Consumers may be losing millions of pounds in annuity payments due to lengthy application processes, industry newspaper Financial Adviser has claimed.
An article has stated that the time between submitting an application could be anything from 10 days to 3 months. A delay of just one month, with a difference of 1%, could take up to 102 months to make up. A major problem is that quotes are usually only guaranteed for up to 14 days, and after this, tend to go down. Providers have hit back, saying that applications only take a few days, if all the information needed is available. If not, this is where the time is taken, due to paperwork being sent backwards and forwards.
Our view
This is a major concern for all. Processing information requests of all types quickly whether it is an application form, a review or other can be the difference between gaining or losing. To put it in perpsective, in 1987 the Stockmarket crashed by 25% in just one day and 40% over a few days.
What if you were due to retire from your pension or were awaiting a switch of your investments away from the stockmarket? Delays can be very, very costly.