Nucleus Financial Reviews 992

So far Nucleus/James Hay have been awful and a massive let down & disappointment. I am awaiting transferral of my pension funds to a life assurance company. I have been waiting for this to happen since September 2025. Hence the awful comment.

Dire, absolutely dire....

Just like James Hay before, they do everything they can not to pay you your money. We have a "one person contact" who wont answer emails (Carla de Gouviea). The accounts don't add up and despite saying, 4 months ago, they would get back to us, they haven't. Pulling teeth would be more fun!

The James Hay offshore bond department has been beyond awful at the moment. If the CEO is reading this, please get in touch if you want to avoid an almighty complaint and regulatory report to the FCA. 020 7625 1661

was not payed pension when changed from James hay no up date since February not responding to massages have in formed tax office of amounts not received said tax office was at felt but they sent the amounts because account has had payments taken sales not done and no up dates to accounts i don't no what i have in my pension 8 years with James hat not one problem

The headline is that on February 6th I requested a withdrawal from the tax free cash element of my pension. Nucleus received the request the following Monday - 9th Feb. As of today, 9 working weeks later, I have not received the money and they cannot confirm when it will be paid.
I first rang for an update on 12th March and was advised that they were awaiting a fund value from the investment management company. They acknowledged that due to issues with migration to the Nucleus platform (I was previously a James Hay customer) there had been a delay but they couldn't provide any other update. I subsequently spoke to the investment manager who confirmed no such request had been received but proactively sent it to Nucleus the same day. On the call with Nucleus I also asked to speak to a manager about the service to date but was told it wasn't possible and so registered a complaint.
I subsequently spoke with my financial advisor and asked them to seek some progress on my behalf. They have since chased on multiple occasions but have apparently been unable to obtain a meaningful update or get clarity on a payment date. They established however that Nucleus had requested the funds from the investment manager twice so are holding double the amount I require! I have since verified this direct with Nucleus and despite repeated requests they cannot explain why.
On Tuesday morning (7th April) I rang to request an update and Alistair promised he would investigate and call-back. By late Wednesday afternoon no-one had called so I rang them again. On this call Graham told me he didn't know why they'd requested the money twice, nor could he advise when the payment might be made. On this call I again asked to speak to a manager and was again told it wasn't possible but that he could raise a manager call-back request and that I should receive a call by close of business today (10th). By 4:30pm today I hadn't received a call and so rang them again. This time Ben told me that whilst my case had been escalated for the 3rd time, no manager call-back request had been raised. As expected he also confirmed that he couldn't explain why they'd requested the money twice and once again couldn't give me even an indication of when I'd receive my payment. Apparently it is with an admin team which is separate to the contact centre and they are not able to speak to them directly. When I asked for a manager call-back he told me there's no point as they won't be able to provide any more information and would probably "know less than I do". I therefore asked to speak to the complaints team but that's also not possible as they don't take calls. So I registered a second complaint about the failed call-back.
Regarding the complaint made on March 12th, Nucleus acknowledged it via email on 19th March and sent an update on 8th April saying that they aim to respond at the earliest opportunity but no later than 06 May 2026 i.e. the day before the 8 week deadline.
I believe that my experience is influenced by issues connected to the migration of James Hay customers to the Nucleus platform and also by backlogs in the admin team. Contact Centre folks have confirmed both without being able to provide detail.
In summary, 9 weeks after receiving the request, despite requesting the funds twice and holding almost double the amount required for the last month, Nucleus cannot / will not provide even an indication of when I will receive my money. And as any request to speak to someone who might actually be able to accelerate it is blanked, I feel completely powerless. I have no option other than to wait until they choose to progress it.
For anyone considering using Nucleus - DON'T. SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME YOU'LL SPEND CHASING THEM, THE FRUSTRATION WHEN YOU CAN'T GET ANY ANSWERS, THE FEELING OF HELPLESSNESS BECAUSE YOU CAN'T BREAK THROUGH THEIR INTERNAL PROCESSES AND THE HUGE STRESS WHICH RESULTS.

Firstly …. Getting access to an advisor was quick , simple and reassuring.
Having expressed my lack of experience in all IT matters your advisor , HANNAH, was interested , informative and very knowledgeable in her responses.
My enquiry related to the issue of the normal end of year P60 … and Hannah resolved my concerns in a light-hearted way that was much appreciated . WELL DONE HANNAH.

An update, - I transferred £10,000 on 19 February on the Nucleus platform, to their broker service provider, Eqi.

The money hasn't been seen since. Nucleus blame Eqi and Eqi blame Nucleus. All I know is that I'm £10,000 down and neither of them seem willing or able to fix it.

Anyone thinking of setting up an account at Nucleus, just don't. Please, for your own sanity, don't do it.

