I wish to transfer my pension – why has it taken a yr? CRANE ON THE CASE

I’ve been trying to move my work pension, which currently sits at about £19,750, from Lifesight to Nest since August 2023, following a change in employer.

They are both pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s the other’s fault, leaving me completely stuck in limbo.

I’ve raised complaints and they have gone nowhere. 

Both schemes claim the other one isn’t sending the correct documentation. Can you help me? J.D, Nottingham

Helen Crane of This is Money replies: What a pensions pickle. Transferring a pot from one provider to another should take weeks, not months – and certainly not the best part of a year. 

You have done your part, uploading all the documents promptly and responding quickly to requests.

But sadly you have found yourself caught in the middle of a petty blame game between the two providers, Lifesight and Nest. 

Both say they are waiting on documents from the other before they can go any further, and both insist that they have provided the documents the other one is waiting for. What a mess. 

But before I get in to that, I’ll explain why someone might transfer their work pension. 

You don’t want me to name the firms you worked for as this may identify you, so I will call them Company A and Company B.

When you were at Company A the pension was provided by Lifesight, but on moving to Company B you were signed up to a Nest scheme.

You wanted to move the pension you’d built up at Company A, into your new pot with Company B. 

There are a few sensible reasons why someone might want to do that, though they need to check carefully whether it is the right thing for them.

Now people are automatically enrolled into a pension when they start a new job, most accumulate a handful of pots from different jobs throughout their lives.

It can be tricky to keep track of all your pensions and how they are doing, especially if you’ve changed jobs many times. Combining them can make this easier.

Savers can do this by transferring their old work pension into their new one when they change jobs, as you are doing, or by putting them all in to a separate, private pension.

This is now easier than ever as there are services that will let you combine and manage your pots online.

Second, when you move jobs, your new workplace pension might offer a better deal.

It might have cheaper fees and charges than your old one, meaning you get to keep more of your pension savings, or it might have more flexible rules surrounding what money can be withdrawn, and when.

However, the new pension may offer a worse deal in which case it probably makes sense to stick with separate pots. Our guide to merging pensions can come in handy here.

When you got in touch with me, you were eight months in to your transfer trauma.

You had raised complaints with both Lifesight and Nest, but both persisted in their attempts to push the blame on to the other and your money was still not on the move.

Your most recent email from Nest said: ‘We’re still awaiting for the transfer related information from Lifesight. We’ve sent a letter to them on 7 March 2024 for the pending requirements, still we haven’t received any response.’

However, Lifesight told you at the same time: ‘Please note that we are awaiting for bank details from the receiving scheme for which we already chased on 6 March 2024. Upon receipt of the pending information we will be able to proceed with your request.’

The passive aggressive air of the emails was so thick you could cut it with a knife.  

Your communications for the past eight months had been much the same, and you were at the end of your tether.

I contacted the firms to ask them to untangle this mess and get your transfer moving.

Nest said it transfers 13,000 pensions in and out each month and the average time it takes to transfer a pension was 16.5 days. You were at eighteen times that and counting. 

It blamed the delay in part on the fact Lifesight does not use Origo, an electronic pension transfer platform used by many firms. This meant the transfer had to be done manually.

Nest also said there were occasions where Lifesight sent it attachments that were password protected, or documents that did not include your Nest ID. 

It said this meant they could not be linked with your account. I am not an expert, but it seems to me that the puzzle pieces could have been put together with a bit of common sense. 

After I got in touch, though, Nest managed to get the information together. It sent the necessary bank details to Lifesight by special delivery, as they cannot be emailed. 

Robin Lewis, Nest’s head of scheme operations, said: ‘We’re sorry to hear of the delays to [this customer’s] transfer.

‘At Nest, ensuring transfers are both efficient and robust is something we prioritise and we’re always looking at ways to improve our transfer process.

‘New regulations, which came into force in December 2021, require additional checks to be undertaken when completing a pension transfer. This is an important safeguard to help protect people and their retirement savings from pension scams.’

A few days later, Lifesight’s pension scheme administrator, WTW, got in touch to say it received the bank details – and your pension had finally been transferred. 

A spokesman for WTW said: ‘We always try to complete pension scheme members’ transfers as quickly and efficiently as possible.

‘On this occasion there were some delays between us and the receiving scheme, which we have now resolved. 

‘We have apologised to the member and offered compensation for the inconvenience, as a goodwill gesture, which has been accepted.’

It seems neither Lifesight nor Nest is prepared to take the rap, which is disappointing – and I wonder how long you would have been left waiting if I had not got involved. 

At least your pension palaver has now come to a conclusion.