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Parasol SIPP Contribution Shambles

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    Parasol SIPP Contribution Shambles

    Is anyone else experiencing the below issue with Parasol and AJ Bell SIPP contributions this month?

    I joined Parasol on a new contract at the beginning of the year. After the end of month payroll is completed they send you an email a week or two later advising the amount that will be paid into your SIPP so you can inform your SIPP provider. My March contribution was supposed to be paid on 14 April into my AJ Bell SIPP.

    On the 14th April and AJ Bell had not received anything - after much investigation and chasing AJ Bell got back to me on the 16th and advised that they had received a different amount from Parasol (a quarter of what it was supposed to be) on the 15th April.

    I have been trying to query this with Parasol - they take ages to respond to queries but after about a week they finally replied to me to say they had made an error with the allocation file and a new file was sent to AJ Bell - and they would inform me when it had all been corrected. Days later and still no correction. I have since been trying to speak to a manager at Parasol - was told someone would call back in 24 hours last week - but no one has - e-mails are all being ignored and meanwhile my pension contribution has still gone missing. AJ Bell called me to explain that all the Parasol contributions have gone in the incorrect accounts, and they also can't get hold of anyone at Parasol - they have been trying to get the updated allocation file from Parasol but no one is calling them back either. Meanwhile for those who have the incorrect amounts in their accounts (some will have more than they should) - if they have invested this in funds/shares etc it will cause a huge mess as their investments will have to be unwound as well. The longer Parasol leave it the worse it will be.

    Would Parasol then be liable for any loss they incur as a result of this, I wonder? Is this something to complain to the FCSA about - as numerous requests to speak to a manager at Parasol are just being ignored?

    Their customer service is awful - the pensions team aren't responding - and their standard response time of 7 days is far too long in a situation like this where funds are sitting in the wrong accounts. I don't understand why they couldn't just correct it the very next day.
    My end client has just asked me to renew for another 6 months - i may have to make it a condition that will only renew if I move to another umbrella for the the new contract.
    Last edited by gizzmo; 27 April 2021, 08:43.

    #2
    Same problem with Parasol. Started since the 5th of April and to date I'm still waiting for their pension team to sort my SIPP out. It took them 2 weeks to answer my email (although they have this automated reply of 7 days) for which I asked clarification and I'm ready to wait for few more weeks.

    And they are billing me weekly while not doing anything...

    Probably my contract will be over by the time they sort out my pension.

    Comment


      #3
      I think we'll see a lot more problems like this.

      The issue, at least in my case, is that the umbrella calculates a percentage for your pension so the amount is different each month.
      Most SIPP providers either have a fixed monthly payment amount in or you need to do the single payment paperwork for every contribution.

      I've been talking to my umbrella pension managers for over six weeks and they still can't get a payment into Interactive Investor.

      You might be interested to know that while Hargreaves Lansdown has high fees, getting money into their SIPP from an umbrella sounds very easy. The cash can always be moved out later.

      I'd be interested to hear from people who are using Paystream and their experiences of SIPP contributions in case anyone feels like moving umbrella companies. Paystream charges were quite high for SIPP contributions but if it works it would be worth it.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Smartie View Post

        I'd be interested to hear from people who are using Paystream and their experiences of SIPP contributions in case anyone feels like moving umbrella companies. Paystream charges were quite high for SIPP contributions but if it works it would be worth it.
        With Paystream for just over a year, get paid weekly but they make a monthly single contribution to my SIPP. My biggest gripe is the only confirmation I get that the money has arrived in the pension is when my SIPP provider sends me the paperwork, which can be a little late.

        Comment


          #5
          Similar situation for me. Joined Parasol in Jan this year and things were generally pretty good, same day email response times, all seemed hunky dory.

          SIPP contributions to my HL account are supposed to be around 22nd of the month. First one in March landed on 18th, no notification but fair enough.

          This month, 22nd came and went, I waited until 26th to chase and just met a wall of silence. Calls not returned, emails not responded to.

          My payment landed on 29th, again no notification and still no response to my emails but at least I have it.

          3 weeks until the next round, I'll be keeping a close eye.
          Gronda Gronda

          Comment


            #6
            It was a manic 2 weeks with numerous calls back and forth between AJ Bell and Parasol - I was basically acting as their comms link as neither would pick up the phone to speak to the other. AJ Bell had tried to phone Parasol several times but no one was calling them back.
            I ended up escalating and raising an official complaint and got an email from a Manager at Parasol who is now dealing with the complaint.

            Finally on Fri i think they seem to have resolved it as I got a note from AJ Bell saying my contribution for the correct amount has now been received but will show in my account on the next working day - given the bank holiday i expect that means Tuesday so i hope it will be there by then.

            I had numerous calls with Parasol - eventually got to a manager - and was quite disheartened to hear that they had simply resent the corrected file without any follow up from AJ Bell that they had received it - and it was sitting in an inbox queue somewhere because Parasol had sent it to the wrong e-mail address. Finally they started picking up the phone when i passed onto them that AJ Bell said they as hadn't been able to apply the funds for 14 days they would have to return the money.

            Apparently there was about 15 AJ Bell SIPP accounts affected so i am sure others have experienced the same. I have asked them what controls they intend to put in place to ensure it doesn't happen again. Let's see what they say.

            Before this I was actually very happy with the process - as once the Pension amounts had been reconciled, the pensions team even send you a draft of the email you need to send to AJ Bell so all you need to do is cut and paste the text and declaration into an new email to AJ Bell to inform them how much will be paid in and on which date.

            Next payroll just ran end of April so will have the whole shabang again in a couple of weeks - fingers crossed for no issues this time.

            Comment


              #7
              I've been repetitively sending email and email reminder and call reminder to parasol since the beginning of April asking for a breakdown of the payment (SIPP vs salary). They keep answering vaguely and only after 1-2 weeks. To date I still didn't have an answer and still haven't been paid.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by cwah View Post
                I've been repetitively sending email and email reminder and call reminder to parasol since the beginning of April asking for a breakdown of the payment (SIPP vs salary). They keep answering vaguely and only after 1-2 weeks. To date I still didn't have an answer and still haven't been paid.
                After several escalations my issue for this month has finally been sorted out - but the cash was sitting unapplied for 3 weeks. I now have a direct contact with the Head of Partnerships who is apparently going to hand hold my next payment to make sure it goes through with no issues - I can DM you his details if you send me a DM

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by gizzmo View Post

                  After several escalations my issue for this month has finally been sorted out - but the cash was sitting unapplied for 3 weeks. I now have a direct contact with the Head of Partnerships who is apparently going to hand hold my next payment to make sure it goes through with no issues - I can DM you his details if you send me a DM
                  Sent you a DM. Thank you

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I'm getting exactly the same issue with Orange Genie - was supposed to have been paid in on the 6th of the month but still nothing despite numerous email exchanges.

                    From my own experiences and from reading this thread, it looks like these outfits just can't handle the workload generated by what I assume is a mass uptake of brolly services since the IR35 changes came into effect. It's a right royal mess.

                    Comment

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