Not upheld: pension fund classification, transparency of fund information, and access to unit prices complaint against Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Aviva had incorrectly classified his pension investments and failed to provide transparent information about which fund series he was invested in, particularly after transferring his Executive Pension Plan from another provider. He was concerned that some funds lacked ISIN codes and that he could no longer access daily unit prices online as he had with his previous provider. Mr B provided detailed calculations suggesting his funds were series 1 rather than series 4 funds. The ombudsman found no evidence of incorrect classification or information withholding, noting that Aviva's explanation about different series numbers across platforms accounted for the discrepancies. The ombudsman also determined that while online access to unit prices would be beneficial, there was no contractual commitment to provide it and the FOS cannot require operational changes to business processes.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Aviva had consistently and accurately stated that Mr B's funds were series 4 funds for his specific product. The explanation that fund series numbers vary based on different systems or platforms within Aviva accounted for why Mr B could replicate series 4 fund prices using published series 1 data. No evidence was found of incorrect information or information being withheld. Regarding online access to unit prices, the ombudsman noted that while disappointing, there was no contractual commitment to such access in the policy documentation, and the FOS cannot require businesses to change their operational processes. The ombudsman's role is limited to examining how a business's rules and processes are applied to individual circumstances, not to directing operational changes.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website