Is there a 6 month limit to getting the Financial Ombudsman involved?

dunstonh

Going on the assumption that they are wrong, my best guess is that they are mixing up pre-funding.

The big providers will pre-fund a contribution, tax relief or withdrawal. They dont wait until the money actually arrives cleared. So, if a direct debit takes 8 days to arrive be cleared, they wont wait those 8 days but will invest on day 1.

If a direct debit does not arrive, they may give a bit longer for payment to arrive. I had a case recently where someone did a single premium but the cheque was returned as signature differs (it didnt but bank was using it as a marketing trick). The provider did not change the date of investment as long as payment arrived within a short period. That is pre-funding.

SW do pre-fund on contributions to their pensions. However, that doesnt mean they will leave it open ended and the missing contributions show that.

I cant really offer any other guesses as to what it may be as I dont know the mind of the person responding. I could also be barking up the wrong tree. It is just a best guess.

buel

Thanks again Dunstonh, that makes things at least a bit clearer now.
Just out of interest, if that cheque you mentioned had not cleared, at all, what would have happened to the investment? Would it have been 'clawed back'?

dunstonh

Just out of interest, if that cheque you mentioned had not cleared, at all, what would have happened to the investment? Would it have been 'clawed back'?

Yes and the provider would suffer the loss if it went down or the gain if it went up.

buel

dunstonh wrote: »

Yes and the provider would suffer the loss if it went down or the gain if it went up.

Sigh, due to my stupidness, please may I ask you to explain this to me? I am sorry for this but would really appreciate it if you could (and I do very much appreciate all you have done so far for me and my good friend)

dunstonh

buel wrote: »

Sigh, due to my stupidness, please may I ask you to explain this to me? I am sorry for this but would really appreciate it if you could (and I do very much appreciate all you have done so far for me and my good friend)

The arrival of funds from the source (e.g. bank account) and being cleared takes some days. The purchase of units in the funds also takes some days due to settlement. Tax relief takes about 2 months to arrive. Companies that pre-fund will not wait until the funds are cleared or settled (or tax relief received) before putting them on the pension.

if the money doesnt arrive (e.g. payment bounces) then the provider cancel the purchase of units. The unit price may have gone up or down in that time. If it has gone down, the provider loses out. If it goes up, the provider gains.

buel

Thank you so much!!

buel

ok, i've just rung SW and id appreciate your comments, if that's ok please?

The customer services lady confirmed that only after contributions are 3 months late do they write to the employers. When i asked 'After how many months late contributions to you report them to the pensions ombudsman?' and she couldn't answer.

Also, she confirmed that the units are not purchased until the money is recieved.
When i asked 'What if i wanted to transfer my pension whilst there were missing payments, would i lose out?', she said that i would for the very same reason that units are not bought until the money is recieved. Bear in mind that half of these payments are from my gross pay!

I recorded the conversation, i believe that if any recorded conversations are to be used in court, the other person on the phone needs to be told that the call is recorded......but what about in this case where i simply want to send a CD of the conversation to the pensions ombudsman to verify what i've been telling them all along? (the pensions ombudsman has been replying saying that SW have told them that all payments are up to date so they are happy with that, even though i've sent them evidence by way of the statements proving otherwise)

buel

Just thought id bump.

dunstonh

Also, she confirmed that the units are not purchased until the money is recieved.
When i asked 'What if i wanted to transfer my pension whilst there were missing payments, would i lose out?', she said that i would for the very same reason that units are not bought until the money is recieved. Bear in mind that half of these payments are from my gross pay!

Thats a turnaround from what was told before.

I recorded the conversation, i believe that if any recorded conversations are to be used in court, the other person on the phone needs to be told that the call is recorded......but what about in this case where i simply want to send a CD of the conversation to the pensions ombudsman to verify what i've been telling them all along? (the pensions ombudsman has been replying saying that SW have told them that all payments are up to date so they are happy with that, even though i've sent them evidence by way of the statements proving otherwise)

Not really my area but I do understand that the other party needs to be aware it is being recorded in civil cases. That said, SW record their calls

jamesd

buel,

A Subject Access Request to SW seems like a sensible step. They are required by law to respond within forty [STRIKE]sixty[/STRIKE] days. Ask for simply "all information held" then perhaps add "specifically including but not limited to" and a few specific items that are desired.

Don't delay taking the matter to the FOS. Just explain to the FOS that you're still trying to get consistent answers and want to be sure that if one of the earlier replies was deemed to be a valid final reply you don't want to miss the time limit for taking things to the FOS.

The main potential matters for the FOS seem to be:

1. verifying that the money was invested on the appropriate dates and at the correct unit prices, or perhaps providing redress if that did not happen due to a failure by SW. SW might then seek any payment for this from your employer because it's your employer who ultimately bears the responsibility for being late.

2. finding out the truth about the handling of late money and perhaps a payment of compensation for the confusion over what was happening.

3. possibly stretching to whether the communication with the employer was handled properly, in view of SW's obligations to verify and chase contributions.


If it's actually happening, this at least would be progress, if it results in a change of behavior from your employer:

'Taking into account the recent late payment, we considered it appropriate to write to your employer to explain to them that they have a legal obligation to make sure that all relevant payments are made to us in a timely fashion. In this letter, we also explained to them the implications of not doing so'

Since SW record their calls, all of their employees will also be aware that their calls are being recorded. It's still nice to ask the person to confirm that they are aware that you're recording the call "so that you can be sure you have good and complete notes and don't get things wrong later".