The client, Mr Y, complained that Standard Life would not offer a second cash equivalent transfer value statement (CETV) within 12 months, despite him offering to pay for it.
Mr Y first requested a CETV in August 2016, showing a transfer value of £99,612 ($129,272, €113,501).
Pension administrator Mercer told the client this calculation would expire if they did not receive a written application for transfer by 14 November.
The letter also stated that he could not receive another CETV until August 2017, but Mr Y said he thought this only applied to free valuations
By the time he received a second CETV, he complained that the transfer value had dropped.
In September 2016, Mr Y went on to request a second CETV based on an online estimate of £114,396 he received using Standard Life’s online portal, which Mercer rejected citing the 12-month waiting period.
As a result, Mr Y complained that this was an unfair policy, putting in a claim to the trustees.
‘Transfer amnesty’
The following month, Standard Life pension trustees introduced a “transfer amnesty” for all members to be able to receive more than one CETV a year.
However, Mr Y was warned by the trustees in February 2017 that they could not be held responsible for market conditions, which may have an adverse effect on transfer values.
In March, Mr Y again used the Standard Life’s online calculator and generated an estimated transfer value of £108,089, which led to a complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman that the trustees should honour the higher online estimate from September 2016.
Complaint rejected
However, the Ombudsman upheld an earlier decision made by the adjudicator which found in favour of the trustees.
Deputy pensions ombudsman Karen Johnston said: “Given the circumstances, I am unable to conclude that the trustees’ refusal to allow Mr Y a new CETV, outside the transfer amnesty, was perverse or outside the range of reasonable outcomes that could have been reached.”
