Aviva still hasn’t sent my forms

Friends Life sent me a valuation of my multipension personal plan, a retirement annuity contract.

The plan started in 1985 with a maturity date in 2002, my 60th birthday. As I was still working I had opted to defer any payments until a later date.

Friends Life then merged into the Aviva brand. Recently I advised that I would opt to take a tax-free lump sum of £1,251 and a remaining pension of £334 per annum.

I enclosed scanned copies of my passport and driving licence and details of my current bank account.

In a telephone conversation I was informed that forms needed completing and would be sent out in about 10 working days.

They didn’t come and I was advised that the change from Friends Life had led to different procedures that had contributed to the delay.

Despite asking several times, with 10 working days long since passed, the forms have still not been issued.

Please can you get this expedited for me. MS, GLOS

Meanwhile, your 75th birthday came and went and you worried that you would not get the pension and lump sum.

It turns out that, although Aviva had attempted to send the forms to you several times by post, there had been a problem with an IT system, which meant the documents had not actually been sent. The problem has been fixed since then.

Only further to my involvement were the forms emailed to you so you were able to sign and return them. The pension was then paid in line with your instructions.

Friends Life promised £500 for goodwill, which you decided to give to charity. It took further pressing from me for this to be paid more than a month later to the Salvation Army, your chosen charity. Gift-aided, your full

donation comes to £625.

A spokesman for Aviva said: “We’re sincerely sorry for the delay in sending Mr S the necessary forms needed to set up his pension with us.”

Investment Isa, which I accessed online, began to show widely varying amounts. Sometime after that I found I was unable to access the cash manager facility for the account.

I complained and subsequently emailed Barclays Stockbrokers via its secure messaging.

Later, wishing to simplify things for my wife’s executor, I visited Barclays and opened an Instant Cash Isa in my wife’s name. I asked to transfer the six-figure sum from the stocks and shares Isa into it.

Now I find the new cash Isa

has a £0.00 balance and it’s all very worrying. GA, HERTS

You emailed the bank and were told this would be sorted out. Nothing happened and you emailed again.

Then you phoned and were again told things would be resolved. Again they weren’t.

Meanwhile, a pending fee of £204.06 needed paying. You found you couldn’t move money into the account using your debit card online.

This was all happening

while Barclays Stockbrokers was being rebranded as Barclays Smart Investor. The cash manager function you had used to move money from your wife’s account did not exist on the new platform.

Moreover, after the migration you are no longer permitted to transact for your wife online, only on the telephone. This is why you couldn’t pay the fee.

My involvement led to the cash Isa issue being escalated and the money being correctly transferred. Barclays has sent you a cheque for £100 and a

hamper, which you have accepted.

A Barclays spokesman said: “We sincerely apologise to Mr A for the delay in completing his request to transfer his wife’s investment Isa to a cash Isa.

“It does not reflect the level of service he should rightly expect from us.”