Aegon Uk

Read how a freelancer saved for a pension
- Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) - Basic-rate and higher-rate payers - Tax-efficient pension schemes
... https://www.aegon.co.uk/…/how_a_freelan cershoredupherfuture…
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Here are 9 tips to boost your personal finances from Isas to reclaiming money from forgotten accounts.
https://www.aegon.co.uk/…/nine_tips_to_ boostyourpersonalfin…

Advisers, view our insights in #FreshPerspectives covering
• Tax and Technical • Investments • Regulatory... • Workplace • Protection • Business Support
https://www.aegon.co.uk/advisers/fresh-pe rspectives.html
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Employers, check out our NEW workplace #pension video.
Learn about savings and investing.
#pensions #workplacepension #retriement #pensionscheme
... https://vimeo.com/302240511
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Check out the Vault. Advisers, this is your one-stop-shop for all the support material you'll need to help you in the business protection market. http://bit.ly/2qNv2Pw

Employers, check out our NEW workplace #pension video.
Learn about savings and investing.
#pensions #workplacepension #retriement #pensionscheme http://bit.ly/2Hklzdt

If you have just started a #pension - retirement may seem a long way off, it’s never too early to start saving. Watch our video to show you how getting started early will give you the best chance of having the lifestyle you’d want.
https://vimeo.com/302240511

When the time comes, do you wish to gradually transition into retirement?
Our research has found:
• Half of over 50s dismiss traditional retirement journey wanting to ease themselves into retirement
... • 70% want to cut down the number of days they work
• 44% want to reduce the number hours they worked
Read the full article and insights here.
https://www.aegon.co.uk/…/half_of_uk_wo rkers50shuncliffedge…
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Merry Christmas.
If you need to contact us over the festive season, our opening hours are as below.
We’ll be back to help with your queries on January 3rd 2019.

What's your financial wellbeing score? Find out in our quiz! #financialwellbeing @CEBR_uk http://bit.ly/2PoDnbf

Our Chief Distribution Officer Ronnie Taylor, explores the three key areas of financial wellbeing. View them here. https://vimeo.com/294155781

What's your financial wellbeing score? Find out in our quiz! #financialwellbeing http://bit.ly/2PoDnbf

Five reasons to make a will:
1. Control 2. Having children 3. Cohabitating... 4. Buying or owning a property 5. Getting married or divorced
Read the full article here. http://bit.ly/2PRle5i #financialwellbeing
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Advisers, check out our NEW Business protection toolkit. Information, support and guidance to help you tap into this market. #businessprotection http://bit.ly/2qNv2Pw

It's #TalkMoney week and we would like to highlight 5 reasons why your clients should make a will. https://www.aegon.co.uk/…/five_reasons_ whyyourclientsshould…

Employers, when talking to your employees about their finances, do you know how much information you're allowed to share? #financialwellbeing http://bit.ly/2Pbo4Sm

We asked employers what they thought were the causes of of poor financial wellbeing in the workplace, and here was their thoughts #FinancialWellbeing http://bit.ly/2Pbo4Sm

Employers, are you aware of the rules and regulations around the level of financial information you can share with your employees? #financialwellbeing http://bit.ly/2Pbo4Sm

disgusting service, my father has dementia and usually receives a payment every year on the same date which he needs to pay for his care and rent, the payment has not been received, i called to ask that they fast track my Power of attorney as which i had to send the original and by special delivery, my father is facing eviction and Aegon are refusing to try and register the P.O.A any faster or discuss why his annuity has not been paid this year, absolutely no compassion from this company

Unfortunately, as with many other poor souls we have had the same trouble attempting to obtain our investments.



My late mother placed investments with AEGON. When we attempted to claim her investments as part of her estate, you are then passed from pillar to post and then the customer services lie to you. After obtaining probate, my sister being the executor, we contacted AEGON and sent the original Death Certificate and Grant of Probate along with details of where the funds should be paid to. We received the original documents back relatively quickly along with a letter stating they had noted the documents and were processing the application. After other investments from other firms had been received we contacted AEGON to ask why we had not received our funds from them, we were bounced around to different departments and placed on hold for three quarters of an hour before they came back with various excuses such as they were updating records and having problems since a recent merger in May 2018. We were transferred to head office who then told us they had not received the documents although we had their letter confirming receipt. They then stated it had been sent to the wrong office and we would have to send the original documentation again, although their bereavement pack disputed this claim. Sadly, it looks like we will have the same problems obtaining our money and other beneficiaries such as my late mother’s grandchildren and charities will have to wait for their money. We will have to see if escalating this issue to the FCA and the Financial Ombudsmen will resolve the issue and possibly start a petition to have their status investigated after such poor dealings and atrocious reviews and possibly revoked with the FCA.



It is such a shame that this company deliberately make a difficult time substantially worse. I for one would never have any dealings with this company after this issue is resolved and from my experiences, I would suggest they should be avoided at all costs.They either have completely incompetent staff in all departments which certainly doesn't bode well or far worse their staff have been directed to fob people off with excuses for as long as possible and to make acquisition of invested funds almost impossible to obtain..

Trying to withdraw funds from my Isa.

What a terrible experience I am having.

A week down the line and now they are saying I havn’t sent a withdrawal form.this was sent in last week with other stuff.

Had emails from 3 different people, nobody knows what anyone else is doing.

Stick with a good fund manager like Invesco or Jupiter, not these cowboys

This Company is an absolute disgrace. Completely inept. They make a dogs dinner of your investments and when you get so frustrated because you cant sort it out, and you close your account as a last resort, they make a dogs dinner of returning your money to you. When you call them no-one seems to know what they are talking about. Bunch of cowboys. I cant believe they get away with trading.

My experience as a Cofunds customer recently transferred to Aegon:



On 21 May 2018 I requested a withdrawal from my ISA. The units were sold on 23 May 2018 and a letter was subsequently received requesting that I verify my bank account details. This was responded to and since then no funds or further communication has been received.



On 6th June, I contacted Customer Services to query the progress of my withdrawal and was advised that the matter would be escalated and all going well I should have the funds within 3-5 working days.



By 13th June, no funds were received and I again contacted Customer Services, where I spoke to a really helpful adviser, who advised that the funds were sitting in the payment queue. He tried without success to contact the payment team and offered to update me by email once he managed to contact them. This email and update did not materialise.



On 19th June I sent an email to the address set up for cofunds customers. It was neither acknowledged nor responded to.



On 21st June I again contacted customer services and spoke to an adviser who promised to escalate things and contact me with an update. Needless to say, they didn't.



We are now at 22nd June 2018, and the most infuriating thing about the whole matter is the inexcusable delay and lack of communication over what should be a simple transaction. Telephone calls to the company take 4-5 attempts to get past the "we are dealing with a high call volume and are unable to answer your call - please try later" followed by a 30 minute wait for someone to answer. I can honestly say that I have never experienced such shoddy service in all my 53 years.

It is not going to relent for Aegon. I sold my units on 24 May 2018 and as it was after 16:30 I realise it goes to the next working day. Bank holiday Monday increased the waiting days again. I received withdrawal notes but with no dates money would be in my account. Initially I was told it was going to be 08/06/2018 but after enquiries yesterday, now been told its going to be 15/06/2018!! I asked thr agent if this was definitely going to be the case and by the sound of his voice I am not confident. Are Aegon experiencing financial difficulties? I have health issues and this is not something I require. I realise that others are experiencing longer delays, but Aegon are not treating people fairly or correctly.

In June this year I asked for a complete withdrawal of all my funds ISAs Shares etc and requesting it all be placed in my bank account.I heard nothing from Aegon. So I phoned them and was told they needed bank details from a bank statement. This was sent and returned. still no word from Aegon.So phoned again was told they were waiting for my bank statement. when I replied I had sent and received it back I was then informed nobody had resumed the the account to be moved on. Given a date it would be finalised. Or so I thought.Nothing from Aegon and no funds in bank. I have sent Aegon two E/mails and made further phone calls and as yet I am no further on.Trying to get my own money from this company is like trying to get blood from a stone.I would never ever recommend them. They are incompetent.

I wish I had read all of these reviews before agreeing for my funds to go to this company...….this company is appalling, my investment was transferred from Legal and General and this company is terrible. I applied for a withdrawal of funds on 19th June, I am on phone now as was told 10th July it would be paid I, got someone telling me can't verify bank account, was told to email bank statement over, now have been told can't do that???? talking to me about sending it by pigeon post for goodness this is after going to bank, getting them to print it off, getting them to certify it and then me putting it in an envelope with a stamp and posting it! I though we were tech savvy in this country obviously Aegon are not. I have now been on the phone 30 minutes asking for a supervisor but apparently they are all busy on call backs......dealing with irate customers more like. The advisor has now said she will transfer me to head office so I have the tinned music playing waiting for someone to pick up. This company is a joke, no standard procedures for dealing with customer queries, no standard approach to the advice that is given, emails not answered, no supervisors to take calls, I am sorry but are the funds invested mine or the Aegon's? I don't even want all of the investment just a small proportion of it. I can see that people on here have or are having the same experiences, so Mr Adrian Grace how are you going to respond to these issues? I work in a customer service environment and if I worked for your company I would be ashamed of the service I was providing. By the way I am still on hold 15 minutes after being transferred with little hope of speaking to anyone now which I did say to the advisor would happen. I very angry, upset and irate customer, I had to give one star to be able to post this otherwise it would have been no stars!

I have wasted 5 hours over 2 days this week trying to find and change funds. The funds I wished to transfer to do not appear in the available funds list on the website, despite being being one of aegon own funds and are apparently available, just not online.



Baillie Gifford balanced managed

Blackrock 50 50

After a telephone call, aegon staff sent me the transfer form, which I can complete manually and either post it, fax it or use the digital customer enquiry service.



I'm unable to reply to the email as its a no reply.



1) post takes days and funds change price during that time.

2) who, other than hospitals use a fax these days

3) the digital enquiry service does not work for fund switches, despite it being offered in the email with the pdf form that can't even be completed without the help of a tree to print it out.



So, the service that I pay aegon for (£30,000 over the past 20 years in charges alone) is failing badly and aegon is not utilising technology to any customer benefit what so ever.



I simply can't make a simple 2 minute transaction on line to transfer funds that don't appear in the available list. The methods suggested are time consuming and the digital enquiry, offered as an option doesn't work.



Over the years aegon have earned a small fortune from my pension and the above is a massive kick in the teeth. Do they care about customers at all? It appears not.



Shoddy, outdated service that belongs in the 19th century.



I have subsequently emailed aegon to raise an official complaint. Having received no acknowledgement, I have today had to call them again to obtain confirmation that my complaint has actually been received. This they did, but said it would take them 5 working days to respond.



I will vote with my feet and have already found a new provider who is already operating in the 21st century and where I don't have to waste endless hours for a simple transaction.



My advice is to avoid this company.

I have suffered as a result of the upgrade several weeks ago when I couldnt access my IPS ISA account; this took several weeks to get sorted.



I contacted the Aegon (lack of) servicedesk on Thursday two weeks ago as my direct debit hadnt been actioned to tfr funds from my personal account into my ISA as scheduled. This was after several attempts to call, and an email before that.

I was told that there was a "backlog" and that the transaction would take place either Friday or latest Monday. No evidence of any withdrawal from my personal account as of Wednesday 6th June.



I eventually got through (wrong phone number on website and needs updating - shabby and unprofessional). Before this I had sent another email and again no response.

Was told that another department needed to look into this and that I would get a call or an email same day. Nothing, no ticket ref.



My experience has been nothing other than shambolic since Aegon took on the IPS portfolio. Formal complaint raised and nobody in Aegon interested- nice words but no action.



I am now taking up with ombudsman and considering taking this to BBC Watchdog to find out what is actually going on, in parallel with taking advice elsewhere.



No confidence in Aegon to manage my ISA - enough is enough. Nobody in Aegon seems to know what is going on.

I have been trying to withdraw my funds from Aegon Cofunds account since June 1st. Un answered emails, letters and having to pay around £5 in phone charges to stay on the phone long enough for it to be answered. I finally managed to speak to someone who was able to guide me through the process of selling online. This option wasnt available on June 1st. I have a written statement from Aegon that my funds will be in my bank account within "14 working days" ie 3 weeks. When the funds are in my bank account, they shall not be going back to Aegon unless they take over the next outfit I entrust my money to.

I endorse everything that has been said

As a former Cofunds Client I dind it appalling that i cannot access my money - It is my money btw

Cofunds - 10 days withdrawal time

Aegon 12 days - progress.......or theft!



I did find an answer though

the CEO is Adrian Grace

Unfortunately Facebook will not allow me to post his email address but for those who like a a bit of fun!!!

Adrian.Grace in front of the normal company email address





to his credit things moved very fast after that but it shouldnot have to be this way

Sorry Adrian for the predicted deluge in emails but a Company of your size must do better....no excuses

I am a Cofunds customer and received communications to say that they were 'upgrading' and becoming part of Aegon. I have been trying to access funds from my account since 22 April with no luck so far! I have written 2 letters and have been trying to get through on the telephone to discuss this with someone. The problem - I am either in a never ending queue or I get an automated message saying they can't take my call as they are very busy can I call back later! So I will call the complaints number I think but no that doesn't work as I can't get through the automated phone service as it doesn't recognise my Cofunds account number! So frustrating, and a terrible first impression of being an Aegon customer I am afraid. I would just like to access my own money please!

I agree that customer service at Aegon is dreadful. At the request of this company I cancelled a standing order used to pay their admin fees, as they said a direct debit needed to be set up instead. Despite confirming at the beginning of April that the DD would start being taken in early May no payments have yet left my bank account, let alone reached my Aegon account. No one seems able to let me know when this will be resolved. Even a formal complaint has not led to a resolution after over 8 weeks. It is practically impossible to get through on the complaints number and no one else is able to transfer calls to the complaints department. If a financial services company cannot arrange a direct debit what hope is there of dealing effectively with more complex issues?? I’m still awaiting a response to my complaint ( they are still investigating !!), but in the meantime they have the audacity to continue to charge me admin fees on my investments, and will sell my investments to meet these fees if there is insufficient cash in my general account to pay them. Appalling service.

Have been trying to withdraw savings in my wife's name since March without success. These were funds invested with Legal & General, which became Cofunds and eventually Aegon. Dealing with these incompetent idiots is an absolute nightmare. We are far beyond being angry and frustrated. I have to give a star rating for this post to be accepted, but one star is way too high.

As an advisor this company are terrible to deal with twice I've tried to phone through for valuations and twice I've had to give up after an hour on music waiting for a representative, so I rung the customer line and the girl answered in two rings. This proves they don't wish to deal with IFA's. Disgraceful service

As a Legal & General/Cofunds investor for 10 years my wife and I have never had any problems until May this year. One Direct Debit to "Lochside Nominees", whoever they are, instead of two and to date not credited to either ISA. Since then no Direct Debits although they do continue to apply ever increasing charges to the accounts. I have phoned, long waits in queues, been assured it will all be sorted, letters will be sent etc.registered formal complaints, but nothing has changed. I even emailed the CEO Adrian Grace but he didn't bother even to acknowledge the email. Today I phoned and the person I spoke to acknowledged "there had been problems with Direct Debits" but they hoped it would be sorted by August!! I need the funds early November but when I see issues with paying out I am really concerned. On 31st July it will be 8 weeks since I lodged my formal complaint so next stop a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Appalling customer service.

After sending a letter, as we have done many times with Cofunds, to release Isa funds we were asked for bank account verification(email) even though we pay money into the isa from the same account and have requested money many times. Phoned customer service who wouldn't even look at the account, instead choosing to repeat the terms and conditions over and over with no explanation of why we needed to verify an account that had been previously used. I was told by the customer service representative not to interrupt and now 2 weeks after the written request we still have not received any money. An official complaint and a call back has been ignored. We will be transferring all funds out of the account at the earliest opportunity.

