Aviva Personal Pension Plan · CAS-51069-J3T4

CAS-51069-J3T4

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr N

Scheme Aviva Personal Pension Plan (the Plan)

Respondent Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited (Aviva)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

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“The value we transfer may be different to the amount shown in any quote we may have given you.”

During the telephone call, Aviva told Mr N that it had received his signed transfer form in March 2020, and in the meantime the fund value was not guaranteed. Mr N said that the fund value had fallen due to Aviva’s poor investments. Aviva said that markets had performed poorly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr N said that he had not received the transfer form to sign until March 2020, so Aviva had delayed the transfer process. Mr N said that when he received the transfer form in March 2020, he had signed it straight away and emailed it back to Aviva.

2 CAS-51069-J3T4 Adjudicator’s Opinion

Mr N did not accept the Adjudicator’s Opinion and the complaint was passed to me to consider. Mr N provided further comments, which are summarised below:-

• He stated that he had put his trust in Aviva to invest his money, but it had not [been successful].

• He believed that the loss in value of his fund took place before the impact of Covid-19, whereas Aviva had used the virus as a reason for poor performance.

• He had started to pay into his pension because he thought it was the right thing to do for his future. He said that when he set up the Plan, he was told he could retire at age 50 but this was subsequently changed to age 55, and he was told that his pension would not be sufficient to retire on anyway.

• He believed that it should be made clear that private pension plans were a waste of money. He thought he would be no better off than people without private pensions when he retired, as those people would be helped by the benefits system.

I note the additional points made by Mr N, but I agree with the Adjudicator’s Opinion.

3 CAS-51069-J3T4 Ombudsman’s decision

4 CAS-51069-J3T4 I do not uphold Mr N’s complaint.

Dominic Harris

Pensions Ombudsman 1 February 2023

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