Howden Arvostelua 

Daniel Anderson has been most helpful and patient.
Emma Swithenbank has kindly helped me through a difficult time.

This company have managed my work pension since 2001. I recently tried to contact them with a query regarding it and have been completely ignored. I completed their only contact method available which was a contact form on their website on 23rd June (2 weeks ago) and despite it saying I would be contacted within 2 days I have not received a reply. I managed to obtain a general email address and emailed them again on 1st July. The email did not bounce back and yet I have received no reply still. It’s an extremely important matter and I am severely disappointed at their abysmal customer service. I have now emailed the CEO and managing partners in the hope that anyone will help me. I will update when I have more details

The matter relates to a (XXXX) – Deceased and her National Grid UK Pension (Member ID: (XXXX) and an unpaid already agreed bereavement payment of £1.000. This amount was agreed with both the National Grid UK Pension Scheme Trustees and their acting agents Barnett Waddingham.
On the 31-03-2026 (XXXX) who was a family member passed away and as the estate executor subsequently wrote to Barnett Waddingham informing them of this in order they may stop any further pension payments. Barnett Waddingham offered their condolences and advised me they had made a single pension overpayment on the account and as the acting executor of the estate was requested to repay the amount which I did by return.
It was also agreed with both the Pension Scheme Trustees and Barnett Waddingham to pay a £1.000 bereavement payment which to date they have not issued. Despite multiple written recorded communications, e-mails and phone calls requesting an update for the reason of none payment to date all have gone unanswered.
As a result of this I have no choice but to take legal action and will provide a full list of written supporting documentation to the court. Should either or both defendants wish to proceed to court then they will definitely lose as the claim is very straight forward and fully documented.
Barnett Waddingham are simply an absolute disgrace messing people around for a small bereavement claim already agreed. I will also be reporting them to the financial Ombudsman and hopefully they will be fined or preferably struck off from trading

Daniel was incredibly helpful. Put me at my ease. Was not rushed in his explanation of the process & did not rush me

My pension retirement date was 15th May 2026, I was sent an illustration and my options dated 3rd December 2025, but was vague about what happens next as there was not a request to provide any information, I called (15th December 13.54 to leave a message nobody called back, so called again 17th December 13.59) and was told the information was ‘for information only’ and I would be contacted nearer the time. A few weeks before my pension date I had heard nothing, so I called and made a complaint. On 6th May I received very similar information to that of the December letter and was told I had previously been sent the incorrect information, however this new letter had paperwork to be filled in and I was instructed to upload all documentation to an online portal, which I did on 18th May, I then received a letter on 27th May saying they had all the documentation and that it could take up to 3 weeks for monies to be paid. It's now 29th June and no monies have been paid and I've heard nothing, dissapointed, angry doesn't come close, not sure why I can't give zero stars.

I have been dealing with Michael Reilly a Senior Property Administrator at Barnett Waddingham concerning a Pension purchase. Throughout the purchase Michael has been fantastic. He has always replied to me, helped me with any issues, and has guided me throughout this very in depth process. I would not have been able to have done this without him. His professionalism is outstanding and he is definitely an asset to Barnett Waddingham.

Finally Barnett Wadding attempted to justify delays. It only took over 15 months and even had the audacity to "request" that Ms Thrasher refrain posting facts on trust pilot.
Why would that be?
Are they concerned that they did not do the right thing?
They do write the rules, which raises a question are they in their clients best wishes?
Let's do a trust pilot analysis of posted responses. There is a common theme of delays and lack communication. I can attest to that as it wasn't until June 18, 2026 (over 15 months of her husband's passing) that she received the so called support letter for their delay, and also did not address the appointment of a successor trustee from their own firm as being impartial.

Equivalent to a literature review, the posts on trust pilot,place the grade for BW at 2.9./5. This equates to 58%.
Is this a passing grade?
Readers of the posts regarding BW will have to form their own opinion.

Robert T Wylie

I would like to make it clear that, in my opinion, Barnett Waddingham demonstrated significant negligence in its handling of my late husband’s pension scheme. Although I was appointed trustee of my husband’s entire estate by the court in the U.S. in which we lived, my requests for information were, in my view, largely ignored.

I also believe that a serious conflict of interest was overlooked when an Ex-wife, who was acting as a trustee, was permitted to influence in the decision making process. Furthermore, the process took considerably longer than I believe was necessary. These actions added to the pain and grief I was already experiencing following the sudden death of my husband.

