"Very poor customer service"

Based on my experience I would not advise anyone invest through James Hay. My Sipp had reasonable charges and a decent choice of funds but problems started when I wanted to take a lump sum payment and close the account. Having completed the fund withdrawal form I was advised that it would take 15 working days for the money to appear in my account. After a couple of weeks I enquired about the withdrawal and was informed I needed to be sent risk advice and on receipt have a 14 day cooling off period when I had already taken UK Gov pensionwise advice. I waived the 14 day period but am still waiting for the money to be paid. Each time I telephone I am told they are escalating my case and I have raised a complaint but have yet to receive any forecast for payment. If you are with James Hay and are considering taking anything from a pension you should allow lots of time!

"James Hay were entrusted with my…"

James Hay were entrusted with my pension.
They are interested in one thing and one thing only making money for themselves.
8 years I was tied to them however never again.
They lie, they never return calls and they quote legalities which are not legalities
.my advice to all people who are dissatisfied with James Hay
1) question every payment
2) If they quote any legalities contact the financial ombudsman or your solicitor and take advice. If it is not a legality and their policy you are entitled to compensation.
3) If you are complaining, after the call ask for a copy of the transcript. They have to supply it.
4) If you are to complain stick at it you will be compensated however do not accept their first offer.
They want to close the complaint.
5) Make a complaint about everything you don’t agree with.
6) Find another company
The chief executive at James Hay is Richard Rowley.
He won’t take your call however keep writing to him.

"Unethical & Fraudulent Business Practices"

This is the most dodgy and unethical firm i have ever had the misfortune of dealing with and based on the other reviews here I'm surprised they still have a license from the regulators to continue operating in the market. I deposited some money in 2017 into a SIP and James Hay was given instructions to transfer my funds from another pension. Due to incompetency from James Hay Parnership, they failed to complete the pension transfer and came to find that in 2021 they were charging me an annual fee even though they were not offering me any services for the last 5 years. I received a bill of £400 in 2021 for "administrations fees", and they actually ate into the original money i deposited in 2017 so really at that point they were deducting these fraudulent fees from the money i deposited . I made a lengthy complaint which surprise surprise they didn't agree with. My son was very sick at the time, otherwise i would have gone to the Financial ombudsman to take an independent look into this ridiculous situation. I then requested my close to be closed and before i was able to close the account they then slapped on another £222 annual fee for again doing absolutely nothing!! I now have a £666 bill and they also ate into the money i deposited into the SIPP. If your looking for a way to lose money, get terrible customer service and deal with unethical & Fraudulent company i dont think you will do better than open an account with James Hay Partnership. Truly the worst company anyone can deal with.

"Terrible company to deal with"

James Hay have never been the best company to deal with, but in recent months trying to get MY OWN MONEY from them on time is painful. It has been excuse after excuse - system errors, problems with payment runs etc, etc. Well, enough is enough. I'm getting rid of them. Decisive action seems the only way for companies like this to take notice (although, based on their service so far, I imagine they won't care!)

"Can't close SIPP - still being charged! Finally resolved."

I've been trying to close my SIPP with James Hay for 4 months - they still haven't managed to achieve that. Now I have a admin fee for still being with them - months after I tried to leave. I left because the online platform was terrible - money took forever to appear on the system once paid in and the whole thing is poorly designed.

UPDATE
Now resolved - my account is closed (some of these problems related to the 3rd party share dealer). Admin fee cancelled and transfer out fee waived. I've changed my score from 1 to 3.

"AVOID AT ALL COSTS"

Centred upon a hopelessly contrived website that seems to be designed to hold onto your money - even the last few pounds of it - so that they can issue you with even more charges and computer generated historical records to soak up any income there might have ever been due to come your way. Says a lot about what you can get away with in a supposedly regulated industry.
Better just keeping your swag under the mattress.

"Regulatory Negligence"

It's just disgraceful that this company is still trading. Like all of the regulatory bodies in the UK, the FCA is useless. It's the same with the gas/energy and water company regulators-pointless. I thank my lucky stars every day that got my money out of this shixxxxx.

"I have had over 50 years of…"

I have had over 50 years of professional life. I have found James Hay to be one of the worst firms I have had the misfortune to deal with. Their customer attitude is absolutely appalling. It is costing me a great deal of money to take my SIPP elsewhere but it will be worth it if I never hear their name again. To see a 100% bad review record says everything that is James Hay. If you are thinking of going to them Don’t. In addition their charges are very high in direct comparison to me new SIPP provider. Dreadful experience.

"Very Poor"

I've been trying to transfer my SIPP to another platform for approx 3 months. At the last hurdle James Hay advised I could have a "partial transfer" whilst they sort out final fees etc. I agreed to that, round the loop with my new provider only to be told 2 weeks later - sorry you can't have a partial transfer you have to have a full transfer - and do I agree to this. As if I was going to say no. At no point in the whole process have I had ANY contact from James Hay. Only find out by chasing them myself. In the meantime it would appear they have also charged another years fee in advance. I feel this is a constructive tactic of theirs and would never recommend them to anyone. Avoid.

"My 91 year old aunt had investments…"

My 91 year old aunt had investments with them, although she didn't really know or understand what sort as it was never made clear, she lost money, was often bombarded with wads of paperwork which was way beyond her capabilities. She invested with JH because she couldn't cope with the stress of managing her finances. When she passed away, the solicitor dealing with her estate has had a nightmare ordeal of getting figures from them, so the nightmare continues...

Unless you know exactly what you need from your investments, and can cope with the worst accounting and customer services departments, it would be best to avoid JH. If JH were the only choice, it would probably better to risk keeping your money under your mattress.