David Arnold, of Dorset, came to see us just as he was approaching retirement. Like many of our clients, David had accumulated a number of different pension products during his working lifetime. He wanted to be sure of securing the best possible income from them for the foreseeable future – and asked us to help him review their potential on his behalf.

Ralph Bosworth – David’s personal adviser – suggested looking at Open Market Options. By enquiring about annuity rates from a range of providers, rather than relying on the pension plan providers’ projections alone, Ralph could see that David would immediately be assured of a higher income than he had originally expected.

One plan, however, stood out as having an income illustration somewhat short of our own projections for the fund it contained. Ralph contacted the provider directly on David’s behalf – insisting, despite their reticence to review the situation, that the annuity projections be recalculated.

After several months’ protracted liaison, the provider agreed with Ralph’s view. They began paying a higher figure, backdated their calculations, and paid David the sum of £460 in compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused.

David was happy to see that we could obtain better returns for him, on the majority of his pension funds, but delighted that Ralph had remained determined to escalate the communication with that one provider, ultimately securing a far better income for his retirement.