Transfer out of NHS pension scheme - compensation?

silverfoxuk

Was speaking to my mum at lunchtime. She's 57 and a nurse. In the eighties (not sure exactly when), she was advised to transfer out of the NHS superannuation scheme, which she did, and now has a pension with Scottish Widows. But of course has missed out on any employers contributions (and final salary benefits) since the transfer took place. So compared to what she would be looking forward to had she not been advised to leave, it's thousands of pounds difference and a significant impact on her ability to retire at 60.

As she has 3 years till 60 she's been getting her affairs in order and went to see an IFA. Regarding the NHS pension, she says the IFA told her that she was indeed mis-sold and should never ever have been advised to transfer out of the NHS superannuation scheme. That being said, the IFA told her it was too late to try to get compensation for the misselling, even though she will be markedly worse off in 3 years time when she plans to retire.

Is he right? - is there a time limit on getting compensation for pension mis-selling that happened in the 80s? Is there anything else she can do to try to make up the shortfall in her pension?

dunstonh

The answer is "depends". Anyone that was transferred out of an occupational scheme should have been written to back in the 90s automatically and asked a range of questions and then had their case reviewed. Depending on how those questions were answered and whether any action was taken back then would decide whether she has a case now or not. To find one that has been missed is rare, but not impossible.

Is there anything else she can do to try to make up the shortfall in her pension?

It's not quite as simple as that. How much was she been paying into the Scot Widows pension? Was it anywhere near the amount she would have been paying into the Superannuation? Often the personal contribution is nowhere near the amount of the occ scheme and on upheld cases you only get the amount equivalent to what you have paid not the full amount.

However, that is jumping the gun. The first thing to do is contact Scottish Widows and find out what the outcome of the pension review was (they may refer to the original adviser if it wasnt them that sold it). Once you know the outcome of the pension review, then you will be in a better position to know what to do going forward.

I think the assumption that it has been time barred is incorrect.

defender_of_the_weak

Go back to Scot Widows first. Very few of their sales were made direct so this is probably an IFA. Not all of them undertook a full pension review as instructed. The difference between where your mum is now and where she would have been is likely to be very significant so should be pursued. The time bar argument, as dunston says, is incorrect.

Ant transfer from an NHS pension, should be viewed as a mis-sale in the majority of cases. We have fought a surprising number of these cases and they have all been upheld eventually, as some needed to go to the Ombudsman. Like dunston I previously believed that they had all been reviewed in the nineties but apparently this is not the case