Pru UK has been forced to apologise to a client after it made an error processing his drawdown request for the second time.
The company, which is part of M&G plc, has apologised to the client and is currently investigating what went wrong and has agreed to pay redress.
The trouble started in April 2023 when the client, Ian Wilson, asked his financial adviser to obtain forms from Pru so that he could access his pension fund.
This was so he and his wife could go on holiday after a bout of illness.
Due to new levels of security introduced by Pru, Wilson did not receive the forms for several weeks. When they did arrive, they were sent to Pru on May 23 with a cover letter explaining the background about the illness and requesting a speedy resolution.
Wilson then received two identical illustrations (other than the reference numbers) acknowledging the withdrawal of £15,000 and stating the estimated cash sum payment.
On June 5, £3750 was paid into Wilson’s account.
Therefore, Pru had only paid the tax-free allowance, but had withheld the remainder of the money and reinvested it.
His adviser reported the problem to Pru but according to Wilson he had trouble getting through and Wilson himself had trouble getting a response when he wrote to complain.
Pru told FTAdviser that this was an isolated incident which is in the process of being investigated fully, and the firm is in touch directly with Mr Wilson to resolve.
A spokesperson from Pru said: “We apologise for the error made in processing Mr Wilson’s drawdown request.
“We’re investigating fully what has happened and can confirm that Mr Wilson will receive his funds on 9 June.
“We’ll also make appropriate redress for the distress and inconvenience caused, as well as paying interest to cover the delay in him receiving his funds.”
Wilson confirmed that he received his money on June 9.
This is not the first time that Wilson has had issues with Pru however.
FTAdviser reported back in May 2022 that Pru accidentally paid out the entirety of Wilson’s pension pot after only the lump sum amount was requested.
At the time Wilson told FTAdviser how he wanted to draw £15,000 from his pot before the 2022-23 tax year started and use the funds to complete some building work.
But when Wilson checked his bank account he saw there was a pending payment of £84,000 rather than the amount he had requested.
He complained to Pru and they carried out an investigation into what happened.
amy.austin@ft.com
