Fund not moved when requested 10yrs ago...

Deetia
Deetia Posts: 8 Forumite
When I was 18 I had the foresight to know I was probably going to be self employed for most my working life so took out a personal pension with a company called NPI.

All went well over the years, I kept paying in and the fund was growing nicely when suddenly when I hit my 30's, the company were bought out by another company and my pension plummeted and was suddenly worth very little according to my statements from them. I believe the company that bought them stripped their assets, so I'm told. I know this kind of thing happened to lots of people.

I found another pension scheme that was underwritten by the government and sighed forms and requested that the little left in there be moved to the new company. By this time, it was just a few thousand pounds left in my pension.

It has now come to light that...

Just £1,500 was sent to the new pension company by NPI after forms were filled in requesting the whole balance. Life changed for me and for the last 10yrs I have been unable to pay in anything.

However, the new pension company have done quite well with the little they had and turned my £1,500 into £15000 in the last 10 years.

A few weeks ago, I got a letter from the tax office asking me to contact NPI as they have been trying to get hold of me but don't have my current address. I contacted them, provided proof of who I am etc. at their request and have just found out they have kept £2,800 of my pension pot for over 10yrs and had not as requested, handed all of the pot over to my new pension company all that time ago!

I was so shocked all I did was asked for a form so I can move the money to my current pension company.

My question is this, am I entitled to any compensation over this?

NPI were told to hand over all my pension pot the my new company and didn't do so over 10yrs ago. My current pension company still have the signed form with our request on it instructing them to do so.

I have had a valuation sent to me, NPI are also proposing to charge me £300 if I want to transfer this money out now!

I believe my new pension company could have turned this money into much more had they had it 10yrs ago. The proof being that they only had £15000 10yrs ago and have grown it to over £15000 in that time.

So this is not a 'theoretical loss' it can be proven.

On these figures, I have probably lost some £20,000 plus they are now trying to charge me an additional £300 to move they remaining money!

Can anyone advise me please?

I have logged a complaint with NPI over the above and I am waiting to hear back from them.

Does anyone have any advise on this matter please?

Many Thanks
«1

Comments

  • Proof and documentation is the key.

    Your post suggests you didn't keep track of it. So a large part of the blame falls on you.

    Re-read your post too. It needs some numerical edits.
  • I was told all funds had been moved to my new pension company and the account was closed. As far as I knew, I had no reason to be in contact with NPI or provide any new address when I moved as I no longer had any dealings with them.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,036
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 28 November 2014 at 11:47AM
    when suddenly when I hit my 30's, the company were bought out by another company and my pension plummeted and was suddenly worth very little according to my statements from them.

    NPI were bought just before the dot.com crash. The change of owner made no explicit difference to your fund value. The dot.com and other events of that period did.
    I believe the company that bought them stripped their assets, so I'm told. I know this kind of thing happened to lots of people.

    Effectively that is what happened. AMP bought Pearl and then used Pearl assets to raise almost the same amount as they paid for them (a bit like Man Utd if you are a football fan). AMP went on to buy NPI and did much the same and then made a right pigs ear of things, shut down all the companies for new business and !!!!!!ed off back to Australia after selling Pearl, NPI and London Life.
    I found another pension scheme that was underwritten by the government and sighed forms and requested that the little left in there be moved to the new company. By this time, it was just a few thousand pounds left in my pension.

    What scheme is this?
    Just £1,500 was sent to the new pension company by NPI after forms were filled in requesting the whole balance.

    Was the NPI pension made up of protected rights and non-protected rights? Many of the Govt backed schemes would not accept transfers in of protected rights but would accept non-protected rights.
    My question is this, am I entitled to any compensation over this?

    Depends on whether there has been an error or not.
    If it was protected the rights and the new scheme rejected the protected rights then there was no error. They couldnt do what you asked them to do. Although either side could have written to you to say.
    I have had a valuation sent to me, NPI are also proposing to charge me £300 if I want to transfer this money out now!

    The £300 is probably much lower than it would have been back then. They have nearly always had a transfer penalty.
    On these figures, I have probably lost some £20,000 plus they are now trying to charge me an additional £300 to move they remaining money!
    If it was an error, then the expectation would be that it is transferred now and a correction made. However, this would include the transfer penalty that would have been applicable at the time. Not the one now.
    Does anyone have any advise on this matter please?

    Have you checked with the receiving scheme as they may have rejected it.

    Its difficult to comment more without knowing if it was the protected rights issue or an error.

    Just thought of another possibility.. It may have been multiple plans. If only one policy number was on the transfer discharge form then only that one would be transferred. The old NPI discharge forms required you to write in the policy numbers by hand and if there was more than one plan but you only wrote one number in, then that could cause this.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • Thank you so much dunstonh. The information was very helpful.

    I have again contacted my current pension provider, they have confirmed they have a copy of a letter from NPI stating that the £1500 is the sum of my entire pension pot and contained no protected rights. They did not reject anything from NPI.

    They are sending copies of all correspondence from NPI over to me so I have proof that NPI kept hold of my money against my explicit instructions and when asked, told us they were not holding onto any of my money.

    I'm sure this will help my case.
    Thank you very much once again.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,036
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 28 November 2014 at 1:14PM
    Ok, so the two things I would look out for are

    1 - multiple policy numbers but only one policy number quoted on the transfer forms
    2 - protected rights on the pension (meaning only the non-protected rights may have been transferred).
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • dunstonh wrote: »
    Ok, so the two things I would look out for are

    1 - multiple policy numbers but only one policy number quoted on the transfer forms
    2 - protected rights on the pension (meaning only the non-protected rights may have been transferred).

    There is only one policy number.
    NPI confirmed by letter to my new provider that there were no protected rights on my pension.

    Thanks for the help :)
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Deetia wrote: »
    There is only one policy number.
    NPI confirmed by letter to my new provider that there were no protected rights on my pension.

    Thanks for the help :)

    This may refer to the monies transferred. Not the fact that there were any.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,036
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Deetia wrote: »
    There is only one policy number.
    NPI confirmed by letter to my new provider that there were no protected rights on my pension.

    Thanks for the help :)

    When transferring the money over, if the new provider told NPI they would not accept protected rights then NPI would transfer over only the non-protected rights and would tell the new provider there are no protected rights in that amount. It would also be a full transfer of non-protected rights and not a partial transfer. So, that alone is not enough to rule it out.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • dunstonh wrote: »
    When transferring the money over, if the new provider told NPI they would not accept protected rights then NPI would transfer over only the non-protected rights and would tell the new provider there are no protected rights in that amount. It would also be a full transfer of non-protected rights and not a partial transfer. So, that alone is not enough to rule it out.

    My new provider confirmed they would have accepted protected rights without issue.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,719
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Sounds like you may have grounds for a complaint so get back to us during the process.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards