Reclaim; Opting out of SERPS

nash437

I keep seeing companies stating they can claim money back for opting out of SERPS. My wife did this in the early 90's. It seems all a big mistake. I do not understand SERPS or if we are entitled to anything. Appreciate any advice?

gadgetmind

Until the calculation of the "rebate derived amount" for the impact of contracting out on the new flat rate pension is known, then it is unclear as to how you think she'll be worse off.

Your best start might be to get an up-to-date state pension forecast for her, find out the value of her contracted out benefits, and to read the flat rate pension white paper for some backgroun.

dunstonh

I keep seeing companies stating they can claim money back for opting out of SERPS.

Yes, there are only a couple of scumbag companies that do this but they advertise heavily. They actually make most of their money on commissions transferring the pension. Often doing things they make allegations of wrongdoing of others.

My wife did this in the early 90's. It seems all a big mistake.

Why? For many people it is the best thing they ever did.

I do not understand SERPS or if we are entitled to anything.

Was your wife under the age of 40 at the time of contracting out?
What do you think was wrong?

The FSA did a review of contracting out and only found a failure rate of 1.5% potentially. So, what is it that makes you think your wife is in that 1.5%?

gadgetmind

dunstonh wrote: »

Why? For many people it is the best thing they ever did.

I opted out for just over a decade. have a protected rights pot that's probably now worth close to £50k (merged into other pots during 2011) and have now built up enough S2P since opting back in to qualify for more than the new flat rate pension.

What's not to like?

If someone's numbers don't work out quite as well, then they need to not only show this to be the case but show that it could have been predicted way back when you agreed to opt out.

dunstonh

I opted out for just over a decade. have a protected rights pot that's probably now worth close to £50k (merged into other pots during 2011) and have now built up enough S2P since opting back in to qualify for more than the new flat rate pension.

I'm similar to you in timescale and pot. Best thing I ever did in retirement planning. Especially with the single state pension on the horizon.

dunstonh

I just happened to be reading the latest complaints stats at the FOS.

The FOS had 294 complaints against SERPS mis selling allegations for the whole of 2011/12 and 308 in the first three quarters of 2012/13. The uphold rate by the FOS was just 2%. A tiny uphold rate and highlights how disgraceful these so called claims companies act in this respect.