Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Principal Financial Group's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Principal Financial Group

  711 High Street Des Moines, IA 50392-0001

  
• 

  Principal Financial Group

  4010 W Boy Scout Blvd Ste 700 Tampa, FL 33607

• 

  Principal Financial Group

  PO Box 22347 Tampa, FL 33622

• 

  Principal Financial Group

  10200 Innovation Suite 800 Milwaukee, WI 53226

• 

  Principal Financial Group

  221 E Franklin St. Appleton, WI 54911

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/29/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband found out he needed shoulder surgery. We could not afford for him to be off work for 4-6 months after the surgery at that moment. The surgery was then set up in December. We were emailed paperwork with PDFs of everything my husband would need to filled out by the surgeon, his employer, etc for the surgery. Everything was complete. My husband checked with his HR representative a month before surgery and she claimed everything was good to go and he had nothing to worry about. We saved up some money throughout that time period. Luckily, we did. A week after surgery there was no money for short-term disability. Two weeks still nothing. Principal began going back and forth with us trying to figure out the problem. Even in their emails they claim that they figure it out and then they take it back. It ultimately comes down to we need the surgeon to fill out a form that was never emailed in the PDFs. So, we now had to get this form filled out by the surgeon. I checked the email of PDFs we were never sent this form for the surgeon to fill out. My husband's surgery was Dec. 22 it is now Jan 27 and we still have not recieved any money even after waiting on the surgeon to send out this new form. They said we were approved and we are still waiting. The reason I am writing this review is because this puts families lives at stake. We are expected to pay regular bills plus my husband's health insurance which is an extra $350 a month while he is out. Principal is putting families lives at risk. The economy is horrible at the moment and the way they are treating their clients is sick. They need a better system and they need to know who is doing what job and who is providing what service to their clientele. We had to use Prinicpal for 6 weeks a few years ago and this exact situation happened then as well in an emergency situation. Principal is supposed to help families in emergencies not scare them to death. Apparently this is as long as my complaint it allowed to be.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2024

  This is a response to complaint ID #********. *************************** takes our responsibility to protect our customers confidentiality very seriously. Therefore, we will respond to the claimant directly. Please let me know if you have further questions.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have an account already at ******************** with my employer. In either October or November I opened an ************************************* #: *******. That same day I enrolled in online access to manage my accounts better. Couple days go by and Im ready to fund my IRA ********* I try to login to view the wire transfer details just for Principal to lock me out of my account. I tried to reset username and password numerous of times. I tried to enroll again but the system is unable to verify my identity using the same information I used to open my account with.SSN: *********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/24/2024

  Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/17/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Please see the attached document for a full detail description of my problem. If I had to rate Principal Financial Group, my rating would be an: E or F (FAIL)The desired result is that I want for Principal Financial Group to: 1)Contact me at: ************** (leave a detailed VM if not answered) or email at: ***************** explaining why the delay and what they are doing to rectify this matter and provide me an ETA on when this will be completed.2)Take responsibility for their failure and make good and deliver on services being requested as I paid to have this form notarized (spousal consent) and for them to FINISH THE ****

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/17/2024

  Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/16/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Applied for a loan through my 401k. I owe my ex wife 20k to buy her half of my primary residence in a divorce settlement. Was told my loan was denied because the purchase was not from a lender. Sent the divorce agreement that states if I do not pay the 20k in 180 days my home will be sold. This is to purchase my primary residence and was told this was denied because my purchase was not from a "market". The loan clearly states it is for the purchase of a primary residence. Which this is what the 12k from my own account was requested.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/17/2024

  Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/11/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Between 2019 and **** Principal Investments have adjusted their own rules regarding loan and withdrawal documents supposedly needed for processing increasingly making it harder to withdraw/loan 401k funds especially when times actually get hard. Research shows firms can simply elect to do this. My firms previous plan provider were way more accommodating. Given the hurdles my wife has seen me endure, she is deciding against rolling over her sizeable account unless another firm with greater flexibility is available when she is eligible to contribute. I would advise others to seriously take this into consideration before electing to have Principal as your 401(k) provider. Only keeping with it due to a company match but definitely starting an after tax account with a better provider so I can access my money consistent terms.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2024

  Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/08/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Principals website stated that rollovers/distributions for 2023 had to be before December 18th, 2023. 12-03-2023 I had my other bank, ****, initiate a rolI-over from my Principal 401K to my **** **** On Dec 4, 2023, I received a message through my account at ******************** stating that they received the request and it would be done within 5-7 days. I have included this message in the attachments I uploaded here. On Dec 13, I called Principal to inquire why it was not completed yet and this needed to be included on my 2023 taxes for financial reasons. The man I spoke with said Prinicipal couldn't accept the **** form only and that I needed to file the paperwork online through my account. I asked if the transaction would still count for 2023 tax year if submitted online that night because it was very important for our taxes and he said "Yes, as long as it's submitted online before Dec 18 it will count for 2023 tax year no matter when it was completed." I submitted the online form on Dec 13 and on Dec 14 I got another message and email stating it would be complete within 5-7 days. I called them again on Dec 27, 2023 to ask why it still wasn't completed yet. I was told again that it would be done within 5-7 days. I checked the account daily to see if the transaction was complete and on Jan 2, **** I noticed they made the transaction on Dec 29 and that it was being counted on my **** taxes instead of my ******************************* on the phone on Dec 13. I called them on Jan 2 to inquire about this and the lady I spoke to whose name was "Prosperity" said she would put in an inquiry and that it may be changed since she could see that we did our part in a timely manner. She said she would call me back. She called today and informed me that it could not be changed. I asked if I could speak to anyone above her or if I could speak to who denied the request to change their mistake. She said she couldn't let me so I informed her that I would be filing a complaint with BBB.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/08/2024

  Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21103989
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Principal has not contacted me or attempted to fix their mistake.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/01/2024

  The complainant was contacted on January 10, ****, and this issue has been resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/03/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I requested a distribution from them, but provided the incorrect account number and I contacted them with help trying to relocate and resend the money to the correct account and no one has addressed my concern in over a week. I've tried calling and have been on hold for over an hour, I've sent several emails. I need a resolution to this issue.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/09/2024

  Thank you for forwarding the complaint. We will respond directly to the customer.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/15/2024

   
  Complaint: 21086624
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I still have not received my money in my HSA account. I have done as your company rep asked and contacted the Health Equity team to send you a acceptance letter. Why is it so hard for you two to communicate together to get this taken care of as soon as possible? If its too difficult of a task, can you just mail the check to me to forward onto the other buisness?
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/22/2024

  Thank you for forwarding the complaint. We will respond directly to the customer.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a 401 K account with a prior employer ****************** it was transferred to ***** Fargo, then the ***** Fargo accounts were all transferred to Principal. When I first called to inquire, they had my name and seem to indicate that they were aware of my account plan number, ************** but that it did not show any balance. They said they would send it to research. Research left a message (answered when they called but it was a recording-odd, that said things were resolved). I called **************** again, they said that I needed to register for an online account. I was unable as the website did not recognize me. They said that they would send this issue to research. I have not heard back. They said they could not help me further for my security even though I could give my social, date of hire, along with other info they may want. I emailed the online contact several times, they respond as if they never read the emails. Finally I have asked them to give me the number or email of their complaints department or someone higher up that could help me. They have yet to respond. This has been very time consuming with many emails and calls. Reading the complaints on this BBB site I see that they have treated others in a similar fashion. Basically I have been getting what seems to be the runaround.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Thank you for forwarding.  Principal will respond directly to the complainant.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/15/2024

  I had filed a complaint with the wrong email address.  My correct address is ****************, the one I had given was ***************.   I have not hear back from the company.  My phone number is ************.  Thanks, ***********************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2024

  Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21072027
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  Principal Financial Group still has not made any contact. I really appreciate all that the BBB has been doing, but it looks like I still need help.  Thanks.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/18/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/01/2024

   

  Hello,

   

  I have still not received any correspondence. Can you please ensure that anything is being sent to:

   

  ***********************

  21803 Arriba Real Unit 13J

  **********, ******* 33433

   

  Additionally, I can be reached at:

  ************

   

  Thank you,

  ***********************

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/29/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have not worked for a company for a very long time trying to get all my 401 rolled into one. I have called this horrible place a few time and sent in the paperwork to be able to release the information to me. I called ****** in the ** office and she confirmed they had my requested however nothing was done with it. and after fighting with this woman me to confirm numerous important identfying info that can be stolen said she would send it to me but I have not received anything. this was 11.26.23 this is stopping my housing buying as well as other important issues

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/09/2024

  Thank you for forwarding the complaint. We have responded directly to the customer.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am filing the complaint regarding a claim for long-term disability submitted to principal insurance. The claim handler has been dishonest with me in my opinion along the way. I reached out throughout the process multiple times weekly to follow the claims individual to make sure they had all the information they needed. The claims individual or examiner kept telling me that they had everything and I needed to wait for an outcome. This was not the truth. However, they had been leaving messages for my doctor that supposedly did not return the calls, and when I ask them if they still need any further information, the claims adjuster lied to me and told me to wait for the outcome. They had everything they need as of now. While this was going on, they were trying to leave messages for my doctor. Supposedly Im not getting a response, but I was never made aware of it, and the claim was denied. The issue I have is the level of honesty regarding the individual claims representative. In my opinion, the claims examiner has a responsibility to do her job thoroughly and correctly, and communicate honestly with claimants. She chose to tell me that they no longer needed any further information without picking up the phone or emailing her internal contacts to find out that they did not have all the information they needed. She instead evaluate the claim and denied it.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/29/2023

  Good afternoon:
  This is a response to Complaint ID ******** forwarded to Principal Life Insurance Company from our customer. We will review their concern and respond as needed. If any direct communication is sent to the customer, we will be sure to let you know. Please advise if you have any questions.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************;|  Senior Claim Advisor
  Workplace Benefits and ******************* IDI Claims
  Principal Life Insurance company |**********, ** 50211
  Phone: ************ | Toll free ************
  Connect with ** on Twitter | Facebook | www.principal.com