Clerical Medical Investment Group Limited Reviews 

Would leave zero stars if possible. DO NOT TOUCH THIS COMPANY. Dreadful service, my late grandfather had a life assurance policy who paid into the account since 1993 in complete faith until his death in September 2023. Since then, there has been no release of funds to the beneficiaries, numerous phone calls, complaints logged, including one from the solicitor. It has not only caused financial burden due to rising solicitor costs as it is still ongoing, but immense emotional distress and upset. Terrible company that should not be allowed to continue to trade. We have gone to the Press and Clerical Medical should be ashamed of themselves.

I used to think CMG was a reputable professional pension company. How wrong was I.
Trying to transfer my pension (which it looks like most people are). Everytime I call I am given conflicting information. Told my ex employers were trustee & had to do it all. Next phone call says something different. Next letter says something else. Just spent another hour on the phone to them going round in circles and mainly being on hold. Have asked for a manager to call me back. Have been told that will happen in 48 hours. At the same time I have emailed in a formal complaint. Interesting to see their complaints email address is exactly the same as general enquiries. So I doubt it will be given any priority. I am a new widow, I need to draw down my pension as I financially need it. CMG are putting me into financial hardship

I’ve been trying to transfer my pension fund to an overseas qualifying scheme for over a year. It’s a simple transfer and other pensions have paid out quickly. With CM I’ve been waiting since November for a form. They never respond to any contact via email, phone or via my financial advisor. A complaint made in March was assigned to a complain manager in June but has not yet been resolved as they have now left. They are unresponsive, incompetent and appear to have a deliberate policy of obfuscating customers in order not to pay out on their entitlements.

Extremely frustrating experience so far!!
Dilatory service from Customer Service staff regarding a Formal Complaint lodged in April...my call was ping ponged across the company, staff clearly unable to understand the issues, promised to call back but never did!!
No response to my initial letter of complaint so I had to resend by Royal Mail signed for.
Several weeks later I've received a call which shows as SPAM....had to provide my ID whilst in public setting!
Come on Clerical Medical! Get your act together! Why such a dilatory, couldn't care less attitude????
Since writing this I've read all the other negative reviews!!!
Even 1 star is too much!!

I am trying to access a Trust but Clerical and Medical are very very illusive and slow in responding. I am a Trustee of a Flexible bond left by parents. They take months to reply by mail. It’s been 5 month so far and I’m no further forward. Today I wanted to know what type of Trust my Flexible bond was. I spent 1:5 hours phoning 4 times got put through to another call handed who allegedly knew about my request. But all 4 time I’m cut off. What a shocking group this is.

I have been a customer of Clerical Med for over 20 years. I recently transferred my pension with them to my new company pension. Terrible call advisors one who actually hung up on me when told my money 80k had been transferred 4 weeks ago, however my works pension had not received it. When asked so where is my pension pot? advisors said "Well I don't know speak to your works pension" then hung up. I received no correspondence from Clerical neither in letters or phone calls during the transfer period, neither did my works pension. Put a complaint in and offer £50 pound as the advisor was young???
My pension is now transferred to my works pension thank god I am rid of Clerical Med. Seriously if you have savings/pension with these clowns get it out now!!!!!!!

Empty promises of follow ups. Complaints sitting on file not being allocated a complaints manager. No explanation for delays as to why transferred in pensions not making your pension account. 5 working day turnaround.
Pityful customer service

A total shambles- 4 years of trying to sort an issue. I call for group action, search for "Scottish Widows Complaint Platform” on Facebook

Absolute shambles of a company, no assistance or offer of help to resolve my issue whatsoever. With retirement in mind I sent CM a single lump sum payment of 49k on March 5th 2024 to invest in my personal pension plan with a view to buying an annuity. CM are telling me they’ve added the 49k to my plan on March 14th but the overall value of the plan has not increased in line with a 49k investment, I know this because I’ve kept a log of my pension plan value each time I’ve called CM. They have never formally acknowledged receipt of the 49k, never provided an investment report to show distribution of the 49k, never called me…nothing. I’ve made a formal complaint which CM have acknowledged via a generic email & attachment, however no specific details of my complaint and how they will deal with it, just that they have 8 weeks to sort it out. Appalling customer service.

Shockingly poor service. My client died last August, first they gave me completely the wrong options for the plan including sending me deeds of assignment. Turns out it cannot be assigned, has to be paid out. Been trying to get this done since December 2023. Last week finally spoke to a manager who promised a call back Monday - guess what - no call back. So today, I've raised a complaint about the complaint about the complaint - next stop the press. I wish this site would allow zero stars!

It’s fair to say they are complete administrative shambles ~ every interaction with them, which is a pension fund drawdown request turns into a farce. They refuse to disclose their regulatory failings to the FCA as I have requested . In their defence their investments outperform their competitors.. every drawdown I make ends in a fiasco and in a formal complaint and compensation ~ I have had 9 compensation payouts in the last 2 1/2 years

Clerical Medical/Scottish Widows BIG BIG SCAM!!
What a scam!
Took out a pension plan in the 1980’s with Clerical medical which is now Scottish widows belonging to the Lloyds Bank group.
Everything went well up until a certain stage where my annual statements stopped.
Finally got an Annual Pension Statement after not hearing anything since 2017 which is more than 6 years.
Not really customer friendly!
In November 2020 i sent them a letter with my new address in Germany which eventually did get updated.
On the 30.January 2023 i eventually got hold of someone in the company after trying for hours and hours. They said they would be sending me my annual statements per Email and with the post but nothing happened.
I then went on their website and was unable to gain access to my Pension Plan because the service was not available. It still isn’t available for customers living abroad. I then filed a complaint and eventually at the end of February 2023 received my Plan Information and a cheque for 150pounds which i was not able to pay into any of my online bank accounts here in Germany.
Scottish widows has agreed in writing to me that the level of service provided has fallen below the standards set.
It is still not possible to enter my Pension Plan online when not living in the UK!!
In the meantime, I realize that my pension and payout times are overdue. I am 58 years of age now and at the age of 55 i could have taken some or all of my pension out in which this information was also held back from me.
Since then, I have received an email on the 26.Jan saying that they have called me which hasn’t happened even though they could have called me on my mobile number and could contact me at anytime.
Reading about all other complaints on Facebook and Trust Pilot and newspaper articles it seems like everyone else are also having problems with stupid phone calls just playing for time and trying to slow down payments!
Due to lack of service and problems on their behalf i have completely lost all my trust in this terrible rip off company and therefore wish to take the whole Pension Plan as a lump sum in cash paid out ASAP.
I will be contacting the local police and bring this rip off company to court!

James Wilson was great and after checking with colleagues provided the specific information requested.

My heart goes out to those trying to access their funds.
My family went through hell about 3 years ago attempting to achieve a quote and finally payout for my late Mothers fund ( approx £70, 000).
This had nothing to do with inefficiency or IT issues ( there go to excuse the last 5 years) and everything to do with deliberate stalling, lying and false promises.
When I finally lost it on yet another fruitless phone call, the CM advisor just laughed. Someone in the background told me where to get off. Pure contempt.
Two Solicitors letters made no difference.
Finally I got the Halifax involved as a liaison - they got the same treatment but everything was now getting logged. I was preparing myself for a court case.
In the end I threatened to go to the Police. Within a week I got my forms and a payout followed.
Is it a ponzi scheme? A scam of some kind?
I've no idea but CM seem to be going to extraordinary lengths not to payout peoples penions and funds.
Somethings is seriously adrift.
The media need to investigate.

CLERICAL MEDICAL IS NOTHING SHORT OF SHOCKING.
I have been retired since Nov 2022 and here in Nov 2023 I am still unable to access my pension with CM.
The funds did get sent to A J Bell after 9 months of continued ringing on a regular basis and my complaints being upheld and a settlement offered for the shocking service, which to date I have not accepted.
But the problems persist !!.
A J Bell are unable to allow me access to my funds because CM have not issued the correct paperwork to allow me proceed with any form of drawdown.
Despite numerous (and I mean numerous promises that this is being prioritised, AJB call and e mail daily), I still
am unable to take a penny of my pension.
Shame on you Clerical Medical, Scottish Widows and Lloyds Banking group, in fact maybe I should move all my Lloyds accounts away from this shameful set up.
Phil Dobson.

