Santander Pension Query

Stezzy

I worked at Girobank/Alliance and Leicester for 21 years until 2001. The company has since been taken over by Santander.

On 27th May 2011 I received a letter complete with Santander logo from the then administrators Mercer. I was told that if I completed an early retirement request I would be entitled to a lump sum of £33,369.73 plus £5,005.44 p.a. in October 2011. I was also informed that if I waited until December 2014 (my 60th birthday) the estimated payment would be £43,677.69 plus £6,551.70 p.a.

I decided to be prudent and wait.

After a change of circumstances in early 2013, I contacted Mercer again for another quote. I was informed that if I completed the documentation I would be entitled to a lump sum of £40,314.52 plus £6,047.40 p.a. It would be £44,030.51 plus £6,604.58 on my 60th birthday. Pretty much in line with the previous figures I again decided to wait.

JLT took over as Alliance & Leicester Pension Scheme administrators in March 2014. I received a letter from them yesterday stating that I can expect a lump sum of only £35,910.15 when I am 60, with an annual pension of just £5,386.52.

It would seem to me that either Mercer or JLT has made a miscalculation somewhere along the line. If Mercer has made the errors am I entitled to some form of compensation from them, Santander or both? All of my big financial decisions for the last three years have been on the basis of the quotes that they have provided me with, My lump sum is apparently to be more than £8k less than I have been lead to believe, and I will be getting £1.3k less every year! Had I cashed in on either of the early retirement settlement figures I was quoted I would be considerably better off - and it seems to me that I have been misled at best!

I also wonder whether any other ex-Girobank/Alliance & Leicester staff have been let down in this way.

Can anyone offer any advice on what options may be open to me?

Dell007

I'm in exactly the same position, and like you based my financial planning on the figures quoted in the original quotation from Mercer, (on behalf of Santander) asking if I wanted to take my pension early.

I do genuinely believe this is negligence, and are currently following up with JLT, though I'm not very impressed by their level of service, or the quality of the work they undertake, based on our communication up to now.

xylophone

Ask JLT to provide the calculations on which the figures are based.

p00hsticks

Just to avoid confusion and save time, this is a duplicate post - there have been more responses on the original one here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5018772

agarnett

xylophone wrote: »

Ask JLT to provide the calculations on which the figures are based.

I for one will be very interested to learn whether they will provide calculations, or merely current base assumptions.

My own attempts at extracting calculations from a JLT administered DB scheme have been deflected on the grounds of disproportionate cost. In particular they turn down out of hand any information that might enable a comparison between past and more recent quotes on the basis that the law doesn't require it. Perish the thought of any actual transparency :mad: