Mis-sold pension

Svalbaard

Hi there, apologies if this has been covered in another thread. Many years ago (20+) when I was about 18 I signed up for a pension because I was told I "should" by my mother, without really understanding for myself the benefits, options, choices (I was young ok!!!), or really having it all explained to me by the salesman (who was at our house at the time talking to my mother about her pension) whether it was the best option for me etc. This pension has now been sitting there for about 20 odd years doing nothing with nothing having been paid in, or without me having made any contact with the provider for that amount of time. Although I am sure that some of my NIC contributions go into it - but that seems pretty random too. I'm not really sure I want now this as it seems worthless, and I am pretty sure that I was mis-sold this at the time. Also, with 20+ years experience I am not now really a fan of pensions, and as such have other investments for retirement which is why I have neglected it for so long. Before I talk to the provider I was hoping for the benefit of what my options would be for this pension plan and any approaches that I may take when talking to the provider. Please be gentle in answering as I have no idea of what I want out of this re-engagement with the provider, and am looking for advice. Many thanks in advance.

dunstonh

Before I talk to the provider I was hoping for the benefit of what my options would be for this pension plan and any approaches that I may take when talking to the provider.

Provider can only tell you their options. (which is leave it where it is, transfer it out or fund switch). They will not tell you all the options available on the open market.

You have called your thread "mis-sold pension". Yet you have not indicated any hint of mis-sale in your post. What it really sounds like is that you don't understand the pension tax wrapper and you are letting your lack of knowledge cloud your judgement (i.e. when you said you use other investments, yet a pension is not an investment). So, why do you think you have been mis-sold?

bilbo51

Do you know what the value of the fund is?

Loughton_Monkey

Svalbaard wrote: »

... Many years ago (20+) when I was about 18 I signed up for a pension because I was told I "should" by my mother, ....

Only if your mother is FSA registered might you get compensation from her. I have occasionally given my brother financial 'advice', which he has tended to follow with good effect. Had it turned out wrong, he could not have sued me.

Svalbaard wrote: »

This pension has now been sitting there for about 20 odd years doing nothing with nothing having been paid in, or without me having made any contact with the provider for that amount of time. Although I am sure that some of my NIC contributions go into it - but that seems pretty random too.

Why do you say it is doing 'nothing'? And that nothing has been paid in. Then you say that your NI contributions have gone in. That was 100% the objective of the deal. You were sold an 'opt out' pension. Until you establish that it will provide a smaller additional pension that you would have got from the state, then you have hardly lost anything.

What if (as proposed) the government pays the new £140 a week flat pension for all - whether or not they opted out - you could be absolutely laughing couldn't you?

Svalbaard wrote: »

I'm not really sure I want now this as it seems worthless, and I am pretty sure that I was mis-sold this at the time. Also, with 20+ years experience I am not now really a fan of pensions, and as such have other investments for retirement which is why I have neglected it for so long.

I simply don't understand your basis for 'mis-sold'? I opted out myself, and my opt-out pension is doing very well thank you. I will be better off than had I not opted out. It was in a blanced managed fund. What fund(s) were yours in, and what is today's value and what contributions were paid in?

Svalbaard wrote: »

Before I talk to the provider I was hoping for the benefit of what my options would be for this pension plan and any approaches that I may take when talking to the provider. Please be gentle in answering as I have no idea of what I want out of this re-engagement with the provider, and am looking for advice. Many thanks in advance.

You cannot talk to your provider about 'mis-selling', unless it was actually sold by a representative of theirs. If it was sold by an IFA, then it is s/he to whom an official complaint needs to be made.

The only other 'sensible' discussion points with your provider would surround the mix of funds you have chosen. Whether you wish to 'switch'. And/or if you wish to transfer to another provider (although in the latter case, you would normally do this initially through the new provider.

Annisele

It sounds as though you contracted out of SERPS - which probably wasn't all that awful a thing to do if you were 18ish at the time.

I agree with dunstonh that so far you haven't said anything that suggests the policy was mis-sold. You've said plenty that suggests you don't understand it, but that isn't necessarily the same thing.

You might want to ask the provider to tell you the fund value, the funds your money is invested in, whether there are any guarantees associated with the policy, and what the charges are. That might help you decide whether it's worth leaving the policy where it is, transferring it, or making fund switches.

robbiefabanff

i was sold a pension in 1989 the money i was ment to get and the money iam going to get now is some off way of does that mean i have been mis sold or not does anyone now what is classed as mis sold thanks for any replys

Lokolo

No it does not.

dunstonh

robbiefabanff wrote: »

i was sold a pension in 1989 the money i was ment to get and the money iam going to get now is some off way of does that mean i have been mis sold or not does anyone now what is classed as mis sold thanks for any replys

If you can provide evidence that says you were going to get £x then you may well have a very strong case.

However, I suspect all you have are a couple of example projection rates using a number of assumptions which state they are just examples and you could get back more or less than that.

The most common reason people get less if that they forget to factor in the cost of inflation. To retain a real terms value, you should increase your contributions each year. If you dont increase the premiums, then the monthly contribution is in effect going down each year. Hence you get back less in real terms than you expected. To counter this you need to either have automatic increases or manually top it up.

How often did you increase the contributions to this pension after taking it out?