have such a procedure and sometimes you can find a copy online if the scheme has its own website, otherwise you can ask AON for a copy. They cannot refuse to send it to you.
or
2. You could contact the Pensions Ombudsman's Early Resolution Service and ask them to investigate matters and seek resolution of your problems for you. Their service is free. You can get this started through the PO's website.
Unfortunately, it is generally the case that things do not move swiftly in the pensions business!
R.
I can’t think of a single instance when I have picked up the phone in anticipation of speaking with a pension administrator and wanted to weep at the prospect of the experience ahead. I’m sure that there are many wise heads here, who buck the trend, but who aren’t (directly) customer engaging.
This isn’t a problem just for AON (in my experience, not unduly bad at all).
But the situation is made worse by the fact that employers don’t invest in staff these days. People are bought in to deal with enquiries and they are dealt with by passing up the food chain. This leads to delays across the board. In days gone by, folk stayed with a company for longer and the company subsequently invested time, effort and money in empowering staff at a much junior position.
Allowing companies to retain more profit by raising taxes won’t help the situation any - it’s just a means of passing on costs and encumberence to the consumer. Employers need to be financially investivised not to just employ more people, but to retain and train them more. But, the workforce is far more mobile and transient than it used to be. <<sighs>>
This isn’t a problem just for AON (in my experience, not unduly bad at all).
But the situation is made worse by the fact that employers don’t invest in staff these days. People are bought in to deal with enquiries and they are dealt with by passing up the food chain. This leads to delays across the board. In days gone by, folk stayed with a company for longer and the company subsequently invested time, effort and money in empowering staff at a much junior position.
Allowing companies to retain more profit by raising taxes won’t help the situation any - it’s just a means of passing on costs and encumberence to the consumer. Employers need to be financially investivised not to just employ more people, but to retain and train them more. But, the workforce is far more mobile and transient than it used to be. <<sighs>>
Aon isn't likely to be your pension provider. From what you've said, I'm guessing they are the administrators to the pension scheme.
Similarly, I'm guessing the pension scheme trustees (i.e. not Aon) have decided to do some sort of trivial commutation exercise. That involves looking at the membership of the scheme and, for those deferred members with very small pensions, giving them a one-off lump sum rather than having the hassle of managing records and eventually paying out tiny monthly pensions. That's good admin practice.
A lot of your complaints seem to be more "toys out of the pram" rather than any substance. For example, they are asking you to verify your identity before paying out the value of your pension. That seems reasonable to me - would you rather they paid out to anyone claiming to be you? Sending off your passport and driving licence would only take a couple of days to return by some of the faster postal services, and my experience in the past is that administrators and similar tend to send these sorts of documents back ASAP as they don't want the responsibility of hanging on to them. I would expect them to put them back in the post to you the same day they receive them.
I do agree with Ginge R. As the old adage goes, fast, cheap and of good quality - pick two. Unfortunately, a lot of companies and pension scheme trustees view pension scheme admin as a commodity and want the cheapest possible price rather than a good service.
Similarly, I'm guessing the pension scheme trustees (i.e. not Aon) have decided to do some sort of trivial commutation exercise. That involves looking at the membership of the scheme and, for those deferred members with very small pensions, giving them a one-off lump sum rather than having the hassle of managing records and eventually paying out tiny monthly pensions. That's good admin practice.
A lot of your complaints seem to be more "toys out of the pram" rather than any substance. For example, they are asking you to verify your identity before paying out the value of your pension. That seems reasonable to me - would you rather they paid out to anyone claiming to be you? Sending off your passport and driving licence would only take a couple of days to return by some of the faster postal services, and my experience in the past is that administrators and similar tend to send these sorts of documents back ASAP as they don't want the responsibility of hanging on to them. I would expect them to put them back in the post to you the same day they receive them.
I do agree with Ginge R. As the old adage goes, fast, cheap and of good quality - pick two. Unfortunately, a lot of companies and pension scheme trustees view pension scheme admin as a commodity and want the cheapest possible price rather than a good service.
Post up a scan of the letter removing your personal details and let's have a look.
I doubt it would be legal for a pension scheme to just take your money or force you to move to another administrator at your cost but until we've seen exactly what they've written it's difficult to give sound advice.
Realistically however what is the pension pot worth?
I doubt it would be legal for a pension scheme to just take your money or force you to move to another administrator at your cost but until we've seen exactly what they've written it's difficult to give sound advice.
Realistically however what is the pension pot worth?
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