Discussion
I got a letter at the beginning of August telling me my pension plan was being wound up and that I was entitled to select the option to take a winding up lump sum.
Fast forward to now (the deadline for completed forms was 31st October) and I hadn't heard from them, so I emailed them enquiring about it and they responded by saying they'd received my instructions but claimed the paperwork wasn't complete. I'm therefore no longer entitled to the winding up lump sum. It's not a tiny amount of money but as a retirement income it's going to be completely worthless.
I posted the forms back in August (they've not told me what was 'incomplete') and provided, as far as I know, all they needed to know and they made no effort to contact me to let me know they needed more information.
Is there anything I can do...?
Cheers for any advice
Fast forward to now (the deadline for completed forms was 31st October) and I hadn't heard from them, so I emailed them enquiring about it and they responded by saying they'd received my instructions but claimed the paperwork wasn't complete. I'm therefore no longer entitled to the winding up lump sum. It's not a tiny amount of money but as a retirement income it's going to be completely worthless.
I posted the forms back in August (they've not told me what was 'incomplete') and provided, as far as I know, all they needed to know and they made no effort to contact me to let me know they needed more information.
Is there anything I can do...?
Cheers for any advice
Is the administrator on the FCA register (should be!)? If so, establish who is responsible for compliancy, phone them and lodge a complaint. You don't need to submit it in writing. Get that out of the way first and then start addressing the facts, evidence and chain of events.
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearchForm.do
http://www.fca.org.uk/register/
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearchForm.do
http://www.fca.org.uk/register/
Going direct to the Pensions Ombudsman is the wrong advice. The PO does not investigate complaints that come in to his office direct from members of the public. This has to happen first:
1. A formal complaint has to be raised by you with the relevant party, which could be the employer, administrators, insurers, trustees.
2. Assuming you're not happy with what they say, you must use the pension scheme's formal complaints procedure. It's in two stages. You can ask for a copy of the laid down procedure, then follow it.
3. If you're not happy with the outcome you can ask The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) to investigate your complaint.
4. If TPAS cannot resolve your complaint you can then ask the Pensions Ombudsman to investigate it.
If you go to the PO's office direct now they will simply refer you to the above processes and tell you to initiate a formal complaint with the relevant party etc.
The best advice for you right now is to contact TPAS direct and tell them your problem and see what they say. I suspect that they will ask you to write in and they will assign the matter to one of their Advisers who will make an initial assessment and then help you through the above processes, assuming there's a complaint to answer. TPAS's website is www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk and you'll get their phone number from the site: use the helpline number.
All TPAS's services are unbiased and free. TPAS is a not-for-profit independent organisation funded by a levy on all pension schemes and financed via the DWP.
Good luck! PM me if you need any more info.
R.
1. A formal complaint has to be raised by you with the relevant party, which could be the employer, administrators, insurers, trustees.
2. Assuming you're not happy with what they say, you must use the pension scheme's formal complaints procedure. It's in two stages. You can ask for a copy of the laid down procedure, then follow it.
3. If you're not happy with the outcome you can ask The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) to investigate your complaint.
4. If TPAS cannot resolve your complaint you can then ask the Pensions Ombudsman to investigate it.
If you go to the PO's office direct now they will simply refer you to the above processes and tell you to initiate a formal complaint with the relevant party etc.
The best advice for you right now is to contact TPAS direct and tell them your problem and see what they say. I suspect that they will ask you to write in and they will assign the matter to one of their Advisers who will make an initial assessment and then help you through the above processes, assuming there's a complaint to answer. TPAS's website is www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk and you'll get their phone number from the site: use the helpline number.
All TPAS's services are unbiased and free. TPAS is a not-for-profit independent organisation funded by a levy on all pension schemes and financed via the DWP.
Good luck! PM me if you need any more info.
R.
Man...apparently they didn't receive an option selection form (I don't have one here with the rest of the paperwork), they tried to call me but claimed it was wrong even though I gave them the number I called them from this morning... They tried to email me, but on the wrong address despite me supplying the correct one on the form I sent back 
They suggested emailing a generic address to see if they're willing to do anything but the guy on the phone (despite admitting they knew what I wanted and they had enough information to carry it out) that they are unable to because of the option form being missing and that nothing could be done now...
They suggested emailing a generic address to see if they're willing to do anything but the guy on the phone (despite admitting they knew what I wanted and they had enough information to carry it out) that they are unable to because of the option form being missing and that nothing could be done now...
Edited by NobleGuy on Wednesday 13th November 09:59
NobleGuy said:
worsy said:
Noble guy. Is this EDS?. If so exactly the same happened to the wife. No option form received. She is adamant it was sent.
Yes, it's EDS.Have you had any luck? They're not even responding to my emails...
Not heard anything further as yet.
worsy said:
NobleGuy said:
worsy said:
Noble guy. Is this EDS?. If so exactly the same happened to the wife. No option form received. She is adamant it was sent.
Yes, it's EDS.Have you had any luck? They're not even responding to my emails...
Not heard anything further as yet.
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