Howden Avis 

Having used Barnett Waddingham both as a Financial Planner and a customer I continue to be impressed by both their service standards and the functionality of their SIPP.
Their response times and professionalism have been excellent in facilitating the withdrawal of cash and I am still happy to recommend them as a SIPP provider for both the accumulation and subsequent withdrawal of funds. Great company.

Excellent support with complex commercial property sale. I'd particularly mention Michael Reilly who was superb.

My husband is trying to cash in a pension as he has terminal cancer, a month on no correspondence from you guys, we call up and just get told it’s with the admin team, we were told last week we would have a decision but last Friday… it’s now Wednesday and being told still with admin team again!!
You would think that having less than a year to live would prioritise and get rushed a little quicker! Let’s hope it actually gets sorted before he’s no longer here with us so he can enjoy some of it!!

Very difficulty to contact, intermittent app availability. When available the app offers a ‘self-service’ dashboard that you can’t actually do anything with. Contradictory information given by staff. The worst pension administrators I’ve experienced. I want away from this organisation ASAP.

I asked for my Carlsberg retirement options two weeks ago, both by email and on the phone. I called today and was told this could take several weeks. After seeing other reviews, I am now extremely anxious. How long is it going to take to even get the money, if it can take several weeks just to find out what I am entitled to from my pension? Note: I asked for my retirement options a couple of years ago from the previous administrator (Aptia) and it was received almost immediately. At the time, I decided to wait a little longer before taking my pension. How I wish that I hadn't waited now.

Edit: I have now received the information, and in the letter they said they have met their 14 working days timeframe. Why was I told it could be SEVERAL WEEKS before it would be sent to me, instead of 14 working days, when I called? I would have been happy with that. More transparency is needed re timeframes on the online accounts and more training re this for their representatives.

Great service with the ability to speak to a dedicated support contact made the process much easier and their knowledge was great and supported me all the way through the transfer

Esperienza negativa con Howden in qualità di broker e con UnipolSai per la gestione di un sinistro.

A fronte di un contatto di minima entità, privo di danni evidenti, non è stato sottoscritto alcun modulo di constatazione amichevole né è stata definita una ricostruzione congiunta dell’evento, anche in considerazione del fatto che la controparte si è allontanata senza formalizzare alcunché.

Nonostante ciò, è stata attribuita una responsabilità a mio carico con conseguente applicazione del malus e incremento del premio.

La valutazione risulta basata su elementi unilaterali, in assenza di una verifica tecnica condivisa e senza un effettivo contraddittorio. La gestione è stata integralmente demandata a dinamiche interne tra compagnie, con un impatto diretto sul cliente finale ma senza un adeguato livello di trasparenza.

Particolarmente rilevante è l’assenza di un presidio effettivo lato broker: nessun aggiornamento durante la gestione della pratica, nessuna indicazione sulle possibili azioni a tutela della posizione dell’assicurato, nessuna attività concreta di rappresentanza degli interessi del cliente.

Ne deriva un modello in cui decisioni con impatti economici significativi vengono assunte senza un coinvolgimento reale dell’assicurato e senza strumenti effettivi di interlocuzione.

Un’impostazione che, pur formalmente conforme ai meccanismi di sistema, evidenzia una carenza sostanziale nella tutela del cliente finale.

Alla luce di quanto sopra, ho ritenuto opportuno orientarmi verso una diversa soluzione assicurativa.

My company pension has recently become administered by BW, what a joke!
I have been in contact (web mails, emails and phone calls) since the end of January 2026 and still no retirement options pack is available.
Are newly retired persons supposed to make other arrangements for their income? I paid into the Carlsberg scheme and BW are not enabling me to draw on my funds.
Shameful delays and lack of response.

Thanks for the response here BW. I emailed as you suggested on 14th. 24hrs later no response, but let's see tomorrow.

Update 1st May 2026.
BW contacted me 16/04/26 and advised I'd receive my pension details within 5 days or notice of a delay. Guess what, I received notice of a delay on 24/4/26. I responded on the same day offering details of the quote I'd received in October 2025 but no response to that.
So, today I chase again and perhaps I'll be advised of further delays. Let's see.

