Our services
Once you’ve read this guide, you may feel your decision is:
- Straightforward, or
- Not straightforward and more advice is required
If you know exactly what you want, typically an annuity, you can try and deal with a provider yourself. However, if you aren’t familiar with the technicalities, the paperwork, and the systems involved with annuities, nor the peculiarities of each provider (and they do have them!) you would be better advised to use our Best Annuity Quotation and Processing service, see below. This costs you no extra money as the provider pays us a small commission (usually 1%), and you get the deal no cheaper going direct.
If your situation is not so straightforward, you will need detailed advice. Typically the need for a thorough and comprehensive review arises if:
- You have a larger fund
- Your circumstances aren’t straightforward
- You have other assets or liabilities that need to be taken into account
- You don’t know what you want
To meet these different needs there are three levels of service:
OPTION 1 - Best annuity quotation and processing
You know what annuity you want (for example, whether or not you wish for spouses benefits and increases) but need to identify the best rate and then have it processed.
In this instance we need a few details, confirming your requirements, and we will advise you (usually by phone or email for speed) who is offering the best annuity, and what income they will generate. If you wish to proceed we will send you the full quotation, with instructions on how to complete the paperwork, and what to return to us.
If you proceed on this basis we don’t charge you any additional fee, and we will receive a commission from the company with whom you buy the annuity (typically 1%, though it can vary).
If you haven’t yet had details through from your existing pension fund providers on the size of a fund, their annuity offering, confirmation of your tax-free cash entitlement, and whether or not you have a guaranteed annuity option, we can gather this information for you. We will make an initial fee charge of £50, and gather all of the required information.
The minimum annuity purchase price after tax-free cash is £50,000, though for enhanced or impaired cases, it can be lower – please check with us.
OPTION 2 - Review and report on annuity choices
You know that you want a conventional or with profits annuity, but would like a review and report on your choices, taking into account your objectives and all of your circumstances.
For this tailored service the fee is £75 (though it may be more in exceptionally complex cases, but we would let you know in advance). We will also gather all of the necessary information from your existing pension fund providers. If you decide to proceed with the annuity purchase through ourselves, this fee will be refunded.
In our report to you we will set out details of any further costs. We are usually remunerated by commission paid by the provider (which means that you pay no other fees to us beyond the initial fee) as most people are comfortable with commission payments, so long as they are clear – this will be set out in illustrations from the providers.
OPTION 3 - Review and report on full range of retirement income choices
You have a large pension fund (probably in excess of £250,000), you are prepared to take a degree of risk with your retirement income to achieve flexibility and/or inheritability benefits. In this case, you need a review and report on the range of options, annuities and phased retirement and income drawdown, taking into account your objectives and all of your circumstances.
For this tailored service the fee is £150. If you decide to proceed with the product purchase (annuity, income drawdown etc) through ourselves, this fee will be refunded provided the provider pays us commission. Most people are comfortable with commission payments to us, so long as they are clear – this will be set out in illustrations from the providers.
There are fee alternatives for those that prefer this route.
Thank you for the evaluation and advice on my portfolio. What you said is very helpful and I’m grat...
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