Aegon website is terrible. Aegon cannot display details of funds. They made unauthorised changes to my email contact details. They changed their sign in protocols and then asked me to click "forgotten my password" when they want me to upgrade my password. Terrible fund performance. To cap it all they want to make excess charges when I want to transfer my money to a fund and website that works.

disgusting service, my father has dementia and usually receives a payment every year on the same date which he needs to pay for his care and rent, the payment has not been received, i called to ask that they fast track my Power of attorney as which i had to send the original and by special delivery, my father is facing eviction and Aegon are refusing to try and register the P.O.A any faster or discuss why his annuity has not been paid this year, absolutely no compassion from this company

Unfortunately, as with many other poor souls we have had the same trouble attempting to obtain our investments.



My late mother placed investments with AEGON. When we attempted to claim her investments as part of her estate, you are then passed from pillar to post and then the customer services lie to you. After obtaining probate, my sister being the executor, we contacted AEGON and sent the original Death Certificate and Grant of Probate along with details of where the funds should be paid to. We received the original documents back relatively quickly along with a letter stating they had noted the documents and were processing the application. After other investments from other firms had been received we contacted AEGON to ask why we had not received our funds from them, we were bounced around to different departments and placed on hold for three quarters of an hour before they came back with various excuses such as they were updating records and having problems since a recent merger in May 2018. We were transferred to head office who then told us they had not received the documents although we had their letter confirming receipt. They then stated it had been sent to the wrong office and we would have to send the original documentation again, although their bereavement pack disputed this claim. Sadly, it looks like we will have the same problems obtaining our money and other beneficiaries such as my late mother’s grandchildren and charities will have to wait for their money. We will have to see if escalating this issue to the FCA and the Financial Ombudsmen will resolve the issue and possibly start a petition to have their status investigated after such poor dealings and atrocious reviews and possibly revoked with the FCA.



It is such a shame that this company deliberately make a difficult time substantially worse. I for one would never have any dealings with this company after this issue is resolved and from my experiences, I would suggest they should be avoided at all costs.They either have completely incompetent staff in all departments which certainly doesn't bode well or far worse their staff have been directed to fob people off with excuses for as long as possible and to make acquisition of invested funds almost impossible to obtain..

Trying to withdraw funds from my Isa.

What a terrible experience I am having.

A week down the line and now they are saying I havn’t sent a withdrawal form.this was sent in last week with other stuff.

Had emails from 3 different people, nobody knows what anyone else is doing.

Stick with a good fund manager like Invesco or Jupiter, not these cowboys

This Company is an absolute disgrace. Completely inept. They make a dogs dinner of your investments and when you get so frustrated because you cant sort it out, and you close your account as a last resort, they make a dogs dinner of returning your money to you. When you call them no-one seems to know what they are talking about. Bunch of cowboys. I cant believe they get away with trading.

My experience as a Cofunds customer recently transferred to Aegon:



On 21 May 2018 I requested a withdrawal from my ISA. The units were sold on 23 May 2018 and a letter was subsequently received requesting that I verify my bank account details. This was responded to and since then no funds or further communication has been received.



On 6th June, I contacted Customer Services to query the progress of my withdrawal and was advised that the matter would be escalated and all going well I should have the funds within 3-5 working days.



By 13th June, no funds were received and I again contacted Customer Services, where I spoke to a really helpful adviser, who advised that the funds were sitting in the payment queue. He tried without success to contact the payment team and offered to update me by email once he managed to contact them. This email and update did not materialise.



On 19th June I sent an email to the address set up for cofunds customers. It was neither acknowledged nor responded to.



On 21st June I again contacted customer services and spoke to an adviser who promised to escalate things and contact me with an update. Needless to say, they didn't.



We are now at 22nd June 2018, and the most infuriating thing about the whole matter is the inexcusable delay and lack of communication over what should be a simple transaction. Telephone calls to the company take 4-5 attempts to get past the "we are dealing with a high call volume and are unable to answer your call - please try later" followed by a 30 minute wait for someone to answer. I can honestly say that I have never experienced such shoddy service in all my 53 years.

It is not going to relent for Aegon. I sold my units on 24 May 2018 and as it was after 16:30 I realise it goes to the next working day. Bank holiday Monday increased the waiting days again. I received withdrawal notes but with no dates money would be in my account. Initially I was told it was going to be 08/06/2018 but after enquiries yesterday, now been told its going to be 15/06/2018!! I asked thr agent if this was definitely going to be the case and by the sound of his voice I am not confident. Are Aegon experiencing financial difficulties? I have health issues and this is not something I require. I realise that others are experiencing longer delays, but Aegon are not treating people fairly or correctly.

In June this year I asked for a complete withdrawal of all my funds ISAs Shares etc and requesting it all be placed in my bank account.I heard nothing from Aegon. So I phoned them and was told they needed bank details from a bank statement. This was sent and returned. still no word from Aegon.So phoned again was told they were waiting for my bank statement. when I replied I had sent and received it back I was then informed nobody had resumed the the account to be moved on. Given a date it would be finalised. Or so I thought.Nothing from Aegon and no funds in bank. I have sent Aegon two E/mails and made further phone calls and as yet I am no further on.Trying to get my own money from this company is like trying to get blood from a stone.I would never ever recommend them. They are incompetent.

