COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
How we deal with your complaint
Annuity Choice aims to provide you with excellent service at all times. However, we understand things can sometimes go wrong, or you may become unhappy with aspects of our service. If this happens, we will do our best to resolve your issues as quickly as possible. We always try to reach an agreeable solution as quickly as possible with our aim to have your complaint resolved within 3 business days following receipt. Business day are Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays. Some complaints are more complex than others and may take some time to investigate, so it may not be possible to resolve your complaint within 3 days. If this is the case, the following process will be followed:
- Acknowledgement
We will write to acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receipt enclosing a copy of our complaint handling procedure, confirming our understanding of the issue(s).
This acknowledgement could be sent by post or email, if we hold your email address on record. We may sometimes call you if we need to clarify our understanding of your issues.
- Investigation and resolution
The client experience team will thoroughly investigate all of your issues to ensure a fair and impartial outcome is reached. We will obtain information required from all relevant parties and we may need to ask you for some additional details to assist in the investigation.
We will keep you informed of our progress with the investigation and provide you with an update, explaining we aim to have a response to you within the 8 week regulatory timescale.
When we have completed our investigation, we will write to let you know the outcome. The final response will set out the facts that have been established and the outcome along with any resolution offered where appropriate.
If we are unable to respond in full within 8 weeks, we will write to you explaining why we are not in a position to issue a final response and when this can be expected.
This letter will also inform you of your right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), or The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO), if applicable.
- Further information
If you have any concerns or wish to discuss your complaint please contact us:
Annuity Choice
24 Fulwood Road
Broomhill
Sheffield, S10 3AA
Tel: 0800590540
Your rights
You may have the right to refer your complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) or the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) free of charge – but there are time limits for doing so. Complaining to either of these organisations will not affect your right to take legal proceedings/civil action.
If you are unhappy with our final response or if more than 8 weeks have passed since we received your complaint, you may be able to ask the FOS or TPO to review your complaint. Both Ombudsman usually expect clients to allow us to address their complaints before contacting them – unless there has been an undue delay.
If you have a complaint or dispute concerning your workplace or personal pension arrangements, you have the right to refer your complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman free of charge. TPO deals with complaints and disputes which concern the administration and/or management of occupational and personal pension schemes.
Contact with The Pensions Ombudsman about a complaint needs to be made within three years of when the event(s) you are complaining about happened – or, if later, within three years of when you first knew about it (or ought to have known about it). There is discretion for those time limits to be extended.
The Pensions Ombudsman can be contacted at:
The Pensions Ombudsman
10 South Colonnade Tel: 08009174487
Canary Wharf Email: enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
E14 4PU Website: www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
You can also submit a complaint form online at https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint
How can The Pensions Ombudsman help me?
TPO solely deals with pension complaints. It can help if you have a complaint or dispute about the administration (including transfers/conversion) and/or management of personal and occupational pensions.
The types of pension arrangements it looks at include:
executive, group, and personal pension plans
self-invested personal pensions (SIPP)
small self-administered pension schemes (SSAS)
workplace, employer, and stakeholder pension schemes
free standing additional voluntary contribution schemes (FSAVC)
annuities and section 32 buy-out policies
Some examples of types of complaints it considers include:
auto enrolment
benefits – incorrect calculation/refusal/failure to pay or late payment
charges/fees
death benefits
failure to provide information/act on instructions
fund switches
guaranteed annuity rate
ill health
interpretation of scheme rules/policy terms
misquote/misinformation
payment/pension increases
pension liberation
transfers: general
winding up
with-profits issues
There is no financial limit on the amount of money The Pensions Ombudsman can make a party award to you. Its determinations are legally binding on all the parties and are enforceable in court.
MoneyHelper is a free service provided by the Money and Pensions Service, an arms length body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. MoneyHelper was created in 2021 and they provide free and impartial money and pensions guidance for people across the UK.
If you have general requests for information or guidance concerning your pension arrangements, contact:
Money & Pension Service
120 Holborn
London
EC1N 2TD
Website: www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/contact-us
Where your complaint concerns the marketing of our products or the financial advice provided, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) free of charge, who provide consumers with a free independent service for resolving disputes with financial firms.
Financial Ombudsman Service
Tel: 08000234567
Exchange Tower Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
London, E14 9SR Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
