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Pension miscalculation
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Roger Boothby
Posted: 01 November 2010 19:46:37(UTC)
#11

Joined: 27/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 6
Might be worth checking the 6 years bit I am sure I have read that after 6 years the claim is invalid
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Roger Boothby
Posted: 01 November 2010 20:03:22(UTC)
#12

Joined: 27/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 6
Chris Marshall
Many thanks for the actions you have taken.
I have done a lot of research on this subject and have checked the PAS website anf it says that thelaw says that people should not benefit from other mistakes, now I agree with that, and I can understand when the taxman wants his money back that its valid, people can however claim a change of position.
But I wonder in the case of pensions if the law is fair! remember once you agree to the pension payments thats it for the rest of your life so if the pension company makes a mistake on the calculations you cannot cancel and go somewhere else later on.

There also seems to be an attitude that the pension statement is not a contract, I am having trouble with this as to me a contract consistes of 1/ offer ,2/ acceptance 3/ consideration

I have put in a formal complaint to the trustees of my pension they have foolishly indicated that the complaint will fail, thats before the complaint decision has been made, so it seems I will be using the PAS and going the distance on this one.

I wonder how the Pensions Regulator justifies allowing these people to carry on making mistakes that affect people for the rest of their lives.

Once again many thanks to all who have responded to my entry

Roger Boothby

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Misleading Statement of Options
Posted: 01 November 2010 21:01:29(UTC)
#13

Joined: 01/11/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1
When I became a deferred pensioner, I was given by the then Trustees (ABC Consultants Limited), my statement of options. One of the options was to retire from age 60 without any reduction for early payment.
ABC Consultants had issued similar statement to all other deferred members with the option of retiring from age 60 without any reduction of early payment. The statements issued were correct and not “misleading” and deferred members were given unreduced pension from the age of 60 by ABC Consultants.
But the current Trustees, XY pension Consulting Ltd, refused to pay me pension from age 60. The Trustees, after taking legal advice, gave me various reasons (including that the current rules have changed) for not allowing me to have unreduced pension from age 60 but at the end came to the conclusion that the statement of options was “misleading”.
The current Trustees had taken legal action against the previous trustees for negligence and were successful in receiving a substantial sum. As part of agreeing this settlement both parties agreed that the terms remain confidential and the current trustees would not give any further details.
I took help of TPAS, but without any success. The case was then referred to The Pensions Ombudsman.

The Pensions Ombudsman were informed by the current Trustees (via their Solicitors) that the Statement of options I received when I became deferred pensioner was misleading and NOT in accordance with the Trustees Rules and I had not suffered any financial loss due to “misleading statement”.
The Pensions Ombudsman agreed with the current Trustees and I was refused pension from age 60.
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Blind Jack
Posted: 02 November 2010 09:14:14(UTC)
#14

Joined: 04/05/2010(UTC)
Posts: 4
Dennis, I can only imagine that the principle of estoppel only applies to a contract so tax reclaims would not fall under this.

As to treating pension statements as contracts--- this would seem to be a good route to tackle the problem as the basic elements of offer, acceptance and consideration appear to be there just as Roger says. I would think that this would be opposed on the grounds that the pension statement was not an offer, that it was not something offered to you to accept or reject, only a continuation of the pension process that you agreed to when you signed up to the pension plan many years ago.

Could it perhaps be argued that entering a pension scheme was the formation of a contract so reneging on the pension statement was tantamount to breaking the contract? Since there are particular laws relating to pensions, it would seem unlikely.

Another route to crack the problem might be that, if pension statements cannot be relied upon to make decisions about the future (because the trustees can come back later with a reduced payout) then ALL prospective pensioners need to have their pension calculations checked before proceeding and this should be given maximum publicity in the press. BBC Radio's Money Programme would probably be interested in taking this up. The pressure on the Ombudsman might be enough for him to find in your favour. Good luck.
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