I wish I had read all of these reviews before agreeing for my funds to go to this company...….this company is appalling, my investment was transferred from Legal and General and this company is terrible. I applied for a withdrawal of funds on 19th June, I am on phone now as was told 10th July it would be paid I, got someone telling me can't verify bank account, was told to email bank statement over, now have been told can't do that???? talking to me about sending it by pigeon post for goodness this is after going to bank, getting them to print it off, getting them to certify it and then me putting it in an envelope with a stamp and posting it! I though we were tech savvy in this country obviously Aegon are not. I have now been on the phone 30 minutes asking for a supervisor but apparently they are all busy on call backs......dealing with irate customers more like. The advisor has now said she will transfer me to head office so I have the tinned music playing waiting for someone to pick up. This company is a joke, no standard procedures for dealing with customer queries, no standard approach to the advice that is given, emails not answered, no supervisors to take calls, I am sorry but are the funds invested mine or the Aegon's? I don't even want all of the investment just a small proportion of it. I can see that people on here have or are having the same experiences, so Mr Adrian Grace how are you going to respond to these issues? I work in a customer service environment and if I worked for your company I would be ashamed of the service I was providing. By the way I am still on hold 15 minutes after being transferred with little hope of speaking to anyone now which I did say to the advisor would happen. I very angry, upset and irate customer, I had to give one star to be able to post this otherwise it would have been no stars!

I have wasted 5 hours over 2 days this week trying to find and change funds. The funds I wished to transfer to do not appear in the available funds list on the website, despite being being one of aegon own funds and are apparently available, just not online.



Baillie Gifford balanced managed

Blackrock 50 50

After a telephone call, aegon staff sent me the transfer form, which I can complete manually and either post it, fax it or use the digital customer enquiry service.



I'm unable to reply to the email as its a no reply.



1) post takes days and funds change price during that time.

2) who, other than hospitals use a fax these days

3) the digital enquiry service does not work for fund switches, despite it being offered in the email with the pdf form that can't even be completed without the help of a tree to print it out.



So, the service that I pay aegon for (£30,000 over the past 20 years in charges alone) is failing badly and aegon is not utilising technology to any customer benefit what so ever.



I simply can't make a simple 2 minute transaction on line to transfer funds that don't appear in the available list. The methods suggested are time consuming and the digital enquiry, offered as an option doesn't work.



Over the years aegon have earned a small fortune from my pension and the above is a massive kick in the teeth. Do they care about customers at all? It appears not.



Shoddy, outdated service that belongs in the 19th century.



I have subsequently emailed aegon to raise an official complaint. Having received no acknowledgement, I have today had to call them again to obtain confirmation that my complaint has actually been received. This they did, but said it would take them 5 working days to respond.



I will vote with my feet and have already found a new provider who is already operating in the 21st century and where I don't have to waste endless hours for a simple transaction.



My advice is to avoid this company.

I have suffered as a result of the upgrade several weeks ago when I couldnt access my IPS ISA account; this took several weeks to get sorted.



I contacted the Aegon (lack of) servicedesk on Thursday two weeks ago as my direct debit hadnt been actioned to tfr funds from my personal account into my ISA as scheduled. This was after several attempts to call, and an email before that.

I was told that there was a "backlog" and that the transaction would take place either Friday or latest Monday. No evidence of any withdrawal from my personal account as of Wednesday 6th June.



I eventually got through (wrong phone number on website and needs updating - shabby and unprofessional). Before this I had sent another email and again no response.

Was told that another department needed to look into this and that I would get a call or an email same day. Nothing, no ticket ref.



My experience has been nothing other than shambolic since Aegon took on the IPS portfolio. Formal complaint raised and nobody in Aegon interested- nice words but no action.



I am now taking up with ombudsman and considering taking this to BBC Watchdog to find out what is actually going on, in parallel with taking advice elsewhere.



No confidence in Aegon to manage my ISA - enough is enough. Nobody in Aegon seems to know what is going on.

I have been trying to withdraw my funds from Aegon Cofunds account since June 1st. Un answered emails, letters and having to pay around £5 in phone charges to stay on the phone long enough for it to be answered. I finally managed to speak to someone who was able to guide me through the process of selling online. This option wasnt available on June 1st. I have a written statement from Aegon that my funds will be in my bank account within "14 working days" ie 3 weeks. When the funds are in my bank account, they shall not be going back to Aegon unless they take over the next outfit I entrust my money to.

I endorse everything that has been said

As a former Cofunds Client I dind it appalling that i cannot access my money - It is my money btw

Cofunds - 10 days withdrawal time

Aegon 12 days - progress.......or theft!



I did find an answer though

the CEO is Adrian Grace

Unfortunately Facebook will not allow me to post his email address but for those who like a a bit of fun!!!

Adrian.Grace in front of the normal company email address





to his credit things moved very fast after that but it shouldnot have to be this way

Sorry Adrian for the predicted deluge in emails but a Company of your size must do better....no excuses

I am a Cofunds customer and received communications to say that they were 'upgrading' and becoming part of Aegon. I have been trying to access funds from my account since 22 April with no luck so far! I have written 2 letters and have been trying to get through on the telephone to discuss this with someone. The problem - I am either in a never ending queue or I get an automated message saying they can't take my call as they are very busy can I call back later! So I will call the complaints number I think but no that doesn't work as I can't get through the automated phone service as it doesn't recognise my Cofunds account number! So frustrating, and a terrible first impression of being an Aegon customer I am afraid. I would just like to access my own money please!

