Miss sold pension can I reclaim contributions?

rupesmcd

Hi,
I had a part time college lecturer's post back in 2007, as part of my employment with the college (hereafter named partner college) I was sold a pension. Deductions were made from my pay over the next 2 years, and the partner college also contributed to my pension.
I have all my old payslips and have estimated the contributions I made to be around £1000.
At this point i should mention that the teaching post I held was actually with a private specialist college that was in 'partnership' with the college that formally employed me to deliver the course. It was a sub contracting arrangement. The partner college were a way of the private specialist college gaining LEA funding to run the course I was teaching on. In this case it was music, but similar arrangements are made between mainstream colleges and private specialists for other industries to access public funding.
My feeling is that I should never have been sold the pension in the first place. The contract with the partner college was finite, renewed annually as they saw fit. It is my view that as such it was wrong to sell part time lecturers on a sub contracted course a pension that was in all likelihood not going to last very long.
Since that time the partnership did indeed end (2009) and all of us part time lecturers were made redundant. The specialist college then decided to employ all lecturers themselves- and as such the pension was then null and void.
There was no mention of the pension scheme again from the previous partner college. I still haven't heard from them (and I remained at the same address until 2014), i have no idea how much they have contributed to the scheme, no annual statement or plan of action for the pension following the redundancy.
At the time we were sold the pension the member of staff from the partner college was waxing lyrical about the scheme: 'oh yes, it's a great scheme, you'd be foolish not to take it, we take 6% of your salary each month, and contribute 15% to the pension on top, and yes you can transfer it to another employer if you leave your post...' etc etc
Well, I never had a statement, tried to transfer it to another college i was offered a post at and was told it couldn't be done, and have never heard from them again! Hardly as rosy as it was made out to be.
Sorry for the ramblings but it's been bothering me a while.
Any thoughts anyone??

dunstonh

I had a part time college lecturer's post back in 2007, as part of my employment with the college (hereafter named partner college) I was sold a pension. Deductions were made from my pay over the next 2 years, and the partner college also contributed to my pension.

Who sold you the pension? (i.e. was it sold or was it a workplace scheme you opted into)

My feeling is that I should never have been sold the pension in the first place.

Nothing you have said indicates any reason why you should not have paid into the pension.

The contract with the partner college was finite, renewed annually as they saw fit.

irrelevant. Pensions are pay as you go nowadays.

It is my view that as such it was wrong to sell part time lecturers on a sub contracted course a pension that was in all likelihood not going to last very long.

your view is wrong.

The specialist college then decided to employ all lecturers themselves- and as such the pension was then null and void.

Employment contract has nothing to do with the pension fund built up. The pension will still exist.

At the time we were sold the pension the member of staff from the partner college was waxing lyrical about the scheme: 'oh yes, it's a great scheme, you'd be foolish not to take it, we take 6% of your salary each month, and contribute 15% to the pension on top, and yes you can transfer it to another employer if you leave your post...' etc etc

It wasnt sold to you. Workplace schemes you either join or you dont.

Any thoughts anyone??

Lets get the mis-sale bit out the way. you were not.
So, now you need to find out where this pension is. Within weeks of you starting, you should have been contacted by the pension scheme administrator verifying membership. So, did you have any documentation from back then?
If not, then you need to contact the employer and ask them for a contact point for the pension. You then contact them to ask about your pension.
If the pension exists, you have exactly what you agreed to.
If the pension doesnt exist you contact the pensions regulator and the police.

rupesmcd

Thanks.
And in response- no I never had any documentation from the scheme administrator. So yes, I will chase them for a contact.
The point you made about not being miss sold- I still question that- we were all asked to meet a member of staff from the college who definitely gave us a sales pitch for the pension- that I (stupidly) opted into. As you say, you can opt in or out, so essentially our own decision, but as an eager new employee I feel I was vulnerable, and contributed into a pension that seems to have since then done a disappearing act.

dunstonh

The point you made about not being miss sold- I still question that- we were all asked to meet a member of staff from the college who definitely gave us a sales pitch for the pension- that I (stupidly) opted into.