Zero would be best rating My two formal complaints are still ongoing they never reply even compaints dept dont reply.. I now have two complaints upheld by ombudsman but still not resolved. They are not even sending the compensation they promised.

Clerical Medical have mishandled money I have paid into a pension I hold with them. This goes back two years and is still ongoing. In Sept 2021, I wanted my funds changed and regular contribution changed, along with a top-up I enclosed. All details perfectly clear on the form. They put my top-up in a suspense account for months. A complaints officer sorted that out - or so was thought when he left. The top-up was then invested incorrectly and took months to have amended. My usual annual increase of contribution was not made until I pointed that out to them. Took months to sort out. After 11 months of waiting, the THIRD complaints officer handling my case provided evidence to me they had not invested my regular contributions correctly. I handed the matter to the Financial Ombudsman, but after about 10 more months, no correction has been sent to me with a statement of the pension's value. I have previously had two annual statements, but due to the errors not amended, they were incorrect.

I have reached pension age and want to put the pension to use. (NOT with Clerical Medical / Scottish Widows, though).

I gather from when I was making the complaint, and calling Clerical Medical's call centre, data was exported to a new database about 3 years ago and this caused problems, leading to a lot of professionally trained staff leaving. It seems to me, temps have been taken on with little training, but do not stay. (Probably why I had 3 complaints officers handle the 1 case.) The call centre always had to pass my enquiries back to their 'back office', but little would arise which would amend the matters. I was just receiving letters irrelevant to my queries, others would say the matter had been resolved - which it had not. The name and signature on a lot of letters Clerical Medical sent me was often that of their Head of Operations. I won't name him here.

I feel poor internal communications and a lack of training are at the heart of the fault.

Before all this, I was pleased with Clerical Medical handling my pension. Not now they have been mishandling it, though.

I'm typing this as my husband is fuming yet again with CM about his pension. Opted to claim aged 60 in Nov 22. Gets several letters asking him to choose an option, then a letter saying not enough funds but CM would make up the shortfall if he retired at 65. Numerous phone calls (we're in Cyprus) with average waiting time of 20 minutes, staff said every time that he'd rung the wrong number. He rung the one on every piece of correspondence and on the website for calling from abroad. Pointed this out every time he rang, only to be told "sorry". Each time he had to be put through to someone else, who couldnt give a simple answer let alone consistent ones. Now received a letter stating he'd chosen to retire at 75! So, they're useless at investing, staff are not trained properly with full and consistent up to date information, insufficient information about customer accounts on the system, not all staff are aware they can phone customers who live abroad, still not changed the overseas phone number on correspondence and website and the 'left hand certainly doesn't know what the right hand is doing'. He spoke to them today (eventually) went through the whole scenario again, staff had to put him through to someone else, he requested someone phone him back and they did! Had explain again, she put him on hold, suddenly a man came on the phone asking if he could help! It goes on longer but........After today's fiasco, there's another complaint on its way.

I am still waiting for my endowment to be paid for me. Appalling customer service who try and fob me off each time. Repeatedly sent letters asking me what I want to do when I have proof of receiving my paperwork. Not able to complain directly they say the complaint has to be first raised internally!! Do not use this company they are totally unprofessional.

My dad who is 95, lost my mum in May. He decided at his age to ask for his investment from Clerical medical(was Scottish Widows). We filled in the form, signed and sent it off only to hear nothing. I phoned on his behalf with him there and was assured he would get his money in 10 working days. Nothing. I phoned again and was promised they would mark it urgent. At his age he doesn’t want the £27.80p he gets monthly, as he wants to pay off mums funeral with the just under£3000 owing him as it’s HIS money.
I can’t believe the lack of understanding and the very poor response of this company. He is still waiting and at 95 he can’t afford to wait.