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Shepherds Friendly Reviews

4.6 Rating 2,782 Reviews

93 %

of reviewers recommend Shepherds Friendly

Company Reviews

4.6

Based on 2,782 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
On-time Delivery	Greater than 89%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.6 out of 5

About Shepherds Friendly:

Shepherds Friendly is one of the oldest financial mutuals in the world, with 190 years’ experience in providing families with financial security.

Visit Website

Phone:

0800 526 249

Email:

marketing@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk

Location:

Haw Bank House, High Street, Cheadle
SK8 1AL

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Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 24th February 2021

Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 19th November 2020

Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 14th September 2020

Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 7th August 2020

Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 22nd May 2020

Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 14th January 2020

Shepherds Friendly 5 star review on 15th December 2019

10

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

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

“Policy set up and ran smoothly for first year. Had 5 years without a single day off but got really ill in February so made first claim for 5 weeks. In October had an issue with my knee. As soon as they realised a lengthy claim was coming started digging as deep as possible through my situation to find away out of paying by manipulating the fact I was self employed and had other family members working with me but not employed by me. End result rejected my claim, forced to work injured and closed the policy. If there is any way out of paying they will find it. Make sure everything is water tight and you have everything to back it up especially if you run your own business. Could have easily made a part payment as I could clearly prove my own loss of wages. Most likely end up as a long drawn out court case which non of us have the time or energy for.”

Hello, Thank you for getting in touch with us and bringing your recent experience to our attention. Should you wish to discuss your review with us in further details, please get in touch with our Member Services Team on 0161 428 1212 or by sending them an email on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk Kind regards, Libbi

“Avoid at all costs! My mother who is 61 took out a policy for income protection - She claimed a year after the policy was taken out as she is not well. They honoured the claim for 3 months then just stopped. They have no grounds to stop paying, they are using clauses which are not applicable. my mother was fit and working when the policy was taken out - and has proof! They are claiming she was not- with NO proof and will not take into accounts and proof! She paid for a-policy she can not claim from and now left in a place where she cannot take out another policy as she is unable to work! I am taking this to the authorities! Very unfair!”

“Do not use this company for income protection under any circumstances! This company has left my family destitute. We now face being made homeless! Stay well clear! Utterly disgusting the way they have acted!”

Hello Nicola, Thank you for getting in touch. I would like to help with the feedback you have provided us but I will need some more details to locate your plan with us. To provide this please get in touch with our Member Services Team on 0161 428 1212 or by email at info@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk. Many thanks, Libbi

“What an inefficient Organisation this is and totally lacks customer care. It has taken me months and months to get someone to listen to me and send out a statement for a policy I have been paying for. What a shambles, sorry I have ever invested with them.”

Hi, Thank you for leaving your feedback, I’m sorry to hear that it took so long for you to receive your plan statement. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused, as it is our priority to ensure all of our members have as much access to their plan as they need. If you would like to speak to anyone about this matter, or anything else, feel free to get in contact with our Member Services team on 0800 526 249 or via email at members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk. Kind Regards, Aidan

“It's all fine until you actually want your cash!. Online you cannot withdraw, when you call by phone you are told to email. When you email, you don't get a response. I emailed 11th April, and again 20th May and have no responses. It's just frustrating and so old-fashioned. When someone finally gets in touch, I will withdraw my cash and close my account and open an ISA with a more responsive company.”

Hi, Thank you for leaving your feedback. I’m sorry to hear you have found it difficult to get in touch with us, we always prioritise getting back to our members as soon as we can to help you with any queries you might have. I have passed on your details to our Member Services team, who will be contacting you as soon as possible. If you would like to get in touch before then, you can get in touch on 0800 526 249 or via email at members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk. Kind Regards, Aidan

“This company will charge you 10/20% or what ever they feel at the time for withdrawing your money and blame it on covid. Thieves... You’ve been warned!!!”

