{"id":563709,"date":"2026-03-27T05:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T05:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/563709\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T05:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T05:51:10","slug":"pensioners-could-be-owed-compensation-after-facing-up-to-15-months-in-transfer-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/563709\/","title":{"rendered":"Pensioners could be owed compensation after facing up to 15 months in transfer delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

One in 10 people attempting to move their pension savings ultimately abandon the process due to excessive waiting times, with delays stretching as long as 15 months in some cases.<\/p>\n

Unreasonable waiting times can be grounds for a compensation claim, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has said. <\/p>\n

Under current rules, pension providers are permitted to take up to half a year to process transfer requests.<\/p>\n

Consumer group Which? expressed concern the existing system is “not fit for purpose” as pensions dashboards are being developed to help savers view all their retirement pots in one place.<\/p>\n

It anticipates this will lead to greater numbers of people actively managing their pension arrangements.<\/p>\n

John Wilson, aged 61, experienced the full extent of these delays when transferring the last of his three pension pots.<\/p>\n

The process took 15 months to complete, with Mr Wilson initially being informed the hold-up stemmed from the need to disinvest funds from his main account \u2013 a routine procedure for defined contribution pension transfers.<\/p>\n

After waiting six months, Mr Wilson grew anxious and began questioning whether he had fallen victim to fraud.<\/p>\n

\"Pensioner\"\/<\/p>\n

Pension transfer delays see one in ten savers abandon process<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

When the money finally arrived, he described feeling “huge relief”.<\/p>\n

Mr Wilson lodged a complaint and subsequently received compensation for the prolonged wait, though he felt there was “no acknowledgement” of the “discontent and distress” the situation had caused him.<\/p>\n

Another case saw a nine-month delay prompt family members to contact police over scam concerns.<\/p>\n

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is putting forward reforms to address these problems, including a requirement for data to be shared within 10 days, acceptance of digital signatures across the industry, and clear comparisons between existing and new pension schemes.<\/p>\n

\"SkyrocketingSkyrocketing state pension age – will you be affected? | GB News<\/p>\n

An FCA review discovered that over three-quarters of sampled providers completed transfers within 10 days, with the regulator stating its proposals would give consumers “clearer, more timely and more meaningful information when considering a transfer”.<\/p>\n

Jenny Ross, Which? Money editor, said: “It’s essential the industry urgently gets to grips with the issues facing pension savers and ensures a consistent service for those moving their retirement pots.”<\/p>\n

Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK at PensionBee, added: “The UK’s statutory deadline for pension transfers hasn’t changed since the nineties and is grossly outdated.”<\/p>\n

Those experiencing unreasonable delays with their pension transfer have options for seeking redress.<\/p>\n

The first step is to lodge a formal complaint directly with the pension provider or financial adviser, providing evidence such as the date of the original request and subsequent correspondence.<\/p>\n

If the response proves unsatisfactory, consumers can escalate the matter to the FOS, which handles disputes between customers and financial firms.<\/p>\n

The FOS considers unnecessarily prolonged delays that result in financial loss to be valid grounds for a complaint.<\/p>\n

Should the ombudsman rule in the consumer’s favour, it will instruct the firm to pay compensation.<\/p>\n

However, there is a time limit \u2013 complaints must be submitted within six months of receiving a final response from the provider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One in 10 people attempting to move their pension savings ultimately abandon the process due to excessive waiting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,134,44,19939,6107,131,132,12384,1958],"class_list":["post-563709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-money","tag-news","tag-pension-credit","tag-pensions","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-sgg","tag-state-pension"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}