Mis sold pension.

stripey

Hello,

I have just had a pension forecast from my employer ( the NHS) and have been informed that i do not have Mental Health Officer status and that my pension contributions did not start until 1995. Now I started to pay into the NHS pension scheme in 1988. I was young and daft and I was advised by a pension salesman to transfer my pension out of the NHS scheme into a private one - InterLife so I did.

I rejoined the NHS scheme in 1995 but have competely forgotton that i had transfered my contributions to InterLife.
I accept that I have not got MHO status and my pension will only start from 1995,but I do feel that I was missold this pension and I would like to know where my contributions from that time have gone.

Is there anything I can do about this?

I was very stupid I know!

bendix

What makes you think it was mis-sold?

Nothing you have written here indicates mis-selling? That you either didn't know or didn't care or didn't bother to find out what you were doing is not the same as being mis-sold.

yelf

according to you the pension went into Interlife - so you've answered your own question

stripey

Thanks for your replies.
I don't belive that Interlife exists any more so that's why I was wondering where my contributions are now.

I was advised that I would be better off in a private pension instead of my occupational pension scheme so thats why I believe it was mis sold.

Your right that I did not 'bother' to find out if would be 'better off' in a private pension scheme but I was young and not particularly ' bothered' at that time about planning for my future - I am now.

I am clearly paying for that indifference now.

I do apologise for being an imperfect human being who made stupid decisions at a young age. I also apologise for asking what is clearly a stupid question.

noh

I found a couple of newspaper articles relating to Interlife published in 1993/4

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/workers-turning-back-from-personal-pension-plans-insurers-help-miners-and-nhs-employees-return-to-their-occupational-schemes-1511425.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-great-pensions-scandal-when-you-get-to-their-age-you-may-not-have-enough-to-live-on-nick-cicutti-investigates-1437731.html

Are you sure the misselling wasn't dealt with when you went back into the NHS scheme in 1995?
ie was the value of your interlife plan plus compensation transferred to the NHS scheme?

At the end of 1994 your Interlife pension should have been subject to an automatic review and it would have been found to have been missold and transferred back to the NHS scheme.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/33/review-33.htm

stripey

No the misselling wasn't dealt with at the time. I honestly have not thought about this until I recently had a pension forecast from my employer.

I know that £870 was transfered over to interlife in 1991 and then I must have cancelled the policy and did not think about it again. - then i rejoined the NHS scheme in 1995.

Data_Monkey_2

stripey wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.
I don't belive that Interlife exists any more so that's why I was wondering where my contributions are now.

I was advised that I would be better off in a private pension instead of my occupational pension scheme so thats why I believe it was mis sold.

Your right that I did not 'bother' to find out if would be 'better off' in a private pension scheme but I was young and not particularly ' bothered' at that time about planning for my future - I am now.

I am clearly paying for that indifference now.

I do apologise for being an imperfect human being who made stupid decisions at a young age. I also apologise for asking what is clearly a stupid question.

It wasn't a stupid question, and many people, myself included, make mistakes with financial planning especially when young.

Unfortunately some of the posters on here don't empathise with people who aren't as finance literate as they are, and I'm sure it puts many potential posters off.

I read a lot of stuff on here, but wouldn't dream of asking for advice because I don't want the criticism, and it's a shame to be honest.

bendix

Data_Monkey wrote: »

It wasn't a stupid question, and many people, myself included, make mistakes with financial planning especially when young.

Unfortunately some of the posters on here don't empathise with people who aren't as finance literate as they are, and I'm sure it puts many potential posters off.

I read a lot of stuff on here, but wouldn't dream of asking for advice because I don't want the criticism, and it's a shame to be honest.

Nobody on this forum gives advice. If you want advice, talk to an IFA.

All we can ever do is give our opinion, and this forum is littered with threads from people claiming that they were mis-sold a financial product when in fact, they were sold something quite legitimately but didn't have the inclination to understand what it is they were buying, neither did they take advice at the time.

That is not mis-selling, it is ill-informed buying and coming along 10-15 years crying foul might make one feel good about one's mistakes, but it's not particularly valid.

dunstonh

The pensions mis-selling period was from 1988 to 1993. All pensions sold in that period were meant to have been reviewed. This meant you were issued with a questionnaire and asked questions about eligibility and your reasons for not being in the scheme. Depending on how you answered those questions, the review would look at whether you were mis-sold or not.

Like most things, many consumers didnt respond and it took well into the late 90s for the stragglers to be chased and completed.

The most common outcome on a mis-sold pension was for the pension company to effectively void the personal pension and buy you back into the occupational scheme as if you had never left. This would increase your years.

So, how many years do you have in the NHS pension?

ow I started to pay into the NHS pension scheme in 1988. I was young and daft and I was advised by a pension salesman to transfer my pension out of the NHS scheme into a private one - InterLife so I did.

You were not daft. Even the Govt was encouraging it back then. It seen to be the right thing to do.

noh

bendix wrote: »

.................

That is not mis-selling, it is ill-informed buying and coming along 10-15 years crying foul might make one feel good about one's mistakes, but it's not particularly valid.

Although in this case it is mis-selling.
In 1993 Interlife were fined £160000 by LAUTRO for mis-selling pensions to nurses.

stripey

bendix wrote: »

Nobody on this forum gives advice. If you want advice, talk to an IFA.

All we can ever do is give our opinion, and this forum is littered with threads from people claiming that they were mis-sold a financial product when in fact, they were sold something quite legitimately but didn't have the inclination to understand what it is they were buying, neither did they take advice at the time.

That is not mis-selling, it is ill-informed buying and coming along 10-15 years crying foul might make one feel good about one's mistakes, but it's not particularly valid.

Ok, I am not aware of this forum being 'littered' with threads about people claiming that they have been mis-sold financial products - thats hardly my fault is it?

I was asking if I there was anything practical I could do about the mistake I made when I was 21 years old - if there is'nt then fair enough I will take it on the chin!

But I do believe that it was mis-sold but again if there is nothing I can do about it then again thats fair enough.

As for crying foul it does not make me feel good and I did not come onto this site for someone to hold my hand and say there there love it'll be alright - but in the same instance neither did I come on this site to feel belittled either.
Thanks for all your replies.