Advice can only be given by a regulated financial adviser. Anything else given by anybody else is opinion or information.

jem16

rupesmcd wrote: »

At the time we were sold the pension the member of staff from the partner college was waxing lyrical about the scheme: 'oh yes, it's a great scheme, you'd be foolish not to take it, we take 6% of your salary each month, and contribute 15% to the pension on top, and yes you can transfer it to another employer if you leave your post...' etc etc

From the sound of it you have either joined the Teachers' pension Scheme (TPS) or the USS (University scheme). Either way both are great schemes and you definitely should have joined.

Instead of complaining that this member of staff has missold you a pension, you should be congratulating them on suggesting you join it as they were 100% correct! You would have been foolish to opt out.

Well, I never had a statement, tried to transfer it to another college i was offered a post at and was told it couldn't be done, and have never heard from them again! Hardly as rosy as it was made out to be.

You may not have been able to transfer it to whatever that college had but you would be able to transfer it elsewhere.

However chances are it's better left where it is anyway.

Sorry for the ramblings but it's been bothering me a while.
Any thoughts anyone??

Yes contact the TPS and USS and see if your pension is there.

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/

http://www.uss.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx

rupesmcd

Thanks for the reply, but I still can't see how it is a good thing. What evidence is there to suggest it's good? My experience so far certainly hasn't been.
I will find out if it was a Teacher's Pension, it might have been.

jem16

rupesmcd wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, but I still can't see how it is a good thing. What evidence is there to suggest it's good?

What evidence have you to suggest it's not good?

If it's the TPS or USS, you have 2 years of part-time service in a Defined Benefit pension which is guaranteed at date of retirement with no risk to you. When you retire you will get back far more than the £1000 of contributions that you made.

My experience so far certainly hasn't been.

It's not correct that you don't have any information on it as you should have. However that doesn't stop it being a very good scheme to be a member of.

atush

rupesmcd wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, but I still can't see how it is a good thing. What evidence is there to suggest it's good? My experience so far certainly hasn't been.
I will find out if it was a Teacher's Pension, it might have been.

Well thank goodness you only teach music and not anything to do with maths.

First of all, any pension your employer pays into means free money. Plus the govt gave you free money (ie tax relief). so in theory you could have been getting 200 into a pension for every 80 you put in. Does that sound awful to you? getti9ng 120 extra on top?

Second, if it is TPS or USS that pension is gold. why? Because you would cost you, on the open market, 25-30% of your salary to buy the pension it will provide you when you come to retire.

So stop being silly, you have not been miss sold. look up your old pension/ask them for a statement and find out what exactly you have. If you dont understand it when it comes, bring it back here and someone will explain it to you.

PeacefulWaters

This. A million times.

find out what exactly you have. If you dont understand it when it comes, bring it back here and someone will explain it to you

You almost certainly have something valuable compared to the amount you paid for it.

edinburgher

I honestly have no idea why the OP is getting worked up. Perhaps thread would more accurately be titled 'I had a small pension and forgot to chase it up when I changed jobs'?

Righteous indignation seems to be the norm these days whenever any little problem crops up.

hyubh

rupesmcd wrote: »

I will find out if it was a Teacher's Pension, it might have been.

Going by your description, it sounds like it - cf. the third category of eligible employee listed on p.7 of this old TPS scheme booklet:

https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/PDF/Teachers%27%20Pensions-Your%20Guide.pdf

'employed as a teacher by a Function Provider (a company awarded a contract to perform functions on behalf of a local authority)'

If there was some sort of payroll mess up that meant Teachers Pensions (TP) weren't notified of your membership, then you definitely need to get that corrected. Conversely, once you left the college's employment and became deferred, the responsibility for keeping TP informed of things like address changes squarely fell onto you - aside from compiling and passing over annual return and leaver data to TP, employers have very little to do with the TPS.