Victims' Stories
We'll publish victims stories here. If you have a story regarding Aptia that you wish to share, pleasse email Scam@aptia-grp.com
Some names have been changed to protect the victim and the incomptent, not that they deserve it.
In August 2024 I contacted Aptia in order to have my
Gxxxxx Rxxxxxx pension transferred from Aptia UK into my AMP pension scheme in
New Zealand. Aptia insisted upon sending lots of forms to me via snail mail
rather than email as I had requested. They also sent the first of many
“Rebranding” notifications and information regarding scammers. It’s ironic as
Aptia have displayed the traits of scammers in that they have wasted much of my
time and money and are currently holding over £xxx,xxx of my money and are
refusing to give it back.
I also note that all correspondence form Aptia is
anonymous. There’s no name or signature, just the “Aptia Team”. It makes
following up very difficult and allows Aptia staff to fail to take ownership or
responsibility. Aptia instructed me to upload the documents using their website.
There was no upload feature on site, it did not work.
After
chasing Aptia, on 16th
September 2024 Aptia wrote to me stating that they were calculating the transfer
value. Additional copies of the rebrand and scammers notifications were sent to
me.
On 19th
September 2024 I received yet another scammers notification. For the first time
I requested that Aptia stop sending me rebranding and scammer notifications and
correspond via email.
On 20th
September 2024 I received a pension valuation of £xxx,xxx.xx. I made it clear
that I want to proceed with the transfer. I was given more forms to fill in.
Once again, the Aptia website was not working and I found an alternative method
of returning the completed forms.
Aptia then stated that they do not have a pension in my
name and tried to halt proceedings. This was unbelievable as Aptia had already
provided forms for me to fill in pre-populated with my details. This is when
alarm bells started ringing and I suspected Aptia of being scammers themselves.
Their behaviour certainly suggests a less than trustworthy organisation and
TrustPilot echoes that with an 88% one-star rating.
I lodged a complaint with Aptia and received an apology,
however Aptia did nothing regarding the requested pension transfer.
More time passes and Aptia are asking for yet more
documentation. During November / December 2024 I supplied Aptia with:
·
NZ Retirement Trust
Transfer of UK Soured Funds Form.
·
NZ Retirement Trust
Statement showing my NZ Pension.
·
NZ Retirement Trust –
AMP Funds QROPS
·
A copy of my Rates
bill as proof of address and residency verified by a solicitor.
·
Two Tower Insurance
bills as further proof of address and residence.
·
Six bank statements
showing my salary.
·
A copy of my passport
verified by a solicitor.
·
Six pay slips showing
pension deductions.
·
A letter as
confirmation of employment by an NZ Ministry.
·
Transfer Advice
Confirmation Letter from my trusted financial advisor of more than twenty years.
·
A transfer request and
discharge form for Gxxxxx Rxxxxxx Pension Plan.
·
AMP UK Pension welcome
letter.
·
AMP Receiving Scheme
Warranty.
·
HMRC Qualifying
Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme form.
·
HMRC Qualifying
Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme notification.
·
HMRC Qualifying
Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme Business Compliance.
Aptia then wasted more time confirming the transfer
currency.
Finally on 19th
December 2024, Kermit of Aptia stated that Aptia have everything they need to
proceed. I requested a date at which the transfer would be complete. This
request was ignored.
From: Kermit
(Aptia)
Sent: 19 December
2024 02:52
To: Innocent Victim
Cc: Gonzo (Aptia)
Miss Piggy (Aptia)
Subject: Innocent
Victim (Transfer)
Dear Innocent Victim,
I can advise that we now have
the information required and will be processing the case shortly.
We will correspond further accordingly, please let us
know if you have any queries.
Thanks
Kermit
Transfer Prevention
He
www.aptia-grp.com
Postal address: Aptia,
A Very Special Corner of Hell.
This
turned out to be yet another Aptia lie. On 28th
December 2024, Aptia sent yet more correspondence via snail mail and stated that
they did not have all they need to proceed.
