Superannuation - lost and gone for ever?

Hettypatch

I worked for the Civil Service for 6 years and as a teacher for 8. The superannuations rolled into each other.

However, when I began my third career path in 1994, I was professionally advised to leave superannuation and put the money into a pension plan (Allied Dunbar).

I was subsequently professionally advised to move it into another pension plan.

I am now professionally advised that the original advice was disasterously wrong, and that the pension pot I now have could be up to 50% less than if I'd stayed in superannuation.

Although the plan is no longer with Allied Dunbar, is it true that I could write to them for compensation for the mis-advice and loss of future income caused thereby?

I'm hoping to retire at 60 in 2015.
I will have 21 years' company pensionable service with my present employer.
A small pension from a contributory ppp, which will have been running about 30 years.
A tiny pension from an AVC which was frozen and the ppp taken out instead.
A small pension from the former Allied Dunbar policy.
No state pension until I'm 65 .

Particularly in the light of no state pension for the first 5 years of my retirement, I'm keen to maximise the pensions I will have.

Any help welcome

Thanks.

Schrodingers_Cat_2

Superannuation is the contribution your employer makes to the fund.......it's an old term and effectively now is synonymous with 'company pension scheme'. It depends on what the terms of the company funds are. For example I have one with a pensions company that I worked for that guarantees a 5% rise a year.......which in these times of low inflation and interest rates is quite handy.

You won't get much joy from the financial adviser if the funds simply performed badly.....or worse than some other fund. People would otherwise be suing financial advisers across the board. BUT....if you can show that you were 'mis-sold' a policy it is different. Mis-selling is where the adviser sells you a product without fully explaining the risks involved....or has been inclined to lead you to 'prefer' a riskier product under the guise that it will do just as well or better than an alternative.

A classic example of mis-selling was endowment mortgages. Many of the quotes provided to customers assumed rates of return that were not realistic given the market states at the time.......and the risk was either not fully explained or led to be less than it actually was. As a result, many customers found themselves with quotes that showed they could likely end up with a surplus.....when in fact those cutomers faced a huge loss. The endowments doing badly was not in itself the mis-selling.........the mis-selling lay in the fact that the advisers often led customers to PREFER that option without fully explaining that a basic repayment mortage WOULD guarantee the morgage was paid.

A lot of people were compensated for mis-sold endowments.

My understanding on pensions mis-selling is that there WAS compensation with regard to personal pensions mis-sold ( to replace company pensions ) between 1988 and 1994.....but that there was a cut off date in 2000 for this ( just as there was a cut off date for endowment claims ). However.....its worth still trying. You need to contact the specific pension company involved and ask for what is called a 'Special Pension Review'. They'll know what that is.

Schrodingers_Cat_2

Hettypatch wrote: »

Although the plan is no longer with Allied Dunbar, is it true that I could write to them for compensation for the mis-advice and loss of future income caused thereby?

QUOTE]

Your claim is against whoever originally advised you to take a personal pension instead. That the fund may have moved on since then wont affect that.

What's not clear is whether this was an independent financial adviser ( i.e your saw Joe Bloggs at Financial Advisers R Us ), or was acting on behalf ( even though they may claim to be impartial ) of some pension company. You can still claim compensation from an IFA....but may find it harder if they no longer exist....in which case you would refer the matter to The Financial Ombudsman.

First step would be to ask for a 'Special Pensions Review'. This is a comparison of the policy you were sold vs the original policy it replaces...to assess the degree of variation in fund value. There's no guarantee this would lead to compensation.....but it's at least something you could then use to further the complaint if you involved the FSA.

dunstonh

What's not clear is whether this was an independent financial adviser ( i.e your saw Joe Bloggs at Financial Advisers R Us ), or was acting on behalf ( even though they may claim to be impartial ) of some pension company. You can still claim compensation from an IFA....but may find it harder if they no longer exist....in which case you would refer the matter to The Financial Ombudsman.

If its allied dunbar (or crowbar as they were known) then they were tied agent. Zurich have taken on responsibility for their sales. It would be unusual to see an occupational pension transfer in 1994 which hadnt gone through a more rebust process. Occupational miss-selling occurred between 1988 and 1993. So, it could be a late straggler or it could be one that had the right requirements at the time. Being dunbar, I doubt it was right, although it wouldnt have been with malice.

Hettypatch

Thanks for the replies, guys. Yes, it was Allied Crowbar's own advisor/saleswoman who encouraged me to transfer out of the superannuation scheme.

Sorry to be dense but is it AD/Zurich that I ask for the Special Pensions Review from?

It was after 2000 before I was advised that leaving superann. had been a bad idea.

Crowbar didn't advise me of the risks of buying their policy, any more than they did about the endowment. It was only a top up policy and, of course, it failed to make anything like the sums promised. The main policy was with Standard Life. I tried to claim compensation on the SL one but I'd taken it out pre-1985, so no claim was allowed. The AD endowment was taken out in 1992 ish, I think. I'm not sure why I didn't try to claim compensation on that one, I think I forgot that it wasn't as old as the SL one. Between them, the SL and AD endowment policies were meant to pay off the mortgage and give terminal bonuses of about £50k. Alas. Thus began my relationship with the official receiver.....

Anyhoo, the endowments have flowed under the bridge but it would be good to see if anything could be done about the pension situation. Thanks again for your help.

Hettypatch

Bumping hopefully. Thanks for the replies.