Hello, thank you for leaving us a review. I just want to address your point to provide some context about the current situation. The spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on financial markets worldwide. All investments carry some level of risk, and during periods of uncertain and challenging economic conditions, they may lose value. For this reason, you should always view investing with a medium to long-term outlook of five years or more. While we understand that some members need access to their money now, and empathise with their situation, we also need to provide protection for our members who are remaining invested in the fund. To do this we apply a Market Value Reduction (MVR), which ensures that when members withdraw during adverse market conditions, they do not leave with more than their fair share of the assets. You can find out more about MVRs in your plan terms and conditions or by contacting our Member Services Team. Historically, this is not something that has been common, and is not a decision that has been taken lightly. However, we do find ourselves in an unprecedented situation, and this is necessary to protect all our members who have money invested with us. Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss this further. Our Member Services Team are available on 0800 526 249 or at members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk.

“They won’t pay at all worst company Iv ever been insured with. NOT NOT USE”

Hi Symon, Thank you for getting in touch with us and letting us know about your recent experience. Should you wish to further discuss your review with us, please get in touch with our Member Services team on 0161 428 1212 or by email on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk Kind regards, Lyba

“I have taken out a life insurance but to date I have not received any paperwork with account number etc, The only reason I know I was excepted was due to my bank informing me of the standing order. Very poor start by Shepherds Friendly. Hopefully I will receive the required paperwork in the foreseeable future,”

“Shocking. Opened a plan assuming I could pay into it immediately. Not the case! Apparently you need to wait for an email confirming the plan is open. OK they have to do some checking, but 2 weeks later still no email. The ONLY contact I've had is an email asking me to rate their service! Well....I just have. UPDATE: Having clicked through the email and written the review above, I posted it using the "Submit as Anonymous" button .... note it says anonymous. A couple of hours later I received a call from Shepherds Friendly... "About the review you just left concerning our service..." What!!! Which bit of "Submit as Anonymous" am I misunderstanding? The caller, pleasant as she was, then suggested that I might like to make a payment there and then. Errr....let me think about that for while whilst I consider the trust issues raised here. I'm now promised a email which will address my "concerns". Looking forwarded to that one!”

“Keep away form this company for income protection they will not pay out always making excuses even when I sent all my X-ray and sick notes very disappointing no one cares just take your money”

Hello, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review regarding your experience with us. I’m sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the outcome of your Income Protection claim. We understand that this cover is important, and we do pay the vast majority of claims; in fact, last year we paid 96.2% of our member’s claims. We treat each claim fairly and on an individual basis and, on occasion, we are regrettably unable to help. In these instances, we will always explain our decision and the reasons why the claim has been unsuccessful. If we can be of any further assistance, you are of course welcome to contact us via our online contact form: https://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk/help-and-support/. Kind regards, Rosie

“In the time I have had my plan I have found the company great to deal with, the plan is nice and clear and making deposits and withdrawals fairly straightforward and completed quickly within the usual 5 day time frame. However on this occasion I have requested a withdrawal and 9 days later no sign of the funds and limited communication as to when the funds will arrive. At least with certainty when the funds will arrive will allow me to move forward but I just feel in limbo. Certainly not the usual standard of service that you normally provide.”

Hello, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. Firstly, I am pleased to hear that you feel that our service has been good overall. We do work hard to put our members first and we are always keen to learn how we can further improve things. Therefore, I appreciate you informing us about your recent experience with us. I am sorry to hear that we have not met your expectations this time and that you feel like you have been left in limbo in terms of your withdrawal. If you would like to discuss this matter further, our Member Services team will be more than happy to help. You can reach us on 0800 526 249 or via email to: members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk Kind regards, Melissa Shepherds Friendly

“All good until you decide to take your money out. Then you learn that MVR (market value reduction) is in place. Meaning that SF are going to keep some of your hard earned money (10% in my case). I'm just grateful that I didn't pay in more. Clearly if I didn't mind losing my money I would have went for stocks and shares ISA. Anyway, if you want to save your money - keep it in your back account rather than trusting these frauds.”