Nucleus what a shambles of a company right now, the merger from James hay to where they are right now has not gone well, I though Curtis banks was bad enough then moved over to James hay but this company is exceeding them in how to badly manage getting your pension payment and any information as to when you can and will receive your pension monies. They all one company now as Nucleus own James hay and Curtis banks, that should be a warning to everyone . The merger that happened from James hay to the Nucleus account failed on the 9th February to the point that they stopped taking and processing any more transactions, So they blaming something that happened 2 months ago that still causing us problems, so why do they not inform us of these problems and let us know there problems with paying our pension monies at a time we need it . So here we are in the new tax year and i am wanting my pension monies they can not tell me when i am going to get my pension monies. Letter taking 11 days to arrive from the date of the letter. its about time Fisher investment get to grips with this company and find another company that knows how to be efficient and effective and communicate properly, Leaving us in the dark saying I can not tell you when you going to get your monies is shocking, BIG FAILURE AT Nucleus

I have today received reply to my TRUSTPILOT review of 26 March from "Emma" saying someone will contact me. Since 26 March spent 1 hour on phone,30 March, asking to speak to manager, I was promised 42 hour call back -nothing.Filed 2nd internal complaint. So still no callback or resolution after several weeks. It is clear this company is having severe problems with James Hay integration .BEWARE

I use theNucleus telephone personal customer service support for my annual drawdown from my personal pension. Nucleus provides for a coherent, over the telephone risk assessment and its office based completion of my drawn down application. It’s a wonderful 5* easy access service with all the risk compliance included. I highly recommend Nucleus for its courteous friendly personal financial investment service.

Avoid. No replies. No Actions. Website poor. Staff out of their depth.

Nucleus is a failure. It has agents but no backroom systems. So do not use this company.
It is many days now since my latest email to them. My account has been a total shambles since the James Hay merger.
They allowed a poor website with incorrect systems to go
live in February. You do not get replies and their Secure Message system is a misnomer- because they dont reply or act.I am still awaiting a detailed reply to a formal complaint and emails since.
A company mismanaged and out of control. Dire.
Note- the only replies here are from 'Angela' . Senior managers in hiding. I have requested to speak to one many times. Always ' unavailable' I bet they are!!!!!
UPDATE- a reply to one of my many complaints today after 7 days. It just said my complaint would be added to my others. The FCA should shut this company asap. People are having their lives ruined by a company making millions. Appalling.

Further update: April 14. It is now 5 days since ' Angela' posted Nucleus recognise my sense of frustration. She stated the complaints team would be in touch.
I have heard nothing more.
RIP Nucleus - I am sure your Board and shareholders will continue to pay themselves handsomely whilst clients suffer.

I've recently transferred from James Hay due to their merger with Nucleus, and wished to withdraw a 5-figure sum from my ISA. Nucleus said I had not signed the online form when I clearly, and verifiably, had. Following my written complaint, I received two acknowledgements, but after almost 4 weeks, no response. The online platform appears to me overly complex and not at all intuitive. With no transfer yet being in sight, Nucleus has caused me significant distress. Chris

My experience in dealing with Nucleus has been one of the worst I have ever had and am still having. In the past 3 weeks I have made 7 (lengthy) phone calls, totalling around three and a half hours, with 6 different customer service staff (David, Damien, Phoebe, Megan and yesterday Andrew) and I have not been able to make any progress whatsoever with my query.
Over the past few months since my dad passed away, whilst dealing with his Nucleus (formerly James Hay) Modular ISIPP, I have endured total incompetence, nonsensical bureaucracy, ignored emails, unfulfilled promised call backs, 'admin' errors and misinformation.
After months of form filling, with letters and forms being posted to the 10 beneficiaries, 5 of which live in Canada (rather than sending them via email) taking weeks to arrive, then insisting that one of the forms was not sent back, when in fact they had mistakenly uploaded it onto an existing beneficiary account and all of our emails asking Nucleus to waive the 14 day cooling off period being ignored, we eventually got to the stage where they confirmed that they had everything they required and that the plan could be surrendered on 5th March. David confirmed this to me during a call on 2nd March, stating that the process to pay out to all 10 beneficiaries bank accounts would take 2-3 days.
I'd heard nothing by 10th March, when I spoke to Damien, who confirmed the tax position to me and said the payouts were being dealt with.
On 12th March I spoke with Phoebe who confirmed the payments hadn't been processed yet, but promised to put an "escalation" on them which would speed up the process. Still nothing so I rang again on 18th March and spoke to Megan who couldn't help me but would ask Phoebe to call me back. Phoebe apologised that the payment still hadn't been processed but she didn't know why. I asked to be put through to the claims team to speak with them directly, but she refused stating that the back office team didn't speak with customers. Instead she said she would raise a "manager call back" to get the issue resolved. I waited all day for the manager's call, but it never happened, nor the next day or the day after that. By 23rd March I still hadn't heard anything! So I called again, this time I was on the call for 1 hour and 6 minutes! I spoke with Andrew who confirmed that the escalation and the manager call back had been raised. He put me on hold whilst he spoke to the manager who it had been assigned to, "Emma". He said that Emma hadn't received an update on the payment processing, so it was pointless putting me through to her, even though I asked him to. So, I insisted he put me through to another manager. On hold again, then he came back saying he had tried several managers, including his own, but none of them were in a position to take my call! I asked him if he worked in the same building as the claims team, which he did. So I suggested he put me on hold and go and speak with one of the claim team and get an answer as what the delay was on paying out to the beneficiaries. He refused on the basis that "I don't know anyone in the claims team"! Unbelievable!! I asked him again stating that it didn't matter if he know them, but he refused! I asked if they had backlogs and if he was receiving similar calls to mine, which he said no! Yet Phoebe, a few days earlier said they did have backlogs when I spoke to her!
I then requested that Andrew raise a formal complaint on my behalf, which he said he would. He said that Nucleus have an obligation to send a reply to all formal complaints within 5 working days. He also said that he would email the claims team and ask them to email me with an explanation and a target completion date.
So here I am, 19 days past the cooling off period, when the monies from my late father's pension balance should have been paid out to his family and I have little confidence that anything will happen in the near future. Over 900 one star reviews speaks volumes.
It's rather ironic that one of the messages that is played to you when on hold states that, "As this may be a difficult time for you, we will give you extra support, please let us know what we can do to make things easier" what a joke! Shame on you Nucleus.

My financial adviser requested a lump sum payment on the 19th February and of today the 2nd April 2026 the transfer to my bank has not been made.
1) I have made several phone calls, as has my financial adviser requesting these funds just to be told it will be made within 48 hours, no payment sent.
2) Very slow to repsond to emails through their platform.
3) Megan Bennett, an account executive contacted me, to advise that she had reviewed my case and the payment would be made on the 30th March, again the payment has not been sent.
4) I have received payslips saying payments have been made and tax paid,for transfers not received.
5) It takes between 20 or 30 minutes to get through to Nucleus by phone.
6) Appauling service since the changeover from James Hay.
7) I have submitted a complaint and once the reply is received, I will be taking the matter up with the Financial regulator.
9) At the moment I am juggling my funds inorder to pay my monthly direct debits, as I dont run an overdraft with my bank. I could not pay my credit cards in full this month, which will result in high interest charges being applied, due to the incompetence of Nucleus.
Its now the 10th April and my payment that was requested on the 18th February has still not been paid..

Another month end and no monthly income paid, again. Appalling delays in responding to secure messages.

Appalling customer service and processing of payments since James Hay became Nucleus.
My monthly pension payment has failed to arrive, so i had to manually request a payment from them.
Phone calls takes 20mins+ to answer
Secure messages have gone unanswered for over 2 weeksn now, and counting!!

They keep sending me emails asking for a review here we go.

Quite basic platform. All the advisors I used use Nucleus so it’s meh.

Nucleus need to come into the 21st century. Their system is stuck in the 20th century despite "upgrading" their platform recently. My SIPP account has been split between Nucleus and EQI, and to park some cash in a simple money market account. I need to sell it from EQI to Nucleus, then tell Nucleus to invest it in said money market account, a process which takes around a week, during which my money is earning no interest.I advised Nucleus to make a transfer on Wed 25th . today, Friday 27 I called EQI to see what was happening with the transfer( a call which took 29 minutes). They told me , categorically, they had no knowledge of this transfer and I should contact Nucleus. At Nucleus, after 20 plus minutes on hold, a very helpful person called Phoebe, told me where I needed to look on their site to chart the "progress" of my transfer and I saw that, 2 days later although it had been "authorised", it was still just "pending", which explained why EQI knew nothing about it. So I will be lucky if this cash is with Nucleus and available for investment before the middle of next week. When I decide to reverse the process, after the current period of volatility, it will no doubt take just as long.
Unless there is a major improvement in their systems, beginning with an acceptance that currently they are unfit for this day and age, my account will be migrating to another provider.

I have spoken to three people at Nucleus over the past two weeks; Alan, Cameron and Roisin.

I spoke at length to Alan and Roisin, both of whom were understanding and patient, and excellent in guiding me through the new platform and obtaining a payment. Two of the most overlooked skills in service organisations are the need for empathy and patience in order to gain a genuine understanding of a person's issue in order to be able to achieve a successful resolution/ outcome. Alan and Roisin excelled at this, as has everyone I have ever spoken to at Nucleus/ James Hay over the years.

Cameron I was disconnected from due to poor network signal, but he called me back immediately without my having to request. That's excellent service.

We asked Nucleus to perform some complex investment changes in a limited time frame. Anna Sacco rose to the occasion magnificently, carrying out all the required actions with considerable speed and efficiency.
This confirms my view that Nucleus is the most efficient platform and justifies my continuing to recommend them to clients.