Protected Pension After Death

Dawn201

In March 2012 i went on holidays with my husband to Crete. The day after we arrived he suffered a heart attack and died instantly. He was 48 i was 40.. My husband always assured me that he had a good pension and i would be ok if anything happened to him. After the funeral and other red tape was dealt with my father contacted my husbands pension company. They sent all the paperwork to claim and asked how would i like it paid out. i said in a lump sum.. about £33000.Being left with funeral bills and a 15 year old son, i needed the money then.about a month after the claim went in i received a letter back telling me that there would be no lump sum and i would be getting £42 per month with an increase of 3% per year. no explanation no nothing. After numerous phone calls and letters i was finally told that it was a protected pension. i was told by law a lump sum couldn't be paid out. later on in the year i was told by a friend that the law had changed regarding protected pensions. When contacting the company again i was told sorry he died 3 weeks to early. I thought that companies like the Coop where supposed to be the best in the country..Is it worth me contacting the financial ombudsman on this matter?

dunstonh

I thought that companies like the Coop where supposed to be the best in the country.

Co-op (or any other company) has to comply with the law. The law at the time was that protected rights could not pay the pension fund as a lump sum. A change in the law that happens later doesnt mean they did anything wrong.

Whilst it is a sad scenario and timing unfortunate, there is no wrong doing here. It is also sad that your husband thought he had a good pension when he actually had nothing of the sort. To only have a protected rights pension pot at age 48 is woefully inadequate. Were there any other pensions as protected rights only comes from contracting out of SERPS/S2P. None of that money came from any personal contributions or employer contributions into a pension. If it is the only pension then it means your husband never paid into a pension. Whilst, possible, it does seem unlikely as you say your husband thought he had a good pension. If you or your employer never paid into a pension, it is unlikely you would feel that way.

Is it worth me contacting the financial ombudsman on this matter?

No. The FOS have no ability to circumvent the law.

sandsy

Do any of his payslips show any deductions for pension contributions?

Did he have any previous employers with whom he may have had a pension?

atush

I feel he must have had another pension somewhere.

Contact his previous employers one by one, and try the pensions tracing service?

https://www.gov.uk/find-lost-pension

Did he not have life insurance? As you have a dependent, you will need some now too.