Advisers, are you having trouble with pension switches?

It’s a very mixed bag. Some pension switches are actioned surprisingly quickly, as many providers now use the Origo electronic transfer system, which allows data to move securely and efficiently between providers.

But others can still drag on for weeks — or even longer — particularly with older or legacy schemes that don’t use Origo and still rely on manual processes.

Delays cause frustration for clients, create extra admin for advisers chasing progress updates, and risk undermining confidence in the advice process. In 2025, it really shouldn’t be taking this long to move someone’s pension.

Pensions are a cornerstone of people’s financial futures, so long delays in transfers can cause real anxiety, particularly for those with large sums of money. Understandably some clients lose patience when their money seems to disappear into a black hole which can put strain on the client relationship. Delays also mean clients may miss out on valuable investment returns as their funds sit in poor-performing holdings or remain stuck in cash mid-transfer, which is clearly a bad outcome for investors. From an adviser’s perspective, our admininstrators often spend hours of unbillable time chasing providers for updates, which is incredibly frustrating. It leaves advisery firms often bogged down in red tape instead of focusing on meaningful financial planning for clients.

This is quite sporadic in our experience. There doesn't seem to be any consistency around how quickly (or not!) a transfer completes.

More and more providers now transfer through systems like Origo which makes the process fairly pain-free.

There was a period a while back where many ceding schemes were mandating clients to have a meeting with MoneyHelper before agreeing to switch their pensions, even where regulated advice was being taken. Thankfully it's been a while since we've had a client need to do this.

A bigger frustration is how difficult, and how long it takes, to get the necessary information from a ceding scheme. This often takes weeks of back and forth, where inconsistent information is received, or even where providers claim not to have a client's information at all, only to then concede that they do!

The problem is inconsistency. Sometimes the simplest of transfers take ages and others fly through in a matter of days. It creates uncertainty for clients and makes it difficult for us to manage expectations. Then you have the over zealous interpretation of pension scam guidance where transfers can be flagged for potentially of investing overseas. There's a world of difference between an Irish domiciled fund and a widget fund set up in a country you've never heard of, yet it can cause huge delays for clients. I'm all for protecting clients but unnecessarily taking up Pension Wise appointments makes it more difficult for those that really need the service.