6/5/26 A frustrated phone call left to voicemail as no information had been received.
Fair play, BW called me later that day and said I'd get all offer details this week....... I did'nt.
I did receive my offer by email and hard copy on the same day, 11th. GREAT.
Completing the forms and uploading all documents to the Clarity website has been extremely easy.
The forms are colour coded making the process very simple to keep track of, we are talking of a package of around 20 pages so great idea BW.
Time to add another star I think.
Let's see how promptly the payments materialise, BW state one month from submission.

At last. 2nd week of June and my pension is being paid.
Thank you BW for getting there in the end.
I believe that the change of administration of my Carlsberg pension to BW was a significant factor of my negative experience and I feel that the issues I encountered are being resolved.
Hopefully future claimants will have a much easier transition to their pension pot.

Good quick helpful people

Apparently I was entitled to receive a cash payment from my company pension back in February,have heard nothing since I returned the paperwork in December,phoned them twice which was a waste of time as I couldn't get any information.Bad business if you
ask me!!

Asked for pension payment all went well cash arrived on time To me moved on

Barnett-Waddingham responded quickly to my request and subsequently to my detailed instructions. They kept me informed throughout the process and completed the assignment more quickly than expected.

After speaking to Matt as I requested funds of
£10000 paid to me after tax he sent me the withdrawal form to fill in which I did I put to receive £10000 gross which I assumed was the correct figure I would receive but after your payment today I see you have deducted tax from the £10000 leaving £8000 which is not what we spoke about now I have to reapply for the rest of the funds
By the time I receive this it will be in the wrong tax year for me
Thanks Paul

Il problema è che non si può lasciare mezza stella, altrimenti l'avrei fatto.
Definire imbarazzante il loro lavoro è fargli un complimento.
Purtroppo l'azienda per cui lavoro ha passato a loro l'assicurazione sanitaria e l'esperienza è terribile.
Non rispondono alle mail, non danno conferme della ricezione di documenti o richieste se non dopo essere sollecitati telefonicamente, i rimborsi delle spese sostenute arrivano ben oltre i due mesi dall'aver inviato le fatture.
Quando solleciti non danno risposte costruttive ma parlano di problemi in modo generico senza proporre soluzioni concrete.

Communication is so much easier when you can talk to the same person ,in my case Matthew Lloyd.
Matthew explained the options in the written pack i received in a way that was easy to understand.
It helped me make my decision

Horrendous, incompetent and ridiculous, are three words to describe this company and its customer service:
Contradicting information between staff, relentless forms that can only be posted and disappear, weeks/months between communication and promises that are constantly broken.
It’s shameful that at a time of grieving you have to endure this behaviour. Six months in and it’s still not solved, with such a straightforward transaction. Ironically the complicated probate was dealt with 3 months ago!

Bereavement case where they have failed to pay out a death grant, holding up finalising a deceased members estate. They have had forms through their portal for three weeks having my bank details. When i chased it last Friday, they said it was in their Queue for checking and payment made to my bank account early the next week. A week later & this has still not been received .
This is unacceptable. I am a retired pension administrator myself & wouldn't dream of not keeping my promises. They have no formal complaints email either which they should have. This needs to be set up.

This has now been resolved. Thank you.

Michael Reilly was really helpful, I wont go into the detail of the problem, but Michael used his intelligence to find a quick and satisfactory solution. He is a lovely chap and a credit to BW!

Still waiting for a reply to my queries submitted Jan 12 2026 via your pension management site. I submitted a previous negative review on Trustpilot 15 Feb. You replied immediately to that and said to email you. I emailed you 16 Feb. No response to that either. Name, scheme number and other details provided. Looks like you are holding onto money.

It is been Nearly a Year since Mark Pipe was contacted about the death of my husband. His Expression of Wishes clearly stated me as the beneficiary, since 2017.
BW has had little contact with me; and did not assign a neutral successor trustee for my husband. This has been a difficult and stressful time. BW are allowing a short-term Ex-wife to steer things, with a Conflict of interest.
Resolution would be appreciated! I’m still waiting over another week for Mark Pipe to get back to me.