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Scottish Widows: Pension reviews

Name: Pension
Rating: 1.24 (66 reviews)

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1.14

Based on 66 reviews, last reviewed 31st Aug 2025

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

300% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

4 star

3 star

2 star

94%

Latest highest rating:

5

Great customer and digital services Switched all my pensions to my workplace pension with Scottish Widows. Such a smooth process, I was kept well informed throughout. Their app is great,... Read more Reviewed on: 12th January 2022

Latest lowest rating:

1

58% loss in Scottish Widow's P.ension I have lost 58% of the value of my Scottish Widows Pension in the last 5 years, and in writing Scottish Widows have advised they see no issue with the... Read more Reviewed on: 31st August 2025

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About this product

Scottish Widows pension reviews written by Smart Money People like you. For many of us, our pension is an important part of our financial future. Finding a pension provider that you can trust and rely on is a must for many people. Take a look at our Scottish Widows pension reviews to find out what life at Scottish Widows is really like. If you hold this pension, we'd love you to write an honest review here too!

Scottish Widows Pension reviews (66)

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

Incumbent Fund Managers

2 years to my retirement….Q: Where is my pension going? A: Down the drain faster than a rat! As a laymen I now dread scanning my pension pot value…I am aware and accept that returns can rise an fall in value. Unfortunately SW‘s Fund Managers for my Pension Protector (PP) and Portfolio 4 (P4) appear to be ignorant of the fact that when you move funds from a low depreciating P4 to a larger depreciating PP, they are not managing the pension fund with our best interests at heart in line with changing investment market conditions. Uncanny it is that since 4/1/2022 to 29/9/22 the unit price for PP has dropped from 250.40 to 138.00 (112 = 44.7%) whilst the P4 unit price dropped from 227.00 to 189.40 (37.6 = 16.56%) Indeed over the period noted above, my pension pot has went down from 261K to 178K a fall of 83K = 31.8%. Would any of these fund managers and their seniors want their own future retirement pensions mismanaged in this shoddy, head in the sand attitude hoping that in 2 years my pot may recover…I think not! Oh! Is the Pension Protector supposed to protect one’s pension? To smooth out the high peaks and low troughs to give a balanced an less volatile pathway to retirement. My Wife‘s small pension pot with Royal London has only gone down around 1K less than 10% they even monitor, restructure and inform you of changes to help protect your assets. SW‘s get your house in order! Reviewed on: 29th September 2022

Pension protector 2 now down 44% in one year

Need I say more!!!!! If you look at the financial times risk rating this fund has the highest risk and lowest return in it's category. Serious mismanagement of the fund by SW. Reviewed on: 29th September 2022

Follow up

Scottish Widows have been appalling and like Jaq I am stressed beyond a state I would ever wish upon anyone. Their ability to take a significant pension pot and reduce it so substantially in a few months despite the pot being in their supposedly managed and balanced funds leaves me incredulous. Yet still they take their fees and I read below that some folk in their Pension Protector funds have been even more badly affected than I am. I complained to the ombudsman who quoted (the tired old) "Investments can go up as well as down" well sorry very much to the ombudsman investigator but a fund named Pension Protector losing 35% of someone's 30 year accumulated pension, in less than a year, sounds very much like misleading advertising or incompetence. Write to your MP and highlight your concerns with Scottish Widows Pension mis-management as well as the Ombudsman. I have updated my complaint with the Ombudsman to one of a wider concern that SW are misleading people deliberately with their naming of Pension Funds and that adding a disclaimer that funds named as "Pension Protector" losing 35% of value in a year is not realistic performance from a professional pension provider. Either Scottish Widows are incompetent as a pension provider or they are deliberately misleading customers? They should be held to account, at the very least other folk should be warned of Scottish Widows as pension providers shortcomings and avoid them as a Pension Provider altogether / at all costs. I remain shocked and disappointed that Scottish Widows are allowed to perform this badly and the ombudsman currently appears to be somewhat toothless. I am hopeful that changing the tack of the complaint to SW false advertising/ mis-selling may help give the Ombudsman some leverage. Reviewed on: 21st September 2022

Pension Protector?

The title suggests this will offer some protection to your investment. I have written 3 times to Scottish Widows asking for an explanation as to why they are moving my funds to this disastrous Pension Protector that has now lost 35% in the last 12 months. They are totally immune to the problem and the damage caused to those nearing retirement. Join me and make a complaint to the ombudsman- they cannot continue to falsely portray an image of financial expertise. Reviewed on: 12th September 2022

iT GETS WORSE

Scottish widows pension protedtor 2 has now lost 30% of it's value. Thsi company is rotten to the core Reviewed on: 5th September 2022

Devastating

Last year of pension supposed to be in ‘Fixed rate Interest’ low risk … have lost a quarter of my pension … They are now saying Fixed Interest doesn’t mean ‘Fixed Interest’ . Even the complaints guy has said he can’t understand why they would take my money from a well performing fund & put it into a worse performing one! Am onto ombudsman today but I was supposed to retire In April & literally a few months before it’s gone into free fall & you just can’t talk to anyone.. only some outsourced complaints company. 30 years & I’ve now pretty much got what I put in- would’ve been better under the mattress.. at least I could get it out… someone at Lloyds warned me it could be halved if I don’t act quickly … Can’t sleep.. stressed to Hell. Reviewed on: 5th September 2022

Shocking

My funds has dropped by 20%. I wrote and asked what has happended and what do 'fund managers' actually do? Took them a month to respond with a written shrug. Reviewed on: 30th August 2022

Invisible Fund Managers

I have been with this bunch of jokers for 10 years. They charge me an annual management fee and are doing nothing for it. Their so called Pension Protector with a so called "balanced risk" approach has lost 26% year on year. No warnings given and a couldn't care less attitude. Their fund managers living the high life are a disgrace and the big question is Where is their value? Lloyds CEO Charlie Nunn isn't interested. Do not go anywhere near this outdated firm. Reviewed on: 26th August 2022

Scottish Widows Avoid at all costs.

SW transferred 30% of my pension into cash. They charge for managing the fund and they pay 0% interest. Couple this with inflation at 12%. So what do SW do with the money, stick in in a cardboard box under the desk? I think not, they are using my money to make money and are charging me for the priviledge. Total scam however as they are part of Lloyds banking group why am I surprised. As to Pension Protector 2. SW had a clear warning that there was an issue with this scheme in 2021 when there was a sudden massive dip, which recovered, however the alarm bells should have gone off. SW did nothing. This scheme is now 25% down and there is no guarantee that it has hit rock bottom or the time scale for any meaningful recovery Normally a balanced portfolio would be considered to be 60% stocks 40% bonds. SW transferred my money into 60% Bonds 40% cash. They clearly take no notice of the mantra that they trot out "past performance is no guarantee of future returns". Their total complacency has cost me dear. SW has not managed my money in a professional way, incompetent would be my word of choice. I am now working an extra year to make up the shortfall. I should have retired a month ago. Reviewed on: 9th August 2022

Loss at 25.76% for Scottish Widows Pension Protector in 2022

Figures for 2022 are 25.76% loss on Scottish Widows Pension Protector, 11.01% loss on pension portfolio 4 and a 0.64% loss on cash. That is, a 13% loss of the pension protector over 5 years. Even given the current economic climate, this instills almost no confidence that Scottish Widows will actively manage your pension money in your interests appropriately. Putting too high a proportion of the pension pot in a seriously failing so called 'Scottish Widows pension protector' has resulted in a disastrous year that is completely unnecessary Reviewed on: 19th July 2022

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