going4it

Hi All,

I had a meeting with Geraint Davies yesterday and was a little concerned about the price that I was quoted. To tell the truth I had the last minute thought to check here to see what people were saying, just minutes before we left for our meeting. I did not like what I saw, so I thought I would post what I was quoted as it seemed out of context to what other people were saying it should cost.

A little background information on our situation. My partner and I are 28, we have no mortgage, no house to sell, no loans, no outstanding credit, no life insurance or any other insurance for that matter. What we do have is our state pension contributions, I have a stakeholder pension with £1000 in and my works pension with about £5500 in. We currently have £4,500 in a bank account with the CBA and another £4000 in ISAs which we will cash in when we leave. We both currently work and rent. I considered that this was a tidy financial situation to be in prior to moving in April.

After our consultation with Geraint yesterday, we were quoted £595 + VAT (£699.13) for Montfort to do the work on transferring our finances we were also told that we were getting it cheaper than the £1100 they normally charge. We were also told that the cost could go up in 3 months due to the way new regulations are implemented.

My gut feeling tells me that this is way too much money for the information, and after looking at my finances this figure was plucked from the air. However, I feel that this is way too much. I may be wrong, hence my posting here to find out.

We also got told horror stories of a couple who did it themselves and are in right trouble because of it as well as stories of how ex-employees "Who were not up to his standard" had left "Because of this" and started their own companies and we were being told that they were not offering as good a product as him????

I am very sceptical of the information that I was being told.

Can anyone offer advise on this?

Thanks,
going4it

markeh

Hiya going4it,
what exactly are you paying for?

If it's £595 + VAT (£699.13) just for moving your mone I would have a eppy!!!!!!
Blimey that would be a huge ammount for doing alittle bit of paperwork!


What do you think they are doing for that money!

Regards
Mark

going4it

Hi Mark,

He said that they were going to write off to the different companies that we hold isas and pensions with (3) to my knowledge to get the facts about our pensions and investments.

Put us in touch with people in OZ who can help to arrange mortgages and finances before and after we move and help with avoiding tax problems with the finances. Nothing that was said had been put in writing.

Regards,

Going4it

markeh

Hiya going4it,
you should be able to contact your old pension scheme's direct and get the value of the fund and then transfer it to Oz

ISA's are essentially cash you can change into A$ at a bank or with an online service (Several mentioned previously HIFX I think is one)

With regard to tax advise in Oz £600 equates to A$1500 and that sounds like alot of advice! off letters as required to your old pension company's (I believe that the Department for Works & Pensions) holds list s of old employees / pension schems


I would advise you to dig your old paperwork out, post letters to your old pension schemes & do it yourself!

Bye
Mark

PortJackson

Montfort ,Montfort ,Montfort rings abell.Suggest you do a search on this site and read what others think of this company~interesting reading.

Also check out Alan Collett he does the same service .Maybe get a quote there as well ~compare~decide.

markeh

Sounds like good advice!

Bye
Mark

going4it

I think I definately will, I'm not paying that type of money without research!!

Thanks for all the advice.

Going4it

Pollyana

Montfort have appeared here a few times - can't speak from prior personal experience, but now I wouldn't use them owing to the reports I've heard on here. The guy who posted here used a lot of tactics to scare people into paying for financial advice, and baffled people with longwinded posts.
You don't seem to have too complex a situation - get some quotes from people like Go Matilda and spend a few hours searching this site - most financial stuff has been discussed here before.

gazza22222

Hi Going4it

We now live in the Gold Coast and before we left in May 04 we had a meeting with Geraint at Montford. I obviously paid my money for the meeting we had but decided not to use them because I thought it was a lot of money to do not much at all. He makes it sound as if they are doing a lot for you and that they have a lot of contacts etc. In my opinion they are taking advantage of people who don't know what to do and feel that its best to put their financial affairs into professional hands. If you have money to burn (which none of us have) then use them, but you can do a lot yourself.

He also kept on ringing us and pestering me to go to the next stage of doing things. I don't like the man in any shape or form - so beware of Geraint Davies from Montford International - he's after your money.

From
Lovin it in the Gold Coast

parkhigh

Hi
I spoke to this guy at Sanford last year and he was too smarmy if there is such a word and I just didnt feel comfortable. I have decided to try and clear as much we can ourselves first and seem to be doing ok so far.
Irene

Jacko1

If you ring your pension provider and ask them to freeze your pensions and send you the transfer forms they will send the forms, then you take the forms to your Aussie pension provider and hopefully they will be able to carry out the transfer for you.

The ISA's can be left to do what ISA@s do then be transferred via bank A/C at the apropriate time.

Hope this helps (only a guide)

Paul J

PS that will be £500 VAT free

going4it

Thank you everyone for the advice, it does sound quiet easy to do it myself. I am going to do some research into what exactly I need to do and how to do it.

Paul thanks for the generous offer, less than £10 a word can't be bad

lesley street

Just got back from interview with Mr Davies of Montford's and have to say i agree with all thats been said. Smarmey fits him to a tee!!! We are in a similar position- only have pension transfer to sort and we were quoted £1195 + VAT and plus any commissions or charges incured. Don't think we will be using them. Not a total waste of the day though, soke to a very nice chap from Australian Financial Services- seem very straight to the point and up front.

Good luck

Lesley + Martin

Jimbo9

As Jacko said you can definitely keep your ISA if you want to, you just can't contribute to it when you are no longer tax resident in the UK. If its invested in equities remember that the UK stockmarket is 35% off its best levels while Australia is at an all time high - I'd be tempted to keep it in the UK. It still might be worth taking it out of an ISA into an online stockbroker account to get away from the annual ISA charge - I'm not sure the tax benefit of the ISA wrapper has any relevance when you migrate.
Jim