On 28th
December 2024 Miss Piggy of Aptia confirmed that Kermit of Aptia had lied. Aptia
stated that they wanted a letter of advice from a UK based financial advisor
that knows nothing about my financial situation. I regarded this as yet another
pathetic excuse to block the transfer as previously Gonzo of Aptia had indicated
that my trusted financial advisor of more than twenty years doesn’t need to be
FCA registered, and proof of employment would be sufficient.
From:
Gonzo (Aptia)
Sent: 20 December
2024 03:34
To: Trusted
Financial Advisor
Cc: Innocent
Victim, Kermit, Service Delivery Prevention
Subject: PP/
Transfer Out- Innocent Victim - JLTxxxxxxxx
Importance: High
Trusted
Financial Advisor
We have been provided your letter dated 13 December 2024
confirming you have provided the member with Financial Advice in regards to
their proposed transfer of benefits from the Gxxxxx Rxxxxxx Pension Plan to AMP
New Zealand Retirement Trust.
We are in the process of finalising the transfer,
however, when we have performed our checks to verify you and your company are
registered on the FCA Register no results are coming up with the FCA reference
you have provided (xxxx/xxxxx). I should be grateful if you would urgently
provide us with the correct FCA reference in order that we may check the FCA
register and finalise the members transfer.
If you are not FCA
registered, the
Pensions Regulator has stated that the employing firm must provide written
confirmation from a Senior Manager that the you work for their firm.
If this is the case, please therefore arrange to provide this confirmation as
soon as possible, which we must have before that transfer can proceed.
Regards
Gonzo
Transfer Prevention Manager
www.aptia-grp.com
Postal address: Aptia,
A Very Special Corner of Hell.
I now have Kermit stating that Aptia have everything
they need to proceed, Gonzo stating that proof of employment is required from my
NZ based financial advisor to proceed and Miss Piggy stating that I need a
letter of advice, that will not in any way influence my decision, from a UK
based financial advisor that I’ve never met and will not be as comprehensive as
the advice I have already taken. Aptia’s incompetence has led three of their
staff to contradict each other. Out of desperation and wanting to get this
stressful, time consuming and expensive fiasco over with I asked Aptia to
recommend a way forward. They bluntly come back with “We lied again, you need to
supply a letter from a UK based financial advisor”.
I contacted :
·
NZ Britannia
·
Chase de Vere
·
Experts for Expats –
Two separate contractors.
·
Pension Help
None of the above were able / willing to supply the
alleged “Letter of advice”. One of them indicated that Aptia had such a bad
industry wide reputation that dealing with them was to be avoided at all costs.
Several times during this process I asked Aptia to
provide details of someone that could provide this meaningless letter. They
ignored my requests. I asked Aptia to suggest an alternative such as the one
mentioned above regarding my NZ based financial advisor letter of employment. As
I have come to expect, Aptia ignored this request too.
On multiple occasions I asked Aptia how this
preposterous situation could be resolved, they stated that they would refer the
matter to the trustees. I made it clear that the trustees must be given the full
information regarding Aptia’s incompetence and that they must produce a workable
solution. Aptia’s response was to say “No transfer, case closed”.
During this process Aptia have lied, delayed, sent me to
a defective website, ignored my requested, wasted a great deal of my time and
money and then shut down my transfer request. I’m bitterly disappointed and seek
a path forward that will see MY pension transferred to AMP ASAP.
Earlier this week my legal representative read through
all of Aptia’s contradictory ramblings and is now challenging them regarding
Gonzo’s comment that the useless “Letter of advice” does not need to be from a
UK based financial advisor nor FCA member. I have since written to Miss Piggy
twice and surprise, surprise, no response.
I have lodged a complaint with my ex-employer that set up the pension regarding Aptia’s incompetence and another with the Pensions Ombudsman. My lawyer will be seeking a response from Aptia too. She’s not going away.
The latest update is that after ten months of tolerating Aptia's lies, deceit and incompetence my lawyer has fianlly found a UK based FCA that's willing to work with them. I'm guessing it'll be their first and last time. I have requested that the muppets supply a new expiry date to the FCA. Aptia's chairman wrote back, ignoring my request and accused me of being rude. What a cheek. It's the second time he's done this. I'll ask that a link to the Institue of Director complaint process be added to the useful contacts page.