BT Pension Index Linking

fwor

I will find and sign the petition once it goes live, though from past experience I don't have much faith in the ePetitions system.

For the record, the correct link is this one:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/

ExBT_Bob

Ripoff wrote: »

According to TPAS the pension advisory service. Even though BT and the Trustees have consistently used RPI indexing in their documentation and used the following statement in the pension review documentation as late as April 2009, I Quote ""Section B pensions are guaranteed to increase each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI)" The onus is on US to prove that we suffer a financial loss when taking our pensions, (especially if you took it early) by them using CPI. The problem here is that no one knows what CPI will be in the future, we only know what it has been in the past. We know that there is a built in difference between CPI and RPI of 0.4% to 0.8% year on year.

Are there any clever BT people or pension people out there that can offer any advice how to show that when we took our pension based on what we believed and in fact had been told would be RPI that we are now going to suffer a loss. We had options to take on taking a greater pension that didn't index for part of it but did for the other part or we could take larger lump sums and a smaller pension.

The question therefore is can anyone show the implications of doing this compared with the difference between CPI and RPI? I am sure there are some clever people that can assist us all here. Basically we have to show we have suffered financially it would appear and prove it...........so much for morals, fairness and natural justice! They can reduce our pension by 15% to 20% over time, boast about their savings to the city and WE have to prove that they are reducing our pension and that RPI was a factor when taking our pension. IT STINKS!

Won't deferred pensioners be able to do this? (but, significantly, not yet). I.e. They know the ££ value of their deferred pension when they left BT. When it is eventually claimed/paid the original value will (now) be increased by CPI for each year deferred. It will be an easy matter to check RPI during the deferral period and see the level of shortfall...

Daylight robbery of previously accrued benefits under a regime of RPI!

BaldGringo

Remove the Spaces

https : // submissions . epetitions . direct . gov .uk / petitions / 1535

fwor

For those who don't want the tedium of removing all the spaces:

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1535

fwor

Seems to be getting signatures at about 150/hour at the moment, so if the momentum keeps up it should easily get to 100,000 before scheduled close date.

Interested_Taxpayer

You can also access the petition from the CSPA website.

www.cspa.co.uk/index.htm

SIGN NOW PEOPLE AND SPREAD THE WORD

Ripoff_2

The epetition is at
[URL="mhtml:{6EF71D81-FCE8-447B-947D-380BDD9A9C3B}mid://00000021/!x-usc:http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1535"]http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1535[/URL]

In case you are not aware, please note that in order for your signature to be validated, the site returns an email with a link to click, so make sure you give a correct email address and then go back into your emails to click the link otherwise your entry is not valid.

The battle has begun again and we need everyone to spread the word, lets hit well above the 100k target!!!

Ripoff_2

One Forum member had a fantastic idea, he placed a notice in his local Post Office, (they did it for free) to advertise the e-petition, lets ALL do the same up and down the country, pop a notice in your local shop, Post Office, Tesco and Asda do free ads also, we need to get the message out there and this is just another way of doing that. People power can and will work but it takes us all to make that effort and actually take action like one forum member has done, what a positive move. Any more ideas of how to get the message out to the people that need to sign? is most welcome.

The count now stands at 17,107 today 23rd Aug at 14:30

Ripoff_2

Internet Direct Transfer now available to make a donation to one of the fighting funds. The National Federation of Occupational Pensioners (NFOP) is urging all those affected by the Government’s decision to switch to the CPI for pension increases to help us join in the legal battle against this injustice. You can donate via cheque (made out to the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners) or by a direct transfer to Sort Code 40-30-32, Account Number 02324679. Thank you

fwor

Ripoff wrote: »

Any more ideas of how to get the message out to the people that need to sign? is most welcome.

It's quite well known that the best way to spread the word these days is through online social networking. If people post about it on their Facebook, MySpace, etc pages and Twitter about it then the word will spread. There's pretty good evidence that the recent defeat over plans to sell off Forestry Commission land was down to social networking.

Unfortunately I suspect that many people don't have a good enough understanding of inflation, nor of the effects of compounding, to actually see the consequences of the change in terms that are meaningful.

It would IMO be good to have a factual, simple quote such as "If the government had brought this change in 10 years ago, every person with a pension linked to CPI would have been X% worse off today". Does anyone have access to the real CPI versus RPI figures for the last 10 years, to say what X is in that example, or perhaps have a better one?