Simple Financial Advice Reviews 7

Mark Thewlis and his team did a great job in helping me transfer my defined contribution company pension pot to a new platform. Part of my pot had a Guaranteed Minimum Pension, the information I received from the pension administrator was unclear and confusing . Mark wrote a detailed report explaining the GMP and offered sound advice on how to proceed. He also wrote a report clearly explaining the various options for my pot. My wife and I had several phone calls with Mark going through the various options, and we are both very happy with the end result. His team were very helpful in getting all the forms completed and in dealing with my, very slow, Pension Administrator. Above all, the fee charged was very reasonable and significantly cheaper than the major competitors.

I think it is just another company trying to just make money off of peoples troubles. The ads that come in the mail pre approved for a debt consoldation loan are enormus and mostly false. The make you fill the application to deny the loan and offer a debt restructure which they make a fee on. Now, maybe that can help people but just BE HONEST. The fact that I just wanted to consolidate to make it easier, which i explained would be a financial disister for me since I was not late on my accounts. Debt restructer destroys your credit and the company "for Profit". Another Company in the capitalist society preying on people in trouble.

The Simple Financial Advice website and Terms of Business state (my emphasis):

‘The personalised retirement plan will look in detail at your income needs in retirement. The plan will review how best to satisfy these income requirements from your personal and company pension arrangements, state pension, SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS and any other sources of income.’

The charges are listed as:

‘Retirement Income Planning Report: £500 fixed fee.
Implementation of Retirement Income Planning Report: £3,500 fixed fee…’

I understood this to mean that I would be charged a fixed fee of £4,000 for advice on my pensions, savings and investments. I wrote to request an appointment with their pension and tax specialist (MT) as he appeared to be their most well qualified adviser. I was informed that I could not speak to him as I did not have a final salary pension but a telephone call was arranged with their managing director instead.

After I had provided brief details of my finances, I was told that there would be an additional charge of around £1,500 to provide advice on my investments.

The company website states (my emphasis):

‘Ongoing service
Please note, it is NOT mandatory that you take this service. It is entirely your choice whether you access our ongoing services…’

‘How much does this service cost?
One annual fee of £3,000.’

I was told that the insurance company used does not deal directly with consumers. As a result, I would have to pay £500 per annum (p.a.) to retain any financial products he arranged i.e. he wanted £500 each year for doing no additional work.

The Financial Service Register shows that the firm has traded under eight previous names. This seems rather strange so I asked for an explanation but he was unable to recall all the previous names or why they had been changed.

By the end of the telephone call I had lost all trust in the adviser and the company.

Later, on the same day, I received an email with an invoice for £500 to cover the initial report and a copy of their Terms of Business for me to sign and return. I disregarded this email but received a reminder five days later.

The email and Terms of Business made no mention of the additional £1,500 fee nor the compulsory ongoing charge of £500 p.a. so I requested written confirmation which I later received. Their reply states:

‘With regard to the ongoing fee you have the choice of paying the ongoing advisor fee of £3k p.a. if you feel that is appropriate or the maintenance fee of £500 p.a.’

I wrote to explain that there appeared to be a discrepancy between the charges published on their website and their actual charges. I received no reply so I emailed a reminder thirteen days later and obtained the following response:

‘… I take exception to your comment that our fees are based on individual’s wealth…’
‘…You are the first enquiry who has ever questioned our approach and therefore I would suggest that you seek advice elsewhere.’

No explanation was offered for the discrepancy in the ongoing charge. It would be helpful to others if the company website and Terms of Business were updated to show that the published fees do not include investment advice and that there is a minimum mandatory ongoing charge of £500 p.a. To ensure that the fees are completely transparent the amended Terms of Business should be made available to download from their website.

A thorough and consice review of what was requested. An excellent and clear report to ensure the correct decisions were made. Everything was done efficiently and effectively. A pleasure to deal with.

Simple Finance provided me with excellent service. They analysed my current financial situation and future needs before stepping me through my pension options and then arranged the consolidation of my pots into a single plan. Their charges were clearly stated up front and they kept me updated as the process progressed.

Excellent service with real attention to customer needs. I really recommend Simple FA

Very knowledgeable and managed the transition of my DB pension funds to better suit my requirements, effectively and efficiently.