Aviva Pension question
Discussion
I've got an old pension from a previous job with a small amount in it (only about £600). When it was set up originally it was a friends life pension which then got taken over by Aviva and a few days ago I got a statement from them telling me the balance etc.
I was thinking of adding money to it every now and again and keeping it alongside my main pension with my current job however when I registered with Aviva this morning it said it couldn't find any policy I had with them so I tweeted them as their phones are closed until Monday however didn't receive a reply.
Does anyone know off the top of their head if I would be able to top this pension up or am I just better transferring it out?
I was thinking of adding money to it every now and again and keeping it alongside my main pension with my current job however when I registered with Aviva this morning it said it couldn't find any policy I had with them so I tweeted them as their phones are closed until Monday however didn't receive a reply.
Does anyone know off the top of their head if I would be able to top this pension up or am I just better transferring it out?
I have a pension with Aviva exactly the same as you, it was setup by previous employer many years ago on Friends Life and then got transferred to Aviva in 2017.
I had trouble adding my policy number too last year, but then I dug up my letters from Friends Life and discovered in 2016 they had changed my policy number. Once I entered that into my Aviva dashboard it found it and all was ok.
In your case, just give them a call this week and mention your pension pot was with Friends Life and they'll sort you out. Worth mentioning when Aviva took over, they sent me a letter asking me to create an account online with a supplied activation code.
I haven't used their portal extensively but I can see options to add money, and transfer in other pension pots, so it appears to work as normal.
I had trouble adding my policy number too last year, but then I dug up my letters from Friends Life and discovered in 2016 they had changed my policy number. Once I entered that into my Aviva dashboard it found it and all was ok.
In your case, just give them a call this week and mention your pension pot was with Friends Life and they'll sort you out. Worth mentioning when Aviva took over, they sent me a letter asking me to create an account online with a supplied activation code.
I haven't used their portal extensively but I can see options to add money, and transfer in other pension pots, so it appears to work as normal.
JaredVannett said:
I have a pension with Aviva exactly the same as you, it was setup by previous employer many years ago on Friends Life and then got transferred to Aviva in 2017.
I had trouble adding my policy number too last year, but then I dug up my letters from Friends Life and discovered in 2016 they had changed my policy number. Once I entered that into my Aviva dashboard it found it and all was ok.
In your case, just give them a call this week and mention your pension pot was with Friends Life and they'll sort you out. Worth mentioning when Aviva took over, they sent me a letter asking me to create an account online with a supplied activation code.
I haven't used their portal extensively but I can see options to add money, and transfer in other pension pots, so it appears to work as normal.
That's great thanks I had trouble adding my policy number too last year, but then I dug up my letters from Friends Life and discovered in 2016 they had changed my policy number. Once I entered that into my Aviva dashboard it found it and all was ok.
In your case, just give them a call this week and mention your pension pot was with Friends Life and they'll sort you out. Worth mentioning when Aviva took over, they sent me a letter asking me to create an account online with a supplied activation code.
I haven't used their portal extensively but I can see options to add money, and transfer in other pension pots, so it appears to work as normal.
.Our company one was with Scandia, then Friends Life took that over, then it became Friends....& for the past few years, Aviva.
So: it is my 'main' pension: I would say the portal is pretty straightforward - we have over 80 funds to chose from (with a default option). After some analysis a few years back I have used a mixture of funds away from the defaults.
I have also moved a smaller fund from elsewhere in to it, so moving things *in* was straightforward.
The fees look pretty low in our scheme - generally 0.25%, some fund options within it can go higher.
In your shoes: it sounds almost worthless as it is, so perhaps examine the fees to see if it could be a useful one to augment your company one.
First, however: be sure to 'max out' any employer contributions on your work one first (eg, our company matches up to 6%, so my advice to young newbies here is to ALWAYS put at least 6% in, & ideally up to half their age in % terms....)...& check the fees compared with your company one first, it may make more sense to just move it all there.
So: it is my 'main' pension: I would say the portal is pretty straightforward - we have over 80 funds to chose from (with a default option). After some analysis a few years back I have used a mixture of funds away from the defaults.
I have also moved a smaller fund from elsewhere in to it, so moving things *in* was straightforward.
The fees look pretty low in our scheme - generally 0.25%, some fund options within it can go higher.
In your shoes: it sounds almost worthless as it is, so perhaps examine the fees to see if it could be a useful one to augment your company one.
First, however: be sure to 'max out' any employer contributions on your work one first (eg, our company matches up to 6%, so my advice to young newbies here is to ALWAYS put at least 6% in, & ideally up to half their age in % terms....)...& check the fees compared with your company one first, it may make more sense to just move it all there.
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