“Just contacted shepherds friendly for a value of my account, they have applied a "market value reduction" & taking 10% of the money I have paid in. This is daylight robbery & I am disgusted with them. STAY AWAY from these crooks. Of course I have not accepted & will seek assistance from the financial ombudsman. BE WARNED”

“Slow in actioning queries after contact is made by telephone. Very, very slow in responding to digital queries made during the Covid-19 pandemic. No follow up, e.g. if you've requested a link to a form, there's no later check to ask if you managed OK.”

“Awful website. I think a school child could have done better. No visibility on investment and the login logout is terrible. I am looking to move my investment to an upto date business.”

Hello, Thank you for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear that you have been experiencing issues with our new website. We have been working hard to fix any errors you encountered and I am pleased to let you know they have now been resolved. If you would like to discuss this matter or anything else further, you can contact our Member Services team on 0800 526 249 or via email at members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk. Kind Regards, Aidan

“Easy to set up and create direct deposit to their account. but as soon as you claim they disappear and ignore you and no answer what so ever...”

Hello Linas, Thank you for getting in touch with us. We’re currently receiving an increase in enquiries it may take our Claims Team 3-5 working days to respond, we appreciate your patience and understanding. We would like to support you with the feedback you have provided and address any concerns you might have. If you would like to speak about this, please contact our Member Services team on 0800 526 249 or by email on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk and they’ll be happy to help. Kind regards, Lyba

“My name is Calvin hanson. I took My income protection policy out and Unfortunately had an injury at work and had to claim. It took them over two months to come up with a decision But where I live pay cheque to pay check I could afford the second month So they declined my case because I’ve missed a payment even though I said I would clear the payment the contract wasn’t cancelled or anything and they wouldn’t let me reopen another case . The whole reason of taking out income protection is if anything happened to me it would pay out every month so I could pay my bills. Unfortunately I cannot add a picture of the letter they sent to me but I will try to do it on Google reviews”

Hi Calvin, Thank you for your feedback. Due to nature of the claim process containing sensitive information, I have sent you a private message with further details and to help address your concerns. Should you wish to further discuss the feedback that you have provided, please feel free to get in touch with our Member Services team on 0161 428 1212. Kind regards, Lyba

“I have been paying for accident/sickness cover for a number of years. I’m trying to claim sickness cover due to a broken ankle. The coronavirus has made reaching anyone by phone impossible. Doing email correspondence only. Instead of asking for all the paperwork they want to see in one go, even though I’ve provided ample, I get an email every 5/6 days asking to see something else. I am so annoyed, I’ve been paying my premium for years. Even though I’ve provided my mobile and landline numbers I have had no phone call. Really do your homework before taking out this kind of cover and see how long you have to wait until you finally get a payment from Shepherds Friendly or any other company. This is the first time I have made a claim and for a straight forward claim, there’s been a lot of delay tactics!!!”

Hello, Thank you for leaving us a review. Due to the current situation our team is working remotely and so it may take a bit longer than usual for us to get back, we appreciate your patience and understanding. Someone from our claims team will be in touch with you today to help give you an update on your claim. In the meantime if you have any further questions or there’s anything else we can help with, please get in touch with our Member Services team by email on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk or over the phone on 0161 428 1212. Kind regards, Lyba

“Extremely easy to use website which contained top tips!”

“Paid £1800 in premiums in 2 year's income protection.waited 7 WEEKS only to be told not eligible for benefits due to fact l did not disclose blocked ears, sore knee,stiff neck,heart burn and l enjoy a drink which most people do . AVOID THIS COMPANY”

Hello, Thank you for getting in touch with us. Should you wish to further discuss the feedback that you have provided, please get in touch with our Member Services team on 0161 428 1212 or by email on members@shepherdsfriendly.co.uk Kind regards, Lyba

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Shepherds Friendly is rated 4.6 based on 2,782 reviews