Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr J complained about delays in setting up his pension annuity with Aviva after reaching age 75 and about Aviva's handling of his cancellation request. Aviva admitted to some service delays but backdated the annuity and paid all missed payments plus interest, placing Mr J in the correct financial position. Although Mr J initially wanted the annuity unwound, he later changed his mind due to practical difficulties in finding alternative arrangements. The ombudsman found Aviva's £350 compensation offer fair and reasonable, as Mr J suffered no financial loss and no longer wished to cancel the annuity, and declined to uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Aviva's service delays did not result in financial loss to Mr J because Aviva backdated the annuity to his 75th birthday and paid all missed payments plus interest, placing him in the position he should have been in. Regarding cancellation, since Mr J no longer wishes to unwind the annuity, the ombudsman did not need to determine whether Aviva should have cancelled it. The ombudsman noted that Aviva's plan does not offer the five-year fixed-term annuity Mr J wanted, so even if communications could have been clearer, Mr J would have needed to search the open market. The £350 compensation is fair as it covers distress and inconvenience from service failings, and much of the delay was due to mandatory compliance checks. Costs incurred by Mr J (phone calls, documentation) resulted from his choice to live abroad, not Aviva's actions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website