Releasing SERPS pension - is this a scam?

Saadine

Hi, I've been contacted by a company called Pension Careline. They say that if give them signed authority, they will look into my pension arrangements and see if I was opted out of the national Serps scheme in the 80's (I think). I think I have the name of the national scheme right, I do recall we were given the option of paying in more to the national pension scheme in exchange for a higher pension at retirement age.
Pension Careline are saying that they will provide a free report and might be able to uncover and free up some of this 'hidden' pension pot. There is no charge for the report and they will take a % if they manage to find any money owing to me in the government scheme.
I am retired and receive a local authority pension.
I am very uneasy about giving out personal information in this way, so would welcome any advice/comments on these offers.
Thanks
Best wishes Saadine

jem16

Saadine wrote: »

Hi, I've been contacted by a company called Pension Careline. They say that if give them signed authority, they will look into my pension arrangements and see if I was opted out of the national Serps scheme in the 80's (I think). I think I have the name of the national scheme right, I do recall we were given the option of paying in more to the national pension scheme in exchange for a higher pension at retirement age.
Pension Careline are saying that they will provide a free report and might be able to uncover and free up some of this 'hidden' pension pot. There is no charge for the report and they will take a % if they manage to find any money owing to me in the government scheme.

Most people that contracted out did so correctly.

I am retired and receive a local authority pension.

Forget about that call as it doesn't apply to you.

You were a member of a Final Salary scheme that was contracted out as the benefits in your Final Salary scheme were better than SERPS/S2P.

dunstonh

Pension Careline are saying that they will provide a free report and might be able to uncover and free up some of this 'hidden' pension pot.

There is no hidden pension pot. That is complete BS.

There is no charge for the report and they will take a % if they manage to find any money owing to me in the government scheme.

There is no Government scheme and there is no money owing to you.

The company making the call are not on the FSA register and not authorised under UK law to do what they say they are doing. What typically happens with these sorts of cold calls is that they go on to tell you that your pension is naff and you can invest the money in some offshore scam where they make a fortune out of you and you kiss goodbye to your pension.

It should also be noted that if you were employed by the local authority from 1988 to retirement then you could not have been contracted out with a personal pension. It would have been impossible.

Most people that contracted out did so correctly.

Indeed. FOS complaints stats show just 1% of complaints are upheld.

jamesd

Saadine wrote: »

There is no charge for the report and they will take a % if they manage to find any money owing to me in the government scheme.

Or you can do it yourself for the price of a single phone call to the HMRC Contracted Out Pensions Helpline. They will tell you if you were ever contracted out and if you were, for each year which scheme was getting your contracted out rebate money.

Then, if there is any such scheme, you can use the free Pension Tracing Service to help them to get in touch with you using the information supplied by the Contracted Out Helpline.

It's very cheap and easy to do. Please let all of your friends know if they have any concerns about this themselves.

If your only employer was local or national government you probably don't have any pension lurking. But why not check and put your mind thoroughly at rest, then tell others how easy it is to check?

magpiecottage

There is also no business called Pension Careline on the Claims Regulation register.

Clearly a scam.