Despite the existence of a valid Barnett Waddingham Expression of Wishes, signed by my husband, which stated that the pension should pass to me as his widow, I believe an alternative narrative advanced by the former wife, who was a trustee, was accepted. In my view, this resulted in the primary beneficiary being overlooked and the entire pension being awarded to contingent beneficiaries who were intended to receive benefits only after my death.

I was informed that I had no financial need, despite facing substantial medical costs, tax liabilities and expenses arising from my husband’s death. Meanwhile, the pension was awarded to his daughters, who were already beneficiaries of his UK estate worth several million pounds.

In my opinion, the outcome was deeply unjust. I hope that the Scheme trustee and senior partners are satisfied with a process that I consider to have been fundamentally flawed and an outcome that I believe was influenced by a vindictive former spouse. I would like to think that Barnett Waddingham will one day uphold the principles and values it promotes, and I feel compelled to warn prospective clients that a similar situation could, in my view, happen to them.

Awful company and awful response time.
Dealing with my recent late mother’s pension.
Reported her death 27/3/26.
To be told the trustees would make a decision 2 weeks after all information has been collected. They collected 16/4/26. I have had to chase this many times.
9/6/26 finally get a response. Uploaded all information they need that day via SFX, called today to ask when payment will be made to be told they cant tell me that. I am glad i dont have my pension with this company!! I will have to seek legal advice regarding this now as if is disgusting especially when you are trying to grief as well!!!

Daniel Anderson was excellant in navigating me through the difficult government gateway website.

The attention received from Graeme & Chris re our Pension Drawdown was exceptional and has restored our faith in Barnett Waddingham which had been lacking in the past few years.

Excellent and prompt service

I have spent nearly a year trying to get answers from Barnett Waddingham about when the death benefit from my Mother's pension will be paid out and I'm no closer to an answer. No one emails you back. No one calls you back. When you finally are able to speak to someone, they don't have the answer. Either the relevant team aren't replying or they are in a "meeting". I've never experienced service as atrocious as this with any other company in my life.

Sent a retirement pack 26th May and have tried 5 times to get answers to questions before selecting the best retirement options for me - the 0121 828 0341 number only takes messages - they have not replied to any of the 3 I've sent. I used their contact form 3 times via their Clarity portal - again no replies. I've contacted the pensions ombudsman and will contact the Pensions Regulator on Monday because of unequivocal evidence of maladministration - they should provide me with the info I need to make decisions and they are uncontactable and reply to nothing. I have had problems dealing with pension companies in the past and ended up going down the same route and received pay outs because of incompetence e.g. incorrect record keeping, sending out incorrect data and misleading information - no doubt BW is complete chaos like the recently defunct Phoenix Life. Don't trust that any pension administrator are on top of their records and have the correct figure - especially if they have taken over a pension - they won't be. BW show all the same signs Phoenix Life exhibited - completely unresponsive. I can guarantee - the business is in a mess internally.

Terrible non-service from Barnett Waddingham , trying to simply withdraw my 25% tax-free amount from my pension. It took them 22 days to 'write to me' and when I queried where my info was after 13 days of waiting, the chap said 'we've had a bank holiday' , this was a weak , non-ownership excuse which made me cross and I now can't wait to remove all of my money from their future (non-)handling. Shockingly poor customer service and poor attitude, avoid !

I have recently set up a Flexible SIPP for a property purchase. The team were extremely helpful before application stage and transfer of funds. At application stage the process was incredibly straight forward and the team were very proactive

One of the worst companies to deal with. After COVID the percentage has only been 4% and the markets have gone to record highs,but not this pension hardly moved. Documentation takes ages to get up dated, and very condensending when on phone.

I raised a request for a CETV in November 2025. I advised that this was urgent and despite numerous calls and emails I am no closer to getting the invoice I need to pay to get the certificate. I have been making the contact with absolutely no responses by email or by phone on the progress. As of earlier this month I am now divorced with still no sign of an invoice to settle let alone the CETV therefore I am unable to submit paperwork for the divorce settlement to be examined and settled. As someone who worked in customer service for several corporate companies I am amazed at the length of time this is taking, the total lack of any communication from Barnett Waddingham at what is very upsetting situation for me.

I needed to extract some funds from my SIPP. This was achieved efficiently and quickly.
I think the service at BW has improved recently. My 4 stars will become 5 if this improvement becomes the norm.

A great service from a professional trustee. They act methodically, do their research, bring in the correct advisors when required, and have been proficient, calm, sincere, and thorough in all our dealings with them. We have relied heavily upon their insights for over 20 years and are 100% satisfied with their expertise and guidance.