Foresters Friendly Society Reviews

Name: Foresters Friendly Society
Address: Third Floor, Enterprise House, Ocean Way, Southampton
Rating: 4.41

4.4 Rating 653 Reviews

85 %

of reviewers recommend Foresters Friendly Society

Company Reviews

Metrics

Info

4.4

Based on 653 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 82%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	100%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat, Telephone
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.6 out of 5

About Foresters Friendly Society:

Foresters Friendly Society has been helping with family finances since 1834. As a mutual society, we don't have shareholders so our profits are instead distributed to our policyholders in the form of bonuses and also through our Foresters Extras membership package.

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Phone:

0800 988 2418

Location:

Third Floor, Enterprise House, Ocean Way
Southampton
SO14 3XB

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Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“For a £16k investment for all of 2023 I earned zero % interest. What's worse is they are applying an MVR of nearly 10% so I will lose nearly £1,500 when transferring or withdrawing my money. Customer service is excellent but promised online access never happens and a very, very bad investment”

Helpful Report

“in 2017 I invested 80k in a low risk policy. this was split into 40k in my name and 40k in my wife's as advised by my financial advisor he said this would be the best idea as freebies were offered to members during the year and this way would double our freebies when offered. I was told that the investment would yield between 5-6% annually so we went with it. I called today 19/02/2024 to ask how my investment was going as I had heard nothing for a while. Now this is in it 7th year and here is what I have earned in interest. £138.65 in total. Yes you have read it correctly £138.65 in total. I cannot believe it but have been assured this is what I have should I want it out. I had no fixed term from the beginning and no penalties, How can this be correct? it works out at less than £20 per year interest. I am gutted to say the least. My advise is steer clear”

Helpful Report

“Despite making contact twice I have received no response. I’m hoping this will change soon, even an acknowledgment, but if not I will escalate to the relevant authorities”

Helpful Report

“Never in my life heard of an investment provider that does not have any way for you to check your investment performance. I have over £6K saved with them and no idea if it’s appreciated or not.”

Helpful Report

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate your frustration and are able to advise that we launched our member portal in July last year which provides our members with plan information such as plan value. Initially, the portal was only available to members who took out a plan after the launch date, so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. This work is currently ongoing, and we are initiating the onboarding process for members who took out plans before July of last year. This will be done in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans and progressively working backward. This approach allows us to effectively manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. We will be in touch to notify you as soon as it becomes available for you to register. In the meantime, we are able to provide plan values over the phone and we also send out annual statements regarding the plan’s value. Information about our fund is available on our website in the About Us/About Our Funds section. We appreciate your patience regarding the delay in inviting you and other members who took out plans before the portal's launch. As a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes. If you would like any further details, our Member Services team are available Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm, on 0800 988 2418 or by email membersalesandservice@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk . Kind regards, Foresters

“We took out two policy via Quidco 16th December 2023,sent it with free post as per instructions,with transfer forms included. We only recieve emails But No savings plan information or any dd's set up so a complete waste of our time, so will stay with current provider. How can I answer the following questions so you want us to contact you to complain after we summited our new policy online and have a policy number very poor”

Helpful Report

Hi Lee, thank you for your review and for discussing the transfer process with our Member Services team today. Transfers between different ISA providers can take up to 30 days and are largely dependent on when the existing ISA provider can send us all of the required information so we can then set up the new ISA for you. We have chased your existing provider and we are delighted that you have chosen to move forward with the transfer which should take place shortly. Welcome to the Foresters family. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do let us know. We are available Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm on 0800 988 2418 or by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk. Kind regards, Foresters.

“Not happy about using your company at all. Opened a stocks and shares Isa in May, put £1,000 each month for 4 successive months and am still unable to register in your website. Keep being told I'm on the list and will be invited to register eventually. Have no access to my investment anc no idea how it's going. Absolute shambles”

Helpful Report

Hi Ronald, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We appreciate your frustration regarding your current inability to register for and make use of our member portal and apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you. We launched the member portal in July of this year, initially, it was only available to members who had taken out a plan after the launch date, so that we could evaluate real-world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. Additionally, as a multi-brand business, a significant amount of work has taken place so that members who hold plans from across our various brands are able to see and manage them all in one place. We hope that you'll appreciate that the delay in inviting you, and other members who have taken out plans before the portal launched in July of this year, is because as a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes, and that a significant amount of technical work needs be done in order to do so. The work mentioned above is ongoing, but we are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. At this point in time, we expect to send your invitation to register to the Portal early in the New Year and will be in touch to notify you when it becomes available for you to register. In the meantime, we are able to provide plan values over the phone and we also send out annual statements regarding the plan’s value. Information about our fund is available on our website in the About Us/About Our Funds section. If you would like any further details, our Member Services team are available Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm, on 0800 988 2418 or by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk. Kind regards, Foresters Kind regards, Foresters Friendly

“Money invested and then market value reduction applied. Can’t get money out without taking a hit on initial investment.”