I agree that customer service at Aegon is dreadful. At the request of this company I cancelled a standing order used to pay their admin fees, as they said a direct debit needed to be set up instead. Despite confirming at the beginning of April that the DD would start being taken in early May no payments have yet left my bank account, let alone reached my Aegon account. No one seems able to let me know when this will be resolved. Even a formal complaint has not led to a resolution after over 8 weeks. It is practically impossible to get through on the complaints number and no one else is able to transfer calls to the complaints department. If a financial services company cannot arrange a direct debit what hope is there of dealing effectively with more complex issues?? I’m still awaiting a response to my complaint ( they are still investigating !!), but in the meantime they have the audacity to continue to charge me admin fees on my investments, and will sell my investments to meet these fees if there is insufficient cash in my general account to pay them. Appalling service.

Have been trying to withdraw savings in my wife's name since March without success. These were funds invested with Legal & General, which became Cofunds and eventually Aegon. Dealing with these incompetent idiots is an absolute nightmare. We are far beyond being angry and frustrated. I have to give a star rating for this post to be accepted, but one star is way too high.

As an advisor this company are terrible to deal with twice I've tried to phone through for valuations and twice I've had to give up after an hour on music waiting for a representative, so I rung the customer line and the girl answered in two rings. This proves they don't wish to deal with IFA's. Disgraceful service

As a Legal & General/Cofunds investor for 10 years my wife and I have never had any problems until May this year. One Direct Debit to "Lochside Nominees", whoever they are, instead of two and to date not credited to either ISA. Since then no Direct Debits although they do continue to apply ever increasing charges to the accounts. I have phoned, long waits in queues, been assured it will all be sorted, letters will be sent etc.registered formal complaints, but nothing has changed. I even emailed the CEO Adrian Grace but he didn't bother even to acknowledge the email. Today I phoned and the person I spoke to acknowledged "there had been problems with Direct Debits" but they hoped it would be sorted by August!! I need the funds early November but when I see issues with paying out I am really concerned. On 31st July it will be 8 weeks since I lodged my formal complaint so next stop a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Appalling customer service.

After sending a letter, as we have done many times with Cofunds, to release Isa funds we were asked for bank account verification(email) even though we pay money into the isa from the same account and have requested money many times. Phoned customer service who wouldn't even look at the account, instead choosing to repeat the terms and conditions over and over with no explanation of why we needed to verify an account that had been previously used. I was told by the customer service representative not to interrupt and now 2 weeks after the written request we still have not received any money. An official complaint and a call back has been ignored. We will be transferring all funds out of the account at the earliest opportunity.

Aegon website is terrible. Aegon cannot display details of funds. They made unauthorised changes to my email contact details. They changed their sign in protocols and then asked me to click "forgotten my password" when they want me to upgrade my password. Terrible fund performance. To cap it all they want to make excess charges when I want to transfer my money to a fund and website that works.

disgusting service, my father has dementia and usually receives a payment every year on the same date which he needs to pay for his care and rent, the payment has not been received, i called to ask that they fast track my Power of attorney as which i had to send the original and by special delivery, my father is facing eviction and Aegon are refusing to try and register the P.O.A any faster or discuss why his annuity has not been paid this year, absolutely no compassion from this company

Unfortunately, as with many other poor souls we have had the same trouble attempting to obtain our investments.



My late mother placed investments with AEGON. When we attempted to claim her investments as part of her estate, you are then passed from pillar to post and then the customer services lie to you. After obtaining probate, my sister being the executor, we contacted AEGON and sent the original Death Certificate and Grant of Probate along with details of where the funds should be paid to. We received the original documents back relatively quickly along with a letter stating they had noted the documents and were processing the application. After other investments from other firms had been received we contacted AEGON to ask why we had not received our funds from them, we were bounced around to different departments and placed on hold for three quarters of an hour before they came back with various excuses such as they were updating records and having problems since a recent merger in May 2018. We were transferred to head office who then told us they had not received the documents although we had their letter confirming receipt. They then stated it had been sent to the wrong office and we would have to send the original documentation again, although their bereavement pack disputed this claim. Sadly, it looks like we will have the same problems obtaining our money and other beneficiaries such as my late mother’s grandchildren and charities will have to wait for their money. We will have to see if escalating this issue to the FCA and the Financial Ombudsmen will resolve the issue and possibly start a petition to have their status investigated after such poor dealings and atrocious reviews and possibly revoked with the FCA.



It is such a shame that this company deliberately make a difficult time substantially worse. I for one would never have any dealings with this company after this issue is resolved and from my experiences, I would suggest they should be avoided at all costs.They either have completely incompetent staff in all departments which certainly doesn't bode well or far worse their staff have been directed to fob people off with excuses for as long as possible and to make acquisition of invested funds almost impossible to obtain..

Trying to withdraw funds from my Isa.

What a terrible experience I am having.

A week down the line and now they are saying I havn’t sent a withdrawal form.this was sent in last week with other stuff.

Had emails from 3 different people, nobody knows what anyone else is doing.

Stick with a good fund manager like Invesco or Jupiter, not these cowboys

This Company is an absolute disgrace. Completely inept. They make a dogs dinner of your investments and when you get so frustrated because you cant sort it out, and you close your account as a last resort, they make a dogs dinner of returning your money to you. When you call them no-one seems to know what they are talking about. Bunch of cowboys. I cant believe they get away with trading.

