Lost Pension what to do?

mpooley

Hi
this is my first post here so I hope its in the right place!

I worked for a company for about 15 years leaving in 1983.
I kept all my pension Paperwork and as I am now 62 I started looking into what I would receive, only to find out that my old company no longer existed.
I tried the government pension finding service which was utterly useless .All they did i am sure is google the company name!
I also did this and found that the pension has been transferred to the co that Took over my old company.
Apparently this was Granada TV and this was sold on to ITV.

I have tried for two years to get ITV to acknowledge that they are liable to pay my pension but they say they can find no record of me.
I have supplied them with all my paperwork and they keep saying they will get back to me but they never do.

I have found two of my old collegues that are in receipt of pensions from ITV but they still wont accept that they have my pension.

Can anyone advise me what to do next please?

Thanks

Mike

DRS1

I suggest you contact TPAS (aka OPAS) and see if they can help. Or go to the Pensions Ombudsman - but I suspect you may be in for a bit of a wait for a result.

Mother_Hub

Dont know if you have tried this number 0845 600 2537 Pension Tracing Service.

Loughton_Monkey

Yes, the Ombudsman is probably the best shot, but only when you are sure that you have the right pension scheme administrator. A pity to waste all that time only to find that something else happened to the pension scheme.

You need to make sure that you didn't transfer it out under a section 32 buy-out.

jh2009

ITV used to consist of a string of companies that were merged a few years ago. I remember reading that when these companies merged, several legacy pension schemes were all merged together to form a single pension scheme. The merger sounded complex, as different schemes have different benefits.

You've mentioned you've kept your pensions paperwork. In your paperwork, do you have either a certificate of deferred benefits, or a letter from the scheme confirming your entitlement in the Scheme? In addition, do you have any payslips containing evidence of contribution deductions?

If you have either or both of these, then this would confirm an entitlement at least existed. It is then for the pension scheme to prove that this entitlement no longer exists (for example that you have transferred it elsewhere, retired, etc).

If their records cannot prove this (which can sometimes be the case with older benefits that existed pre computerisation), and you have a certificate of entitlement, then you would have an extremely strong case as its the responsibility of the scheme to keep up to date records.

If you just have general correspondence (such as letters inviting you to join, handbooks from the time) with no evidence of a benefit or of contributions being made, then the task is more difficult.

Has the pension registrar definately confirmed ITV as the contact scheme. The way the registrar works is that they hold a list of all schemes, and its a legal requirement for the scheme to provide a list of all former schemes under its umbrella. So if they have given their details its likely you have the correct details.

Another avenue you could explore is by contacting the Contracted out helpline of HMRC. If you were contracted out of SERPS or S2P while a member of the ITV scheme there would be some interaction with the state pension, and they would hold a record of your membership. Well worth checking that out. Their number is 08459 150 150, and open 9 to 5 during the week. Im not sure if thats the right number but if not they will refer you to the right area. Have your NI number ready, and ask them if you have any contracted out service, and if so, the details of any scheme that holds any GMP. If this exists, they may be able to confirm this in writing, with the dates of any membership.

Good Luck