One of the interesting things about this process is that it is often the case that, after further dialogue, many potentially insistent customers change their minds and agree, on further reflection, it was a bad idea. In other cases, we sometimes find that one or more previous responses given to specific questions were mistakenly based on a misinterpretation of the question or there had been a simple omission of a relevant fact, which might alter the previous advice. The good thing about following this extended dialogue is that the conclusion is almost always by mutual agreement, and clients leave the process feeling comfortable about the outcome.
Steve Patterson is managing director of Intelligent Pensions
Key points
The huge publicity surrounding pension freedoms has given far greater impetus to the idea of personal ownership of pensions than ever existed before.
It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that just because your client wants control of their pension rights, that should be a key reason in favour of recommending transfer.
Provided the client’s overall needs and circumstances have been taken into account and the client understands the risks, there should not be a problem with transfers.
