Pension refund LGPS

jdevins

Hello there

Sorry if someone has already asked this question. I've recently beenemployed by a large public sector organisation. As part of the employment weare (supposed to be) automatically set up on a pension scheme which is throughthe LGPS. If we want to opt-out and get a refund it has to be within the first3 months of joining. The organisation I work for also outsources the payroll toanother organisation (NG).

I submitted my opt-out form in time but some time later discovered that HRhad lost the form, so I called the LGPS to request another form which was backin January. After speaking to them it turns out that NG hadn't even notifiedthe LGPS that I had joined any scheme, yet the contributions have still beendeducted from my wages.

However, since I submitted my second form it has gone past the 3 months andI have discovered that NG still haven't sent any of my details to the LGPSwhich means there is no pension scheme that exists in my name.

Can anyone please tell me if I should still be entitled to a refund or ifthere is any sort of action I can take or someone I can contact as I am gettingnowhere and beginning to get highly stressed with the whole matter? Sorry I amnot very knowledgeable on this kind of subject and sorry if I have confusedanyone with this post or if you need further info.

Many thanks

xylophone

If you are entitled to join the LGPS pension scheme why would you choose not to?

As you seem to be getting nowhere with your employer/HR/ payroll/ LGPS try here first for some assistance. http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk

Linton

Your best way forward I would have thought is to work through your HR department and/or your manager.

But I also strongly suggest you reconsider your decision to opt-out from the LGPS pension. It would almost certainly be a seriously bad idea.

hyubh

jdevins wrote: »

Can anyone please tell me if I should still be entitled to a refund

Don't see why not - do you have something like an email (or even better, letter) where they acknowledge they might have lost the first opt out form? Either way, just keep on getting in touch with them (HR and/or payroll that is) until they get it right, ideally generating a paper or email trail as you go along. If a phone call, send an email straight after confirming what was said.

Sorry I am not very knowledgeable on this kind of subject

I wouldn't say that - you understand correctly (a) that the refund period is 3 months (b) that the opt out form to complete is the fund administrator's and (c) that refunds are nevertheless processed through the employer's payroll. By the sounds of it, you seem rather more au fait with the facts of the situation than the payroll provider!

That said, you probably don't want to say, but any clues about the employer, e.g. the first letter of its name...?

taktikback

What about (d) why on earth would you want to opt out of such a generous pension scheme with an enormous contribution from your employer

That's the knowledge you need -not how to fill out an opt out form...

hyubh

taktikback wrote: »

What about (d) why on earth would you want to opt out of such a generous pension scheme with an enormous contribution from your employer

That's the knowledge you need -not how to fill out an opt out form...

The OP is asking for how to go about getting their wishes respected. Is that really too hard to understand? You have no idea of the reasons behind the decision to opt out, and even if foolish, it is the OP's decision to make.

Proxy

hyubh wrote: »

The OP is asking for how to go about getting their wishes respected. Is that really too hard to understand? You have no idea of the reasons behind the decision to opt out, and even if foolish, it is the OP's decision to make.

Perhaps the OP is not fully aware of the consequences of the decision. He/she/it has already admitted not being knowledgeable on the subject. If there's one thing the Pensions forum is good at, it's educating people.

taktikback

yes -I understood the question thanks

However, unless I've got this completely wrong, the point of this website is to try to help people to make good judgements. The op can make whatever decision they want, but at least I might have made them think about it, rather than cheerfully giving them the pen to sign away their future.

hyubh

taktikback wrote: »

However, unless I've got this completely wrong, the point of this website is to try to help people to make good judgements. The op can make whatever decision they want, but at least I might have made them think about it, rather than cheerfully giving them the pen to sign away their future.

Which would be reasonable enough if you had attempted to answer the actual question first, but you didn't, did you? You just went straight in with a sarcastic remark.

taktikback

I hope the op bothers to check back and gather the wisdom from this thread....

The more of these I read, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that auto-enrolment needs to lead to pension membership as a condition of employment. Sometimes people have too much choice...

hyubh

taktikback wrote: »

Sometimes people have too much choice...

What a ridiculous thing to say.