Helpful Report

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It’s important to remember that the savings plan you have opened with us is a longer-term investment which is designed to be held over many years. Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important to maintain a longer-term view as well. As a result of investment volatility, a small proportion of plans that have invested in our Order Insurance with profits Fund in previous years have a Market Value Reduction (MVR) applied to them but no MVR is currently in place for plans taken out in 2023. This is the first time in our history that we have had to apply an MVR. As an adjustment that can be applied to the value of your investment, if you choose to cash-in or withdraw from your plan during volatile investment conditions, which reduces how much you get back, it ensures that everybody gets their fair share of the returns from a with profits fund and is designed to protect members who do not take their money out of the fund during poor market conditions. You will only see the effect of an MVR should you wish to withdraw your money at the time there is an MVR in place. An MVR can be added, removed, increased or decreased at any time and, as we are unable to predict future investment market performance, we are unable to advise how long the MVR for previous year’s investments will be in place for. Our investment team are continually looking for additional opportunities to improve returns whilst remaining within risk tolerance levels. If you have any further questions, please do let us know. We are available Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm on 0800 988 2418 or by email membersalesandservice@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk. Kind regards, Foresters Friendly

“I set up a Stocks and Shares ISA in May 2023 and made contributions for the next 5 months at £1000 a month. 7 months later I'm still waiting to register as a member and have been fobbed off with excuses saying they'll get to me eventually. I have no idea how my investment is doing as I'm unable to access it either to view or to make any investment decisions. Absolute shambles and I'm beyond angry about it. Have had to deal with my wife being seriously Ill this year and my sister dying in July. Last thing I needed was this money nonsense. Needless to say I won't be recommending you to and friends or family.”

Helpful Report

Hi Dylan, Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate your frustration regarding your current inability to register for and make use of our member portal and apologise that this has taken place during an already difficult year for you. We launched the member portal in July of this year, initially, it was only available to members who have taken out a plan after the launch date, so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. Additionally, as a multi-brand business a significant amount of work has taken place so that members who hold plans from across our various brands are able to see and manage them all in one place. We hope that you'll appreciate that delay in inviting you, and other members who have taken out plans before the portal launched in July of this year is because as a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes, and that a significant amount of technical work needs be done in order to do so. The work mentioned above is ongoing, but we are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year, and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. At this point in time, we expect to send your invitation to register to the Portal by the end of February and will be in touch to notify you when it becomes available for you to register. We are sorry to hear about the personal challenges you've faced this year. Kind regards, Foresters Friendly

“Lost almost 10% in an ISA run by Foresters. They placed a market value reduction on my ISA so my £20,000 went down to around £18,000.”

Helpful Report

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. It’s important to remember that the savings plan you have opened with us is a longer-term investment which is designed to be held over many years. Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important to maintain a longer-term view as well. As a result of investment volatility, a small proportion of plans that have invested in our Order Insurance with profits Fund in previous years have a Market Value Reduction (MVR) applied to them but no MVR is currently in place for plans taken out in 2023. This is the first time in our long history that we have had to apply an MVR. As an adjustment that can be applied to the value of your investment, if you choose to cash-in or withdraw from your plan during volatile investment conditions, which reduces how much you get back, it ensures that everybody gets their fair share of the returns from a with profits fund and is designed to protect members who do not take their money out of the fund during poor market conditions. You will only see the effect of an MVR should you wish to withdraw your money at the time there is an MVR in place. An MVR can be added, removed, increased or decreased at any time and, as we are unable to predict future investment market performance, we are unable to advise how long the MVR for previous year’s investments will be in place for. Our investment team are continually looking for additional opportunities to improve returns whilst remaining within risk tolerance levels. If you require any further assistance, please contact us by email at membersalesandservice@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or by phone at 0800 988 2418. Kind regards, Foresters.

“The NISA account was opened in June 2023 but I am still not allowed to register for the online account management portal. Just keep receiving ridiculous messages like: "The update to our site that included the new member Login portal launched a number of weeks ago. It will be a little while yet until we can onboard all existing members due to the complexity and scale of the project. Our Member Services teams are unable to set up portal access on request. We'll be in touch when it is your turn to register." This does not sound like the 21st century service standard, to be honest, especially when many financial services providers allow you to register, open and manage online accounts in an instant.”

