Options For Your Tomorrow Avis 

The difference was Daniella a SIPP administrator being extremely helpful and proactive.

After the passing of our late father Daniella Federico has supported us in drawing down on his private pension and has been extremely helpful and supportive. Communication has been proactive and clear. It has made dealing with an unpleasant process all-round one bit easier. Whilst I haven't delt with Options directly I can say that Daniella has been first class.

I am an Employer and we have been with Options Pension for a while - it was not a choice as we were with Careys Pension and they were taken over by Options.
It has been most frustrating task to deal with this company. When we were with Carey's pension, all upload were simple, Options made it difficult and no help. I had to resort to enter all the figures on their portal myself as they would not help. I entered Employees contribution and Employers contribution and there was one column which said AVC, which I thought it is a total of both and based on that I entered on to portal.
After going back and forth since 2023, they are now telling me that ANC is additional contribution on top of Employees and Employers. I have told them it is just a total of both EE and ER and not additional contribution.
But now they are telling me to pay the total sum of AVC, despite knowing that there had been NO AVC by any employees but they insist that I must pay that.
I have submitted all the calculations but they just would not listen and because of their stupidity, they will not complete my employees pension.
I told them to reverse the entry for AVC which will give the correct figure but they are telling me that in order to reverse the entry, I have to make the payment !! Has anyone heard this before ?
They are absolute nightmare.
Please DO NOT DEAL with this company.

I've just been onto options I have been waiting since April for my pension every time I phone up I get excuse after excuse today I've been till it's DEFERRED why it's my money they promise me a phone call back today ( won't hold my breath) taking this further already made a complaint was told it would be paid to me by 5th July !!!! maybe I should get Martin Lewis involved keep away from this company 😡😡

Had an excellent experience taking the rest of my tax free lump sum and putting my pension into flexi access drawdown. Daniella Federico in particular was superb - very responsive and knowledgeable, understood what I wanted to do and kept me aware of progress throughout - but others I spoke to were very helpful too - Francesca, Bethan, Jordan - returning missed calls even when I hadn't left a message and on top of what they were doing. The whole process was much quicker and easier than what I have experienced elsewhere from bigger pension administrators. Thank you!

Trying to get my money out of my pension. Been ongoing for 8 months.
They are completely useless and I advise get your money out now; !!!!!!!!!!!!

Currently awaiting a decision on a work pension for my young son who would be a beneficiary for his dad’s pension, I have first made contact in March 2024 & still no decision. Another pension provider sorted it & paid out in 3 weeks! Kept being fobbed off, told would get call several times over past few months within 24 hours but never did, emailed several times repeatedly and said hadn’t recieved yet I sent to same email adress then recieved some since April, was told recieved some info but not all, strangely was all in same email. Spoke to someone & no notes was in the account, re sent things. Speaking with a lady called Pauline now and she is very professional & gets back to me asap, currently awaiting decision from trustees. It’s not going to replace a child’s father but it’s only what he should get a gift from his dad from his hard work in life before getting poorly. Fingers crossed but these reviews don’t fill me with hope

Hello, please move your monies away from this incompetent business. I have been trying to move my pension for over a year now, and still have had no luck. Absolute useless business and terrible customer support.

I have a works pension with options and have tried for the last 3 months to gain access to it. I have completed the forms sent to me and returned them. I have sent 5 emails and filled in 4 'contact us' forms, but received no contact. I called the helpline and waited 25 mins only to be told that they don't deal with my problem and someone will contact me in 72 hours! I want someone to talk to me and let me access my money!!

Currently undergoing a transfer from this fund to another master fund -- should be a simple task right?

Think again.

Documents lost in transmission due to being, and I quote "old school"; doesn't fill one with hope, especially when said "old school" systems also render your communication with the recipient fund all but impossible.

I wonder what the Pensions Regulator would think of all this; they seem to have fairly comprehensive sections on cyber controls & information handling...

The very least you could do is return my calls; given I'm now having to act as liaison between two master funds (which doesn't even feel like it should be compliant) I'd at least think you'd want to know where things are up to.

