Civil Servant for 23+ years yet no pension?

jac29

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me as i don't know where else to turn. I worked as an AA then an AO for the DWP from October 1985 until September 2008 when i resigned. I began working full time changing to various part time patterns as i had each of my three children. It was always my belief that in addition to my wages, i had contributions paid into a pension. At the time i resigned i was suffering with clinical depression so thoughts of a pension were far from my mind. Recently i have started to think about preparing for retirement. I contacted CSP after checking the internet for who to contact but they say they have no trace of me!
What do i do? Has someone, somewhere not sent a form to the relevant body when i resigned? Easy to believe after my experiences on and after leaving!

Please can someone firstly reassure me that i should be entitled to something and where i can go to resolve this.

I can't move any further forwards with my planning until i know what my baseline is, then i can look at what is the best way forwards.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and anything you can offer in terms of advice x

Skittles26

When you say it was always your belief that you paid into a pension, what makes you believe this to be the case? By which I mean what paperwork do you have. Your original pension plan? Pay slips with pension deductions? You should have definitely received an annual report on your pension fund, so at least 23 of those floating around.

uknick

Membership of the CSPS is automatic unless you opt out, so it is unlikely you were never a member. As Skittle says, your pay slips will be the proof you need.

When I retired a couple of years ago, CSP got my pension wrong at first. Luckily I'd kept the papers from the time in question to prove them wrong. In CSP's defence, it was an error by an HR person transferring in the wrong service.

atush

Also HMRC would have records of your contributions, at least for the end of your work period.

Look back to your old payslips and get back to us.

xylophone

This seems extremely odd- when you left the DWP, were you not given a statement of deferred benefits?

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/pensions/past-members

Is it possible that there has been an error with your name, address, NI number?

If you were employed between 1985 and 1997 there is also the question of a GMP because the CSPS was contracted out of SERPS/S2P.

Try NICO? http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/reducedrate/contractedout.htm

Have you applied for a State Pension Statement? https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement

When do you become eligible for state pension? If after 6 4 16 see https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181237/single-tier-pension-fact-sheet.pdf

Do you have any old P60s?

Goldenyears

OP do you remember being asked to make a pension choice in 2002 ? To stay with Classic or paying more for enhanced benefits. AFAIK everyone got this letter with a statement of accrued benefits. I don't think there were any annual statements before that. Anyway the letter had two different references.
1) your departmental pay number
2) a pension member number (not the one used by CSP when actually paying a pension, that's different again).

Did you quote these numbers in correspondence? If you did and still no joy then you must try to get them to escalate your complaint for individual investigation. Something has gone wrong somewhere.

laurel7172

I'm slightly concerned by the OP's wording here.

If it were me, I would be saying that I'd paid in for 23 years, not that I thought my employer was funding my pension as an extra.

OP, surely you know whether pension contributions came out of your pay?

jac29

Thank you all for replying.
Goldenyears - yes, that does ring a bell with me. I do remember getting something. At that time I didn't give it any thought. Too busy with three little ones and hubby had a fantastic pension at the time ( as with all good things it ended!). I don't still have the letter as we moved in 2004 so i had a good clear out. I know my staff number off by heart still but not any pension reference number. When I emailed Capita, I quoted this along with my ni no, dob, the addresses I lived when in service, maiden name and places of work. With all this, they came back with no trace of me.

atush - Luckily I have found an old pay statement which shows deductions of 1.5% for 'widows contributions'. I know i always paid this. Is this what members of 'classic' paid?
I have in the last few weeks requested ni contribution records from hmrc in regards to checking when credits ended iro chb entitlement/child turning 12. When i get these, will it show anything about my civil service pension? I also requested a state pension forecast which i have received.

xylophone - if you knew my experiences with them before and after leaving, you would not be surprised if there has been a monumental !!!!-up somewhere along the line! I just need clarification that there has been one and where to go to resolve it! This is why i am seeking reassurance/advice on here.

I am currently 44 so have 22 years to go before i will 'retire', unless they change the goal posts again. This is why i am trying to find out what i already have so i can put enough into a pension pot to support myself adequately in my retirement.

Once again, thanks for your advice so far x

xylophone

Luckily I have found an old pay statement which shows deductions of 1.5% for 'widows contributions'.

http://resources.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/YCPBE.pdf

See page 6.

I worked as an AA then an AO for the DWP from October 1985 until September 2008 when i resigned

See page 8

OP do you remember being asked to make a pension choice in 2002 ? To stay with Classic or paying more for enhanced benefits. AFAIK everyone got this letter with a statement of accrued benefits.

Goldenyears - yes, that does ring a bell with me. I do remember getting something.

See page 4.

The Pensions Advisory Service might be able to offer some guidance? http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

uknick

jac29 wrote: »

I am currently 44 so have 22 years to go before i will 'retire', unless they change the goal posts again. This is why i am trying to find out what i already have so i can put enough into a pension pot to support myself adequately in my retirement.

Once again, thanks for your advice so far x

But your CSP will kick in at 60, unless you defer it.

Annie1960

I also worked in DWP from 1987 to 2011 when I took early retirement. I had a lot of problems with HR sending the wrong forms to MYCSP, it took about 3 months to sort out.

If you have the 1.5% deductions (used to be called 'widows and orphans), and you never actively opted out then you should have accrued a pension.

Have you tried contacting HR? I think they moved to being a shared service across various government departments, so you may need to google the contact details. Alternatively, perhaps MYCSP will have the contact details. Their number is: 0845 606 2604. email: contactcntren@mycsp.co.uk.

Please note the 'n' at the end of 'contact centre' - it is not an error.

I hope you get this sorted out. My recollection is that they should preserve what you had accrued at the point where you left, and when you reach 55 they will start to increase it with inflation.

Good luck working your way through the bureaucracy - it will be worth it when you have sorted it out.