Howden Avis 

This company is dealing with pensioners of the National Grid scheme. In their wisdom, or lack of, they have decided to change identity checks which worked very well with the previous administrators. Now pensioners, most must be 70 years plus have to jump through hoops juggling passports and iPhones just to benefit the company. A very misjudged change from an insensitive company

I have had an exceptional experience with Barnett Waddingham , I cannot speak highly enough and in particular Peter Gage .

I would highly recommend Barnett Waddingham , and would like to thank them for their willingness to help and their professionalism .

In my case I was a former client my relationship with them ended in 2008 and in spite of the fact that they had ceased to earn any fees from me they spent time and effort to solve a problem and without them helping me my pension would have been lost in a black whole by the current provider of that pension .

Once again I cannot speak highly enough of Barnett Waddingham .

I would give this company a zero rating if I could. Nobody has called me back, the website contact form appears to work. Conformation email says (thank you we will get back to you asap). Nobody answers the telephone, no one answers email, Awful company, the financial Ombudsman and FCA needs to investigate as soon as possible. Quite clearly they are keeping peoples money.
Can’t get the money due from my pension. They don’t want to pay out, they tell me that I have a pension from the navy which I may or may not qualify for till I'm 60 years old so they are dragging there heels in refusing to pay out. Hard to get to speak to anyone, often it feels like they’ve put the phone down.
Unprofessional and seemingly rather dodgy.
I feel that this company needs further investigation

In my experience the only thing the company have ever done efficiently and on time is to collect its fees. I've now left them

The updates on upcoming changes were explained well, with projections of what is likely to come in soon and where legislative changes are headed. The knowledge of the team is great and the webinar has a great amount of inclusiveness for all attendees.

Terrible experience please, please do not deal with this company or any company that uses them as a 3rd party ie NFU. There is no transparency and the company has no interest in following expression of wishes re pension payout. This company is your worst nightmare when dealing with a death of loved one

I've had a great experience with BW. Their team are consistently helpful and pleasant to work with, with a great level of knowledge and obvious care in seeing to all needs. Thank you.

Have found everything about dealing with this company professional, efficient and communicative. Thank you.

I am in a company pension which is managed by this company, I phoned and asked for a pension forecast six months ago, I have called on many times to check on why it was taking so long, each time I have been told it was being dealt with and would be with me within a week or two, I am still waiting for the forecast even though the pension matures in less than 3 weeks, how am I meant to work out my finances to whether I can afford to retire or not?? This company offer a very poor service and nobody seems accountable .

VERY expensive - for example they want £255 plus VAT to make a simple cash transfer to another SIPP provider. They are also not particularly fast for example their response to a simple email contains the following "In normal circumstances we aim to turnaround all enquiries within 5 working days, but right now we are not meeting this turnaround time."

BW administer the pension from a company I worked with 17 years ago. I have had great service from them since they took over admin a few years back.

My pension was deferred but they provided all information to access the account to track fund performances and to provide annual statements etc.

I decided to access my pension in July and via the account portal, I raised a query requesting a quote. One week later my quote arrived with a series of forms and contact details to discuss other options.

I signed the forms and returned. I then received a letter stating all forms were complete and it would take a few weeks to de-invest my funds. The pension would be paid from mid August and the tax free lump sum would be paid as well. They did say that 1st payment maybe later than normal payment date but if late payment would be backdated to stated date.

Shortly after mid August my lump sum was paid and a pay slip issued to confirm my monthly pension including back dated amount as well. There was further note stating tax code was an emergency code but this would be resolved and balanced by September.

All payments were made and in September HRMC advised on new tax code. The September pension payment had new tax code applied and payment was balanced out.

Since then I have received a paper copy of payslip by post every month and also electronically in my account portal. All payments on time.

Great service and communications through out the whole process. Long may this continue. Thank you.

I have had the misfortune to have my pension administered by BW. Their service is appalling and for this they charge top dollar. I requested a draw down from my pension in Feb 23 and it finally got paid to me in April , IN THE NEXT TAX YEAR. I am now in the process of changing my pension admin company and SO FAR it has taken 4 months although not all of the delay is of BW's making. The only person who gets things done and keeps me informed is Suki Lally who is a crisis manager. Thanks Suki.

I would give this company zero if I could. Nobody has called me back, Nobody answers the telephone. Awful company, needs investigation as soon as possible. Quite clearly they are keeping peoples money.

Stay away, genuinely awful company, they did nothing but extract fees and commission. my SIPP was with them until recently and it’s a huge relief to get away from them

3 months been trying to get my pension every time phone be a few weeks last effort oops we forget to adk trustees something so more wait a joke

Impossible to get a CETV (Cash equivalent transfer value) out of this company since ConocoPhillips transferred their pension scheme from Capita to Barnett Waddingham. I've been trying for 7 weeks to obtain a simple CETV and been promised over half a dozen dates that have all come and gone. My latest call today resulted in them telling me they are training up additional people to deal with demand, but they refused to give me any more dates as to when I may obtain a CETV. I honestly don't think they are fit for purpose and would urge ConocoPhillips to reconsider another supplier or switch back to Capita who used to provide a figure within a fortnight

Very slow taking months was told that money would be on bank within 5 days still waiting and its hard to talk to someone.

I started to plan my early retirement due to illness in February and contacted my 3 pension companies to request a forecast and documentation to allow me to retire in august, I received 2 forecasts within 3 days, but I spent the next 3 months constantly ringing BW in Leeds, I used the online form but never got a reply, but after excuse after excuse I eventually got the projection, I accepted All 3 and retired on august the ninth, on that day I received my lump sums off 2 funds, I left things for 2 days and contacted BW, they said it would be paid by weekend, no money showed up, then they said they had forgotten about my AVC’s, they then requested it by post? Two weeks later my money was in the bank. I have 4/9/23 rang asking where my pension is, to be told they sent me a letter on 31/08/23 telling me they missed me off the payroll and I will receive it on the 01/10/23 back dated to 09/08/23.
I have never dealt with so much incompetence in my working life, I have been lied to, misled by this company, they are so unemotional, they just do not care. How my ex employee kenhar allow BW to manage their pension funds is beyond belief! They couldn’t run a bath!

This pension company is awful. I have emailed them a number of times previously to ask about a deferred pension they are now managing. If they get back to you it takes weeks and weeks and then don’t answer the question asked. My deferred pension has been managed by a number of companies over the years but these are the worst. You have to use an online form to contact them so you have no email trail of your contact with them other than notification you have contacted them, deliberate i’m sure. I will be making my feelings known to the pension trustees if this is possible. They need to sort things out with this company ASAP

Shocking service from the pension department. Spoke so quick I could hardly understand him and then hung up. I waited ages for them to answer the call and was then on hold for 20min with some noise that they would call music. I needed advice and recieved none at all despite ringing several times hopjng it was only 1 dreadful employyee but alas its across the board. They have no interest in customers at all. I did not choose this company if you do avoid them.