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Scottish Widows: Pension reviews

Name: Pension
Rating: 2.23 (68 reviews)

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2.23

Based on 68 reviews, last reviewed 12th Oct 2026

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

No new 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

3 star

2 star

93%

Latest highest rating:

4

Been with Scottish Widows for a year through work. Been with Scottish Widows for a year through work. It's pretty hands-off, which suits me. the app's easy to check. Charges on the newer plans are fair... Read more Reviewed on: 12th October 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

Scottish widows lost over 38K in one year of my har... Scottish widows lost over 38K in one year of my hard earned pension without consultation or information Reviewed on: 21st October 2025

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About this product

Scottish Widows offer pension products including combining old pensions, ready-made pensions and self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs).

There’s a Scottish Widows app where you can see and manage your pensions and the website has a range of tools, guides and calculators to help you with your retirement planning.

Scottish Widows pension reviews help you find out what it’s really like to be a customer. If you’ve used Scottish Widows before, you can also leave a review and share your experience.

Scottish Widows Pension reviews (68)

Review of the Scottish Widows, Pension:

Scottish Widows incompetency

I have been in dispute with Scottish Widows since 2020 over the extremely poor performance and management of the company Pension fund in relation to other pensions over a similar period. If you have a Company pension scheme with Scottish Widows, I strongly suggest you ask some questions on the performance, carry out a performance review plus administration charges soon. To Give you an idea, my pension pot bombed by nearly £20k in 2 years. From experience, the pension pot is moved to a safer “lifestyle” policy, these are a “bonds” based investment which have also bombed. Scottish Widows, when you look into the scheme are “Advisors, Administrators ” and Trustees”. (How that works I do not know) all taking a fee from your pension pot one assumes. Scottish Widows will not reveal what these charges are which depletes your pension pot. Be assured your pension needs to perform well, it will not be long before Pensions are means tested. There is a Scottish Widows Complaints Platform set up on Facebook which highlights issues others have had and some guidance. Do not be “fobbed off” by “it’s the markets” Reviewed on: 12th February 2025

Pension Protector fund - what a scandalous misnomer!

My Pension Fund certainly wasn't "protected" by Scottish Widows. Being able to see the value of my pension every time I logged into my LIoyds Bank account, I watched the value of the fund fall over the past two years and then take a nosedive through this summer. When I cashed-in the fund in late September this year, the value had been eroded by around 30 per cent. The poor performance of my fund was matched by the service I received from Scottish Widows staff. Several telephone hours were spent being passed from person to person and holding on their telephone service. This caused many days delay to activating the termination of my fund, whilst its value was continuing to fall. Further incompetence and lack of professionalism was displayed in errors to my final confirmation letter from Scottish Widows. This appalling custodianship of peoples' pensions is scandalous. Reviewed on: 19th December 2022

A joke of a company

I moved jobs in Sept 22. My employer has a pension with SW. I filled in forms my employer sent and these were sent over to SW - 3 times now as of yesterday! My employer has made 2 monthly contributions on my behalf so far (Oct and Nov). However, SW have no policy number for me having emailed, filled in forms and spoken to them on the telephone countless times since i started my new job, its now 07 Dec 2022. I was given a different email address today to contact: lpc.aftersalesATscottishwidows.co.uk I was unable to deliver your message to the following addresses: lpc.aftersalesATscottishwidows.co.uk Reason: 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected. All I want is the number so I can transfer my previous employment's pension in. If I had a choice I wouldn't have a pension with this company - if you do have a choice AVOID Reviewed on: 7th December 2022

Jokers

On the phone for over an hour...passed to three people. Then still nothing was sorted out .I'm very angry. They are absolutely useless Reviewed on: 24th November 2022

Disgraceful performance

My Scottish Widows pension fund - in what they term 'Retirement Account' has tumbled in value over the last 12 months, losing £20,000 of it's original £150,000. The losses didn't happen at a specific moment in time but gradually over the entire 12 months. I'm no finance genius, but why didn't the fund managers remove the money from whatever they were invested in and put it under a mattress? My other pension with Lansdown Hargreaves has grown over the period - so justify that SW? Reviewed on: 18th November 2022

Terrible company

My ex employer moved my workplace pension over to Scottish widows. The Communisis Trustees took it upon themselves to change my fund choices without my consent. In 16 months my pension pot has fallen by £10,000. Scottish Widows refuse to do anything about it, they are really not bothered but are quite happy to take their % from me all the same. Do they actually have fund managers that know what they are doing. Stay well clear if you don’t want to lose your money. Reviewed on: 14th November 2022

Awful Customer Service

The website seldom works properly so you need to phone them. And when you phone them it is as if no one works there. I have been chasing a transfer in for 9 weeks now and nobody knows anything and the shorted time I have been on hold is 40 minutes. It is regularly over 1 hour on hold just to speak to someone. Avoid at all costs, I am trying to move away from them to a different provider. Reviewed on: 26th October 2022

Not sure if anyone acually works there?

1 hour 20 mins on the main customer service line andand addsional 30 minutes on the complaints number and no answer? This is a auful customer service for a financial comany. Reviewed on: 18th October 2022

Losing my money hand over fist.

Whatever you do, do not put your pension in the hand of Scottish Widows. I have lost 35% of my small pension pot. All you get from their customer services is that pots go down as well as up. That is all well and good but when you are due to retire in 3 months, that is not much help. Their fund manager do not manager your workplace pension very well. If I could have given them no stars I would. Reviewed on: 16th October 2022

Very poor company

At present my pension pot has lost 35% of its value in the last 10 months. I've only two months to go until I reach pensionable age. Normally pension pots are put into safe investments for the last year. Scottish widows have transferred 80% of my pension into their pension protector fund. This fund is one of the worst performing of any company over this period. (Down 42%)Having tracked my pot over the last 5 days things are getting worse. On current trajectory there will be no funds left. Have complained to sw but only get the usual response letter saying its not their fault and I could pay for an independent financial advisor to tell me why sw fund managers have made such poor investment decisions. Next step is the ombudsman, though not holding out much hope after reading some other reviews on this site. Reviewed on: 12th October 2022

keep away from this company at all cost

this compay is a complete joke . some of my pension is missing and i have been trying to get old of some for nearly a month . they dont answer the phones or just cut you of . i have even complained to they complain departmensand they have not even got back to me . its a terrible company please keep well away . Reviewed on: 12th October 2022

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