Given how extortionate the management fees are (shame your funds' returns aren't that high) I'd at least expect a half decent service.

Please just return my calls.

I send retirement forms on February and I still waiting. They are ignoring me all the time. Isn’t any chance for contact.
Very bad.

Daniella Federico was exceptional to work with and has excellent communication.

Devendra Varsani has been helping me and my wife with our SIPPs for years now.
He has always been very helpful and professional and we cant recommend him highly enough.
Thanks Dev.
Robert Svensson

Very Poorly Run Pension Provided , They advised us that no Payments had been Received Since October 2023 Even though we have Bank Transaction Statements Proving Different. Numerous Emails and Phone Calls, With Promises that will get back to Us , have yet to Materialise.

Would give it zero if I could. Having read reviews on here, was dreading having to contact Options for a retirement pack previously requested months ago but never received plus other help needed. The phone call just cuts off after 8 mins waiting no matter which option you choose. Disgraceful service. Ought to be ashamed of all the comments on here and do something about it.

Unfortunately very slow and poor service. Took over 3 months to transfer in from another pension and wasn't done right. They claim I haven't paid fees for like 5 years... which is completely wrong. It takes days for them to reply to emails and I usually have to chase.

After 5 emails (one of which was to raise a complaint) and 3 phones calls (with alleged call backs) - All of which were ignored, I didn't know where to turn when all I wanted was some information for a workplace pension scheme we had setup.

I found Kyle's email address on Trustpilot and within the hour he had responded with all the information I needed, he was very helpful, professional, apologetic for the service or lack of and is a credit to the company.

I would give Options zero stars if I could but this review is solely in relation to Kyle, who quite frankly is too good for them.

If anyone needs help with Options, just ask for Kyle.

Currently trying to switch my pension, i am now on month 12 and it still hasn't been moved. They keep asking for the same information time and time again, i have sent the discharge form, filled out the scam form, i apparently flagged some red alerts on the scam form - i did not, the information they said i had answered yes to clearly said no but whatever, i signed the risk form for that to get the process moving along and re sent all documents so they had it all.
The next person who picked up my chase email asked me to fill out all of the above again.
I called both Options and the company i am transferring to see where it was at.
Options say they have no record of the other pension company requesting information even though i have the email trail, this has been sent about 5 times now and has been chased by the new pension provider.
My new pension provider can not progress until Options reply to their Email from MAY 2023 but again they don't seem to have any record of anything.
They are still taking "admin fees" off me every month and no money has been put in since December 2022 - all employees in the pension were moved at the same time, most of them have now transferred yet mine is not.
I have had to call, chase and fill out more forms than anyone and i am still no closer to getting it moved. Even with the help of a financial adviser - the same one we all had access to, he has had to do more for me than the others combined.

Long story short...they are a joke, they have no clue what they are doing, notes aren't updated and they do not check what has been said and done before replying with the same generic email asking the same old crap!

I requested a drawdown of my pension funds from Options on 5 March 2024. I sent all documents off my recorded Royal Mail. On 6 May Options emailed me to say that 2 pages were missing (not correct as I had the copies of the documents I sent). I immediately resent, again by recorded Royal Mail and requested confirmation of receipt from Options. After 5 weeks, numerous emails and more than 9 telephone calls, where I could not be put in touch with the team that was dealing with my request, I received and email saying that they were missing the “original letter”, a blank template was attached for me to complete and return. This turned out to be the original information letter Options had sent me when I initiated my drawdown request in March and simply provided me with my fund balance, therefore not a document that required signature or input from me. I emailed them their original document after which they then confirmed that they now have all the required documentation and the process would tale 8-10 weeks to provide me with my funds. Throughout the process I had made it clear to Options that I needed the money urgently as I was unemployed. Through their shocking customer care, 5 weeks had been wasted and I can expect my money, at the earliest, by 10 June. The hardship this is causing my family is immense.

Deliberately dishonest or appallingly inept. Wanted to transfer out since January and no reply. Won't pick up the phone. Do you want to hold on to my money forever?