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Bidwells

Introducing the LV= Retirement Advice Service

We’ll help you tackle retirement with confidence

A great retirement starts with expert advice

0800 032 9309
Mon to Fri 8.30am-5.30pm
For TextDirect: First dial 18001
We will record and/or monitor calls for training and audit purposes

To help you understand and navigate your retirement options, LV= have been carefully selected by Bidwells LLP to provide you with access to our expert retirement guidance and advice services.

You can have confidence in your retirement decisions knowing that we provide impartial and trusted advice. You’ll be provided with a personal recommendation that puts your interests first and also benefit from competitive preferential rates for the advice we provide.

    WHY GET RETIREMENT ADVICE WITH US?

    Our advisers will recommend and arrange the most suitable solution for you

    They can provide advice on various types of pensions, no matter what your needs or circumstances

    • Here to help. Specialist support is delivered by our friendly retirement options specialists based in our Bournemouth head office. They’ll help you understand the pension benefits available to you if you keep your pension in the Bidwells Pension and Life Assurance Scheme or what transferring out looks like.  
    • Expert advice. You’ll be allocated your own Pension Transfer Specialist to work with you from start to finish. They have access to all your scheme data to make the advice journey as smooth as possible. They’ll recommend the best solutions using options available from the Bidwells Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, LV=, and providers from the whole of the market.
    • Putting your needs first. We consider your long-term security in retirement, as well as short-term objectives to ensure you get the right outcome. 
    • Competitive pricing. From £1,000+ VAT of which Bidwells LLP have agreed to pay £500 towards the cost of our advice (see fees and charges below).
    • Peace of mind. We’re proud to be committed to the Gold Standard. This means we adhere to these good practice principles from the Personal Finance Society to deliver quality pension transfer advice from our in-house pension transfer specialists. We’ve also signed up to the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce Charter so you can rest assured our advice is delivered clearly and concisely in every case.

      Pension Transfer Gold Standard and Financial Vulnerability Taskforce logos

    Our advice process

    Our tried and tested process – here’s what you can expect

    It all starts with a chat

    We have a number of pension transfer specialists who are trained and qualified to give advice about your defined benefit pension options. Call us for a free conversation, with no obligation. We’ll listen to you to understand what you’re hoping to achieve with your pension.

    You should have received access to the suite of educational videos to help you understand whether transferring your defined benefit pension is right for you. Please take the time to watch these and chat through any questions you may have with us.

    Please be aware that pension transfers with a value of £30,000 or more are required by law to seek financial advice.

      Decide if you'd like to proceed

      After your initial chat, if you've come to the decision that you'd like to proceed with our advice, you'll be required to pay an upfront fee. This will be explained to you clearly right at the start before proceeding. Further information on our fees can be found under 'fees and charges' below.

      We’ll send you a welcome pack and some simple questionnaires to help us get to know you.

      You’ll then be allocated your own adviser to work with you from start to finish.

      In line with the Financial Conduct Authority our advice will begin assuming a transfer out will not be in most people’s best interest. There are certain circumstances where it may make sense to have more flexibility in accessing your pension savings which your adviser will investigate thoroughly as part of the next stage.

        Research and recommendations

        Your adviser will have a conversation with you to gather information and discuss your needs and objectives in detail. This will give us a clear picture of your circumstances and what you are trying to achieve.

        We will undertake a full review of all your personal, financial, and pension information. We’ll pull all this information together to research and recommend the most suitable solution for you. Our advice may be to keep your pension where it is, or it might be to transfer it. Either way we will explain why.

        Your personalised plan will be presented and explained in a report, which we will send to you.

        It’s important that you fully understand our recommendations, so we’ll arrange a time to explain the report and ensure you are clear what we are advising you to do. It’s always ok to ask us questions.

        If you choose to proceed with our recommendations, leave the rest to us. We’ll set everything up for you and keep you informed every step of the way.

          Fees and charges

          We make advice more accessible by offering our initial consultation for free.

          If you’ve agreed to proceed with advice, we offer a competitive fixed fee structure which will be explained to you clearly and right at the start.

          Advice is from £1,000 + VAT of which Bidwells LLP have agreed to pay £500 towards the cost of our advice. If you’d like advice on your defined contribution pensions in conjunction with your defined benefit advice for your Bidwells Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, this will be £500 per scheme payable on transfer.

          We are required by regulation to charge this as an upfront fee for defined benefit pensions.

          For our ongoing service we charge 0.5% per annum, which is significantly lower than average based on a Which? survey where more than 100 financial advisers were surveyed

            WHO WE ARE

            We're part of LV=, a name you can trust

            We specialise in providing retirement solutions, we've been doing it for over 20 years

            • We’ve been helping people look after what they love for over 175 years.
            • We are strictly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. You’ll be in safe hands.
            • We’ll always provide the help that is right for you and only recommend advice if we believe that it is in your best interests.
            • We’ll communicate with you in easy-to-understand and jargon-free language.

            Ready to get started?

            Call us today for a commitment free chat

            Start your conversation by giving us a little more information about your pension and retirement plans.

            0800 032 9309
            TextDirect: 18001 0800 032 9309

            Lines open 8.30am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday
            We will record and/or monitor calls for training and audit purposes
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