Helpful Report

Hi Alexander, We appreciate your frustration regarding your current inability to register for and make use of our member portal. We launched the member portal in July of this year, and it is currently accessible only by members taking out plans after the launch date so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. Additionally, as a multi-brand business a significant amount of work has taken place so that members who hold plans from across our various brands are able to see and manage them all in one place. We hope that you'll appreciate that delay in inviting you, and other members who have taken out plans before the portal launched in July of this year is because as a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes, and that a significant amount of technical work needs be done in order to do so. The work mentioned above is ongoing, but we are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year, and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. For plans that were taken out in July of this year, as yours was, we hope to be able to have invited you to register before the end of the year. Kind regards, Foresters.

“WARNING! to anyone going through a cashback site where Foresters (so called) friendly society promises cashback after 3 months minimum investment period. You actually have to be invested for 12 months. Why even mention 3 months in your marketing!! Its an old school business with no online access nor any information where your money is invested or how it is doing, you get no statements or anything! Avoid this fraud company FFS”

Helpful Report

Hi, thank you for your feedback. We understand that you have been in touch with our member services team who have explained the following: As advertised, the terms of our cashback offers are for a minimum of 3 monthly direct debit payments to be made or, in the case of a lump sum investment, for your investment to remain with us for a minimum of 3 months, before you are eligible for the cashback to be paid. As our plans are designed for the medium to long term, our terms also stipulate that if, having received a cashback payment, you are to close your investment within 12 months of the commencement date we reserve the right to deduct the value of the cashback from any surrender value or refund of premiums. With regard to account access, we recognise that we must keep enhancing our service offering to members. As such, we recently launched our member portal. New members have access to their investments through our online portal where any payments made into the plan can be seen, and we will be rolling this out to existing members. Kind regards, Foresters Friendly

“You'll notice their site is very flashy and looks very presentable, albeit you can't actually login and see any of your information - this is allegedly being rolled out but as a customer for over a year with £12k invested, I still haven't had an invite. Thus all comms has to be by email or phone - with emails regularly going unanswered. My investment was put under a MVR meaning I can't withdraw without a penalty (about 5% of my pot). Whilst I understand this is in the T&Cs and am fine with it, their was no underlying communications to state this prior to my investigation into my fund. Secondly, they can't state when it will be lifted. Nor is there any real information available via their service desks or their website. They will refer you to their website for news but it offers no more than a buried comment about some pre-2023 funds being under a MVR and no ability to find updates or any other method of being updated other than pinging their service desk every day. The website is set up for sales, thus the information is jarringly lacking on their site once your money has been taken. Personally this feels like a bit of a farce and the lack of transparency is very very worrying - I'm pulling my funds out as soon as the MVR is lifted. (If I can every find out when)”

Helpful Report

Hi Dean, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We have just launched the initial phase of our member portal in July this year and, as you state, this initial phase is accessible for new plan holders only, with existing plan holders being issued invitations during a phased introduction throughout the rest of 2023. We appreciate that you are eager to sign-up for the portal and we will be in touch to advise when you are able to register for your account. It’s important to remember that the savings plan you have opened with us is a longer-term investment which is designed to be held over many years. Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important to maintain a longer-term view as well. As a result of investment volatility, a small proportion of plans that have invested in our Order Insurance with profits Fund in previous years have a Market Value Reduction (MVR) applied to them but no MVR is currently in place for plans taken out in 2023. This is the first time in our history that we have had to apply an MVR. As an adjustment that can be applied to the value of your investment, if you choose to cash-in or withdraw from your plan during volatile investment conditions, which reduces how much you get back, it ensures that everybody gets their fair share of the returns from a with profits fund and is designed to protect members who do not take their money out of the fund during poor market conditions. You will only see the effect of an MVR should you wish to withdraw your money at the time there is an MVR in place. An MVR can be added, removed, increased or decreased at any time and, as we are unable to predict future investment market performance, we are unable to advise how long the MVR for previous year’s investments will be in place for. Our investment team are continually looking for additional opportunities to improve returns whilst remaining within risk tolerance levels. Best wishes, Foresters.

“Money stuck in this bank earning little to no interest and cant remove it unless I give back £400 cashback they offered me to sign up - drawn in with a deal to get stuck in for an entire year. Will read the fine print in future and avoid businesses like Foresters Friendly.”

Helpful Report

Hi Daniel, thank you for your feedback. We understand that our Member Services team have been in touch and have clarified the cashback offer terms and conditions with you. It’s important to remember that the savings plan you have opened with us is a longer-term investment which is designed to be held over many years. Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important to maintain a longer-term view as well. If you do need any further assistance in future please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418. Kind regards, Foresters.

