Financial Assistance Scheme

Robert2009

13 years ago the firm I was working for was in financial trouble and decided to change the final salary scheme to a money purchase scheme and wound up/froze the final salary scheme.

They were supposed to start a money purchase scheme but I was made redundant before that ever happened, if indeed it did ever happen.

About 4 years ago I cashed in the frozen pension and got a lump sum and am now getting a monthly pension from this previously frozen pension.

Today I got an information pack from a Financial Assistance Scheme wanting bank details and earnings or benefits with the warning at the bottom that

If you fail to return this declaration within 21 days, the Scheme manager may consider using its powers to require you by law to provide the information specified in the LTA Declaration

So what on earth is this about?

hugheskevi

The final salary scheme you were a member of would have wound-up under-funded, and is now part of the Financial Assistance Scheme - click here for more information about the Financial Assistance Scheme.

As the scheme was under-funded, non-pensioner members would not have had their pensions paid in full. The Financial Assistance Scheme tops-up members to 90% of what they should have received.

This is in addition to the payments the scheme is making to you. The payments you are receiving are probably lower than you should have received as the benefits in the scheme should have been reduced due to the underfunding. However, it is possible the scheme didn't reduce payments, or has been paying you 90% since you started receiving the pension.

As part of the process of being part of the Financial Assistance Scheme, your scheme will have sent all your details to the Financial Assistance Scheme, who will have calculated what you are due, and now want to start paying that to you.

This is likely to also contain arrears so you could be due a fair amount if the pension is of a decent size (assuming you didn't take early retirement). After an initial arrears payment you should start receiving monthly payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Robert2009

Hi, Thanks, I thought it might have been some sort of scam. I think you end up paranoid after reading some of the things on these forums.


It was worth less every year, that is why I took a lump sum and a pension.

So I should fill out the forms then?

hugheskevi

So I should fill out the forms then?

Unless there is any reason not to believe it is genuine, then yes, filling it in and returning it will be in your benefit.

The address to return it to is likely to be either an address in York, or perhaps to Capita.

Worried_Pensioner_3

Hi Folks

This my first post on here and I hope someone can help


I was in company final salary scheme (Hydron). The company was taken over in JAN 2002 by Coopervison and they immediately stopped any further payments into the scheme and the winding up process began. Eventually Coopervison closed the company.

I was eventually given a Pension Pot Value at the end of 2005 and took the option to transfer this to another Pension provider and I eventually took an annuity from this Feb 2007 on my 65th Birthday. When my pension pot was transferred I was asked by the Trustees to confirm that the money at had been received as the Pension Trustees has fulfilled their obligations and the Scheme was shortly to be fully wound up - which it was in Feb 2006

The Hydron Scheme is listed on the Pension Regulators web site as being at stage 3 (Notified (successful) progressing to Qualification).

Over the last 12 months I have been in touch with FAS unit at York via email, phone calls and letters but seem to be constantly hitting brick walls.

They wrote to Coopervison who after many months replied to them saying they did not have the data they required and they passed them to a company in Bath called Fidelius and they too eventually said they don't have the data they required

I then spoke to my contact at the FAS and he said he would contact the Pension Regulator to see if they could help, but to date he seems to be ignoring my emails for an update.
What I can’t understand is that before any Pension Scheme can wind up any payments or pensions made must be agreed with HM Revenue and Customs so someone within government must have all the information the FAS require.
Can anyone help me? If I rely on the FAS it will take forever to get the matter sorted
Whose responsibility is it to keep this information once a scheme is wound up?

hugheskevi

Not much can happen until your scheme qualifies for FAS. There are a variety of options at that point, but none until after scheme qualification.

That will happen when the scheme (or whoever is dealing with this given the scheme is wound-up) sends sufficient information to FAS to allow a decision to be made regarding the scheme qualification.

Given the scheme is wound-up, whoever is dealing with this may well have it as a very low priority which may well be causing the hold-up.

I think the only thing you can do is carry on to hassling, and use normal lobbying channels, eg, MP, etc. If you are not aware of them already, you could look around the Pensions Action Group website, and ask them for support.

Worried_Pensioner_3

Thanks for the reply
The scheme was fully wound up in Feb 2006 and at the point the trustees had “discharged all their responsibilities”. The issue is who is holding the Data the FAS require.
You simply can’t wound up a scheme without agreeing all the data with HMRC. I would have thought that one Government dept could talk to another dept and resolve the issue very quickly.
I will be writing to my MP if I don’t get any further with the FAS over the next few days
I had a look at the Pensions Action Group website but that really doesn’t really seem to be much help