How many of you living over here have pensions with the Prudential ? I thought I had better inform you that you are going to find It very difficult to get your money. I have some cash in this company, not much because I stopped paying in years ago. I have applied for the lump sum and they seemed keen to help me at first but still tried to talk me out of pulling funds out before retirement, now I know why !
they tell me they are not able to transfer funds from the UK to banks in any other country, we all know that’s BS, then they send form after form, each time telling me it’s the last one, then they ask for 2 forms of ID, a passport and a utility bill, being so mad I copied the passport, the Verizon bill and included my driving licence and green card, I called again on Wednesday and was told they had received everything and it was ok, Thursday I get another call from them telling me the Verizon bill was not accepted. I asked how they can even doubt my ID or address when they send me constant letters etc to this address and still ask for proof of address ? I was told there is nothing they can do until I send them more ID, I told them this is just an excuse to not pay out. Even if they do it will have to be a cheque which have quite a large percentage taken out in exchange of funds and conversion.
Just remember that if you have a pension with them you will get a monthly cheque with about 25% of it taken out, that’s if you actually get any of your pension.
In order to have a UK bank account you now need a perminant UK address, HSBC closed my account many years ago. It is easy to transfer funds from the UK to a US bank, my point is that Prudential don’t want to transfer funds, they don’t want to pay out any money to anyone living outside the UK’s a way of making more profit. People invest in the company to save for their retirement and move abroad, when they eventually retire they will find the Prudential company will do anything they can to stall or prevent paying up. The charges for cashing a UK cheque are outrageous to say the least, so if you keep your pension with them when it comes to your monthly pension payments even if they eventually start to pay up what they owe your pension will be greatly reduced. I cashed in a pension with Friends life last year and got no problems, they transferred the funds within days, none of the stalling BS, the prudential are just working a scam to keep your money and deny payments.
If you live outside the UK and have policies with them you need to try and cash them in ASAP.
Mobile phone bills have never been acceptable as proof of address, I think you’ll find it’s simply because large financial companies have strict compliance rules and so until all the boxes are checked (documents in your case) they won’t do anything. You are right in that by writing to your address they have to be confident that is your address but systems are backwards, it’s a bit like banks and outgoing calls, some will call you on the number you provided but ask security questions to prove it’s you, others wont because, as you say, it’s a number you provided in the first place. The reason for stalling is not likely to be anything as simple as trying to make more money off your investment, it’s just obstructive procedures and inflexibility.
Hey Pat, i get a monthly check from Zurich I take into the bank to deposit and I think I lose roughly 6/7 cents on the dollar, but my other UK private pension is paid quarterly direct into back all they needed was account # , routing # and address of the bank… simples, hope this helps also as an after thought the pru operate over here in the US.
They told me they could only pay directly into a UK account or issue a cheque, I requested the cheque, I just soke to them again and got the expected answer “We have sent you concerns to our investigation dept”
In other words ‘We are trying to string it out even longer’ LOL I told the lady that I have reported the company to the UK ombudsman and she was slightly taken aback, I got a stunned silence for a while
The whole point is, why the hell don’t they tell me what is needed when they first contact me instead of all these letters and phone calls to delay payment ?
I never got this problem with Friends life who transferred my funds (something the pru say can’t be done) within days. Even the HMRC pensions are electronic transfer.
ROG:
Many pension providers ask which UK bank account you want the money sending to and all they need is the sort code and account number
Does the pru ask you that and do you have a UK based family member with such ■■
They asked and I told them I don’t have a UK account anymore. Money can be transfered from UK banks to US banks anytime, I have had it done countless times.
Pat , a cheque ain,t too bad as u score on the exchange rate, my pension in the UK would be around 700 but over here its near 1100. by taking a chequeu can bank it then set up an American one
flyer747:
Pat , a cheque ain,t too bad as u score on the exchange rate, my pension in the UK would be around 700 but over here its near 1100. by taking a chequeu can bank it then set up an American one
The banks here, mine in particular charge quite a bit for clearing UK cheques and take 3 f**kin weeks to do it LOL
I also spoke with the Prudential once again on Tuesday, they are considering if they should accept the Verizon bill ? How totally stupid and so obviously stalling is that ? I advised them that I had submitted a complaint to the ombudsman, they were not amused
More lies … Two weeks ago during a phone call I was promised my cheque had been mailed on the 2nd, two days later I received a letter concerning my complaint, it was mailed on the 2nd 13 days later the cheque still has not arrived.
Don’t ever trust the Pru
Latest update…
Cheque arrives exactly 15 days after the date they said it was posted as they said it would, there was no post mark on the envelope but get this, a second smaller cheque fromthem arrived the day after that took … you guessed it, 5 working days
Got a letter from the Pru yesterday, they said sorry and it seems that the payment had been delayed intentionally, that my proof of ID was in order and the particular manager had been reported and the smaller cheque was by way of compensation.
