Prime Time on public service "Union appointed avc providers Vs Notional Service"

[mula]

one of the main union appointed avc providers is under the spotlight with regard to the advice they give the union members on avcs and notional service. should be interesting

[John Rambo]

Brendan was/is on the show right now. This particular company are getting a roasting. My other half had one of these guys in our house a few years back and she signed up for AVC's which seem to be a disaster. Hands up, I haven't examined it in detail but in theory how can she/we knock this AVC thing on the head and "buy back service" as described in the programme. Can she buy back her years in college for example? Good programme. Thanks in advance. Regards, John

[BroadbandKen]

That guy just kept digging himself and his company a bigger hole. I wouldnt fancy having to answer his phones tomorrow or infact the Union's.

[John Rambo]

Originally Posted by BroadbandKen

That guy just kept digging himself and his company a bigger hole. I wouldnt fancy having to answer his phones tomorrow or infact the Union's.

Yes...I dare say their phones might be ringing off the hook tomorrow

[mula]

Originally Posted by John Rambo

Brendan was/is on the show right now. This particular company are getting a roasting. My other half had one of these guys in our house a few years back and she signed up for AVC's which seem to be a disaster. Hands up, I haven't examined it in detail but in theory how can she/we knock this AVC thing on the head and "buy back service" as described in the programme. Can she buy back her years in college for example? Good programme. Thanks in advance. Regards, John

15 mins was not enough to cover this topic and will probably leave ppl more confused then informed. imho nsp's are not the best solution in all cases as was potrayed by the program.

[loweez]

Any advice, from anyone out there, for someone paying into cornmarket AVCs as we speak!! i was under the impression that I was getting the beat deal. i feel sick to my stomach right now. Where do I begin tackling this? thanks

[DingDing]

I would start by making your feelings known to your union. They are paid considerable contributions to represent members interests and in this case they may not have acted in your best interests with cornmarket.

It is hard to believe how the union can act in the members best interest when the accept significant advertising and sponsorship from cornmarket.

[Tetragon]

I am also sick to my stomach after the programme. I have contributed a high percentage of my salary to AVC's for years.

I for one will be on the phone to them tomorrow for an urgent review.

As an aside ..... as a 'green young teacher' .... my union really pushed this scheme .... the advisor from Cornmarket 'advised' me to tick the married box even though I wasn't (I'm still single) .... no harm done/best for tax relief ..... fool was I .... it took years for me to discover that Cornmarket were the only ones benefiting from that box being ticked!

Think my union is due a call also!!

[Kildare123]

tetragon...how did the company benfit?

[caro26]

Join the club. I've rather belatedly taken out the paper work form the filing cabinet and noted that my AVC is currently on the adventurous side. Wonder can it be changed without incurring any extra fee from cornmarket to a less risky investment option.
As regards the union their line will be that they don't give financial advice but rather supply us with a rubber stamped advisor- seems a bit like shooting fish in a barrel

[DingDing]

The union did not provide us with advice, however they promoted a company which did not provide unbiased advice.

Motions to Congress ??????

[extopia]

Can someone summarise the allegations against Cornmarket for the non primetime watchers?

[DingDing]

The show is here.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1113/primetime_av.html

The show is here.


This link will bring you to the pensions part of the show - undercover interview. http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1113/pri...49213,null,230

Cornmarket and Eddie Hobbs Discuss report http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1113/pri...49213,null,230

[Kildare123]

Dingding, forget the union...the employer did not provide the advice! Thats who I'm complaining to.

[Tetragon]

They were getting a higher percentage of my wage, charging me more etc.

I got onto Irish Life ... complained about the 'wrong/fraudulent' advice I got .... received an apology and an additional couple of thousand being added to my fund.

Where I would really have been caught out is that my estate would only be entitled to the 'single' payout .... all the extras I paid for spouses/dependents etc that didn't exist meant that I was being screwed for years.

They were over a barrel .... they had to sort it.

But tonight's revelation has really turned my stomach.

Feck ..... I have paid thousands into the fund for years.

[DingDing]

My employer provided advice when asked. And were very helpful with quotations with the notional service scheme. I was encouraged by the union to discuss my requirements with cornmarket. My employer also outlined other companies that had lower charges if I decided to go with an AVC scheme.

I can't see how it is the employers fault as they never suggested me to contact cornmarket and gave balanced advice.

[caro26]

Maybe I'm clutching at straws but I noted that Eddie Hobbs said that AVC are not a bad product as such but it was the misselling of the same that was the prob the programme was highlighting. So for someone with no breaks in service the AVC is still the way to go to retire earlier??

[DingDing]

I think the big factor with the AVC's is the risk. The returns on the Notional Service Scheme is Guaranteed, And it is how you factor the risk.

[NorthDrum]

Originally Posted by extopia

Can someone summarise the allegations against Cornmarket for the non primetime watchers?

Basically, what primetime are saying is:

Cornmarket were advising civil servants to take out AVC's (additional voluntary contributions) as opposed to paying more into their pensions and getting guaranteed returns. But this recommendation was based soley on what cornmarket could make out of the advice, not on what was best for the client.

With AVC's you are not guaranteed a return or an income but can potentially gain more then what you get with the guaranteed government scheme.

Its open to interpretation and investment growth as to what is the best alternative.

That said the programme seemed to suggest that the cornmarket agent was pushing the AVC as it was more profitable for the company, hence the negatives on the alternative.

I have nothing to do with Cornmarket and have no interest in them either way. In my opinion, it was a sales person involved in the setup and they were totally stung looking for the "sale". You dont have to be obvious to be wrong. I only met 4 people today explaining a pension and they were asking about the HSE pension scheme. Now, I am not totally sure of the HSE scheme and I clarified that, but one of the questions was "how will that effect my original service with the HSE scheme". To which I asked for terms and conditions of the policy (to which I am waiting to recieve). I explained that it is totally differant between State defined benefit schemes and defined contribution schemes and that I can only discuss it further when I see their scheme conditions (only saying this to clarify that I explained to the client that the two pensions are completely differant). My understanding is that you can buy service (whole differant ballgame) but that it could only be clarified by discussing it with their existing pension scheme administrators.

As for Eddie Hobbs, didnt see him discussing the Investment scheme he was involved with that was a disaster.. . . A PR delight. . That said, he was right in what he said . . . .

And, MR Burgess, good to put a face to the mod . . . I actually agreed with what you were saying . . Despite our previous differance of opinions . . .

[Tetragon]

Tonight was the first time I ever heard of Notional Service ... if I'd known about it I would have asked a lot more questions.