My experience as a Cofunds customer recently transferred to Aegon:



On 21 May 2018 I requested a withdrawal from my ISA. The units were sold on 23 May 2018 and a letter was subsequently received requesting that I verify my bank account details. This was responded to and since then no funds or further communication has been received.



On 6th June, I contacted Customer Services to query the progress of my withdrawal and was advised that the matter would be escalated and all going well I should have the funds within 3-5 working days.



By 13th June, no funds were received and I again contacted Customer Services, where I spoke to a really helpful adviser, who advised that the funds were sitting in the payment queue. He tried without success to contact the payment team and offered to update me by email once he managed to contact them. This email and update did not materialise.



On 19th June I sent an email to the address set up for cofunds customers. It was neither acknowledged nor responded to.



On 21st June I again contacted customer services and spoke to an adviser who promised to escalate things and contact me with an update. Needless to say, they didn't.



We are now at 22nd June 2018, and the most infuriating thing about the whole matter is the inexcusable delay and lack of communication over what should be a simple transaction. Telephone calls to the company take 4-5 attempts to get past the "we are dealing with a high call volume and are unable to answer your call - please try later" followed by a 30 minute wait for someone to answer. I can honestly say that I have never experienced such shoddy service in all my 53 years.

It is not going to relent for Aegon. I sold my units on 24 May 2018 and as it was after 16:30 I realise it goes to the next working day. Bank holiday Monday increased the waiting days again. I received withdrawal notes but with no dates money would be in my account. Initially I was told it was going to be 08/06/2018 but after enquiries yesterday, now been told its going to be 15/06/2018!! I asked thr agent if this was definitely going to be the case and by the sound of his voice I am not confident. Are Aegon experiencing financial difficulties? I have health issues and this is not something I require. I realise that others are experiencing longer delays, but Aegon are not treating people fairly or correctly.

In June this year I asked for a complete withdrawal of all my funds ISAs Shares etc and requesting it all be placed in my bank account.I heard nothing from Aegon. So I phoned them and was told they needed bank details from a bank statement. This was sent and returned. still no word from Aegon.So phoned again was told they were waiting for my bank statement. when I replied I had sent and received it back I was then informed nobody had resumed the the account to be moved on. Given a date it would be finalised. Or so I thought.Nothing from Aegon and no funds in bank. I have sent Aegon two E/mails and made further phone calls and as yet I am no further on.Trying to get my own money from this company is like trying to get blood from a stone.I would never ever recommend them. They are incompetent.

I wish I had read all of these reviews before agreeing for my funds to go to this company...….this company is appalling, my investment was transferred from Legal and General and this company is terrible. I applied for a withdrawal of funds on 19th June, I am on phone now as was told 10th July it would be paid I, got someone telling me can't verify bank account, was told to email bank statement over, now have been told can't do that???? talking to me about sending it by pigeon post for goodness this is after going to bank, getting them to print it off, getting them to certify it and then me putting it in an envelope with a stamp and posting it! I though we were tech savvy in this country obviously Aegon are not. I have now been on the phone 30 minutes asking for a supervisor but apparently they are all busy on call backs......dealing with irate customers more like. The advisor has now said she will transfer me to head office so I have the tinned music playing waiting for someone to pick up. This company is a joke, no standard procedures for dealing with customer queries, no standard approach to the advice that is given, emails not answered, no supervisors to take calls, I am sorry but are the funds invested mine or the Aegon's? I don't even want all of the investment just a small proportion of it. I can see that people on here have or are having the same experiences, so Mr Adrian Grace how are you going to respond to these issues? I work in a customer service environment and if I worked for your company I would be ashamed of the service I was providing. By the way I am still on hold 15 minutes after being transferred with little hope of speaking to anyone now which I did say to the advisor would happen. I very angry, upset and irate customer, I had to give one star to be able to post this otherwise it would have been no stars!

I have wasted 5 hours over 2 days this week trying to find and change funds. The funds I wished to transfer to do not appear in the available funds list on the website, despite being being one of aegon own funds and are apparently available, just not online.



Baillie Gifford balanced managed

Blackrock 50 50

After a telephone call, aegon staff sent me the transfer form, which I can complete manually and either post it, fax it or use the digital customer enquiry service.



I'm unable to reply to the email as its a no reply.



1) post takes days and funds change price during that time.

2) who, other than hospitals use a fax these days

3) the digital enquiry service does not work for fund switches, despite it being offered in the email with the pdf form that can't even be completed without the help of a tree to print it out.



So, the service that I pay aegon for (£30,000 over the past 20 years in charges alone) is failing badly and aegon is not utilising technology to any customer benefit what so ever.



I simply can't make a simple 2 minute transaction on line to transfer funds that don't appear in the available list. The methods suggested are time consuming and the digital enquiry, offered as an option doesn't work.



Over the years aegon have earned a small fortune from my pension and the above is a massive kick in the teeth. Do they care about customers at all? It appears not.



Shoddy, outdated service that belongs in the 19th century.



I have subsequently emailed aegon to raise an official complaint. Having received no acknowledgement, I have today had to call them again to obtain confirmation that my complaint has actually been received. This they did, but said it would take them 5 working days to respond.



I will vote with my feet and have already found a new provider who is already operating in the 21st century and where I don't have to waste endless hours for a simple transaction.



My advice is to avoid this company.

I have suffered as a result of the upgrade several weeks ago when I couldnt access my IPS ISA account; this took several weeks to get sorted.