“Terrible customer service. Really poor handling of my claims on termination of policy. Avoid investing with this company at all costs. Would have given zero stars if possible.”

Helpful Report

Hi Richard, thank you for your review. We appreciate that you felt the claims process was onerous however, for some plan types, we do require adequate documentation for establishing identity at claim stage which ensures that we protect the money and security of our policyholders. This safeguards the plan so that only authorised individuals have access to the payout. We appreciate your cooperation in fulfilling these requirements and we can confirm that our claims department were as flexible as they were able to be, whilst still adhering to our procedures. If you have any further concerns or questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact our claims department. Best wishes, Foresters.

“Been trying to get my money out for several months now and they never reply to emails, calls etc”

Helpful Report

Hi Andy, thank you for bringing your feedback to our attention. We sincerely apologize for the experience you had, and we genuinely appreciate your willingness to provide us with more information so that we can address the issue promptly. We have thoroughly checked our records, but unfortunately, we couldn't find any of your emails regarding this matter or find your details as a registered member based on the information provided. To ensure we fully understand the situation and resolve it, we kindly request you to contact us directly via email at claims@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call us at 0800 101 8312 to provide some further information. We look forward to hearing from you soon and resolving this matter to your utmost satisfaction. Kind regards, Foresters

“Still waiting for my ISA documents, having opened an account 14 days ago. Now 28 days.............and still no documents”

Helpful Report

Hi Charles D, many thanks for leaving us a review. We know you’ve spoken with our Member Services team recently to raise the postal issues that appear to be occurring with you not receiving your policy pack, despite it being sent twice via first class post. The team called you yesterday but didn’t get an answer so they left a message to confirm that the policy documents have been put in the post again, this time by recorded delivery, so that they are guaranteed to be delivered within 3 working days. Please rest assured that your plan was set up once your application was received. Our Member Services team are on hand if you have any other queries. Best wishes, Foresters

“Not happy that my Stock and Shares ISA is losing money thousands and thousands of pounds. I will not pay another penny to FF and will withdraw my money as soon as the amount is back to what I paid in. This has never happened to me before with previous financial companies.”

Helpful Report

Hi Kathy, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We know one of our Member Services team has contacted you today following your review. Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers. It’s important to remember that your savings plan is a longer-term investment, which is designed to be held over many years. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important to maintain a longer-term view as well. Since 2020, there have been a number of global challenges that have had an impact on investment returns. Issues like the state of the global economy, increased energy costs driving up the prices of goods and services, political developments such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the mini-budget turmoil more recently plus the impact of COVID-19 have all contributed to stock market volatility. As a result of the investment volatility, a small proportion of plans that have invested in our Order Insurance with profits Fund in previous years have a Market Value Reduction (MVR) applied to them but no MVR is currently in place for plans taken out in 2023. This is the first time in our history that we have had to apply an MVR. An MVR is an adjustment that can be applied to the value of your investment if you choose to cash-in or withdraw from your plan during volatile investment conditions, reducing how much you get back. It ensures that everybody gets their fair share of the returns from a with profits fund and is designed to protect members who do not take their money out of the fund during poor market conditions. You will only see the effect of an MVR should you wish to withdraw your money at the time there is an MVR in place. An MVR can be added, removed, increased or decreased at any time. Our investment team are continually looking for additional opportunities to improve returns whilst remaining within risk tolerance levels. Best wishes, Foresters.

“Unfortunately i had to cancelon the 5th as requested i sent the form to do so on the same day to the email requested had no reply as of yet .”

Helpful Report

Hi Colin, thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear about the experience you have had and would be happy to look into this for you. If you could please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418 to provide some further information we’d appreciate it. Kind regards, Foresters.

Hi Colin, thank you for contacting us about this. We believe our Member Services team have since been in touch and this matter is now being resolved. If you do need any further assistance in future please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418. Kind regards, Foresters.

“Have not heard anything at all sin e my application”

Helpful Report

Hi Joanne, we are sorry to hear about your experience and would like to thank you for providing feedback. We understand from our Member Services team that your query has now been resolved. If this is not the case, or if we can provide any further assistance, please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418. Kind regards, Foresters.

“avoid using this company, its taken me over a month to get back my money after approval, I've sent a number of emails chasing up payment and promised dates via email and never received I'm owed over £3000 pounds, still on going to this date.”

Helpful Report

Dear Ryan, We are sorry to hear about the experience you have had and would like to thank you for providing feedback. We understand from our Claims team that your query has now been resolved. If this is not the case, or if you have any further enquiries, please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418. Kind regards, Foresters.

Foresters Friendly Society is rated 4.4 based on 653 reviews