I contacted the Aegon (lack of) servicedesk on Thursday two weeks ago as my direct debit hadnt been actioned to tfr funds from my personal account into my ISA as scheduled. This was after several attempts to call, and an email before that.

I was told that there was a "backlog" and that the transaction would take place either Friday or latest Monday. No evidence of any withdrawal from my personal account as of Wednesday 6th June.



I eventually got through (wrong phone number on website and needs updating - shabby and unprofessional). Before this I had sent another email and again no response.

Was told that another department needed to look into this and that I would get a call or an email same day. Nothing, no ticket ref.



My experience has been nothing other than shambolic since Aegon took on the IPS portfolio. Formal complaint raised and nobody in Aegon interested- nice words but no action.



I am now taking up with ombudsman and considering taking this to BBC Watchdog to find out what is actually going on, in parallel with taking advice elsewhere.



No confidence in Aegon to manage my ISA - enough is enough. Nobody in Aegon seems to know what is going on.

I have been trying to withdraw my funds from Aegon Cofunds account since June 1st. Un answered emails, letters and having to pay around £5 in phone charges to stay on the phone long enough for it to be answered. I finally managed to speak to someone who was able to guide me through the process of selling online. This option wasnt available on June 1st. I have a written statement from Aegon that my funds will be in my bank account within "14 working days" ie 3 weeks. When the funds are in my bank account, they shall not be going back to Aegon unless they take over the next outfit I entrust my money to.

I endorse everything that has been said

As a former Cofunds Client I dind it appalling that i cannot access my money - It is my money btw

Cofunds - 10 days withdrawal time

Aegon 12 days - progress.......or theft!



I did find an answer though

the CEO is Adrian Grace

Unfortunately Facebook will not allow me to post his email address but for those who like a a bit of fun!!!

Adrian.Grace in front of the normal company email address





to his credit things moved very fast after that but it shouldnot have to be this way

Sorry Adrian for the predicted deluge in emails but a Company of your size must do better....no excuses

I am a Cofunds customer and received communications to say that they were 'upgrading' and becoming part of Aegon. I have been trying to access funds from my account since 22 April with no luck so far! I have written 2 letters and have been trying to get through on the telephone to discuss this with someone. The problem - I am either in a never ending queue or I get an automated message saying they can't take my call as they are very busy can I call back later! So I will call the complaints number I think but no that doesn't work as I can't get through the automated phone service as it doesn't recognise my Cofunds account number! So frustrating, and a terrible first impression of being an Aegon customer I am afraid. I would just like to access my own money please!

I agree that customer service at Aegon is dreadful. At the request of this company I cancelled a standing order used to pay their admin fees, as they said a direct debit needed to be set up instead. Despite confirming at the beginning of April that the DD would start being taken in early May no payments have yet left my bank account, let alone reached my Aegon account. No one seems able to let me know when this will be resolved. Even a formal complaint has not led to a resolution after over 8 weeks. It is practically impossible to get through on the complaints number and no one else is able to transfer calls to the complaints department. If a financial services company cannot arrange a direct debit what hope is there of dealing effectively with more complex issues?? I’m still awaiting a response to my complaint ( they are still investigating !!), but in the meantime they have the audacity to continue to charge me admin fees on my investments, and will sell my investments to meet these fees if there is insufficient cash in my general account to pay them. Appalling service.

Have been trying to withdraw savings in my wife's name since March without success. These were funds invested with Legal & General, which became Cofunds and eventually Aegon. Dealing with these incompetent idiots is an absolute nightmare. We are far beyond being angry and frustrated. I have to give a star rating for this post to be accepted, but one star is way too high.

As an advisor this company are terrible to deal with twice I've tried to phone through for valuations and twice I've had to give up after an hour on music waiting for a representative, so I rung the customer line and the girl answered in two rings. This proves they don't wish to deal with IFA's. Disgraceful service

As a Legal & General/Cofunds investor for 10 years my wife and I have never had any problems until May this year. One Direct Debit to "Lochside Nominees", whoever they are, instead of two and to date not credited to either ISA. Since then no Direct Debits although they do continue to apply ever increasing charges to the accounts. I have phoned, long waits in queues, been assured it will all be sorted, letters will be sent etc.registered formal complaints, but nothing has changed. I even emailed the CEO Adrian Grace but he didn't bother even to acknowledge the email. Today I phoned and the person I spoke to acknowledged "there had been problems with Direct Debits" but they hoped it would be sorted by August!! I need the funds early November but when I see issues with paying out I am really concerned. On 31st July it will be 8 weeks since I lodged my formal complaint so next stop a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Appalling customer service.

After sending a letter, as we have done many times with Cofunds, to release Isa funds we were asked for bank account verification(email) even though we pay money into the isa from the same account and have requested money many times. Phoned customer service who wouldn't even look at the account, instead choosing to repeat the terms and conditions over and over with no explanation of why we needed to verify an account that had been previously used. I was told by the customer service representative not to interrupt and now 2 weeks after the written request we still have not received any money. An official complaint and a call back has been ignored. We will be transferring all funds out of the account at the earliest opportunity.

Aegon website is terrible. Aegon cannot display details of funds. They made unauthorised changes to my email contact details. They changed their sign in protocols and then asked me to click "forgotten my password" when they want me to upgrade my password. Terrible fund performance. To cap it all they want to make excess charges when I want to transfer my money to a fund and website that works.