Pension Compensation

misuel1955

In the Daily Mail today there is an advert for claiming pension compensation...workpensioncompensation.co.uk. As a recently retired NHS employee I was opted out and in a final salary scheme. What is this compensation for opted out employees?

coyrls

misuel1955 wrote: »

What is this compensation for opted out employees?

A figment of your imagination.

hyubh

misuel1955 wrote: »

In the Daily Mail today there is an advert for claiming pension compensation...workpensioncompensation.co.uk. As a recently retired NHS employee I was opted out and in a final salary scheme. What is this compensation for opted out employees?

What you ask makes little sense - please clarify. You cannot be both 'opted out' of a final salary scheme yet 'in' it at the same time.


In terms of the general issue, this was 'a thing' in the early/mid 90s when the government decreed that many people who had opted out of final salary schemes in the late 80s were 'mis-sold' and so able to have their final salary scheme membership restored as if nothing had happened, supposedly at the expense of who they had transferred out to. This was all a long time ago however - for example, it predated the mass closure of final salary schemes in the private sector.

coyrls

hyubh wrote: »

What you ask makes little sense - please clarify. You cannot be both 'opted out' of a final salary scheme yet 'in' it at the same time.

I think they mean opted out of SERPS as a result of being in the (superior) NHS final salary scheme.

hyubh

coyrls wrote: »

I think they mean opted out of SERPS as a result of being in the (superior) NHS final salary scheme.

That's what I wondered at first, but going to the site linked to it's all about transferring out in the late 80s (SERPS/S2P isn't mentioned at all).

DaveMcG

They will almost definitely be wasting their clients' money if they launch action over transfers in the late eighties early nineties.

Legal action is clearly time-barred and given the massive regulatory activity over these sales and communication with customers, they would be virtually no chance of a successful claim.

dunstonh

That site appears to be putting in frivolous complaints with no justification. If they are taking up front charges then you could almost class it as advance fee fraud. I dont know if they are but would warn people to avoid any claims company making such claims where they charge an up front amount.

Prior to 1988, there was no financial services regulation. So, anything before that date can largely be disregarded (caveats apply to some distribution channels). In 1994, the regulator put in place a review of all pension sales made betweeen the 29th April 1988 (start of regulation) and 30th June 1994.

Everybody who had a sale in that period was contacted and the vast majority responded. The review deadline was 31st March 2000. So, it is now too late to ask for a pension review. This is confirmed on the FOS website:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/pensions-review.html

Only if your pension was never reviewed may you be able to make a complaint now. However, firms had to go out of the way to contact people. This involved, post, home visits, telephone calls etc. They had to report outcomes to the regulator. So, its very rare to come across anyone who did not complete the review.

So, if this claims company takes a client on, they cant are unlikely to be able to use the regulated complaints process as a completed review closed the door to future complaint. They cant use the ombudsman as its timebarred and they cannot use the courts as it is over 15 years ago.

coyrls

hyubh wrote: »

That's what I wondered at first, but going to the site linked to it's all about transferring out in the late 80s (SERPS/S2P isn't mentioned at all).

Sorry I hadn't checked the site. I agree with you, I'm not sure what "opted out and in a final salary scheme" means if it doesn't mean opted out of SERPS/S2P.

The site itself has not been proof read:

For example Mrs Downing was advised to transferred out of her civil service pension scheme in 1987, she is now £70,000 worse off as a result.

"advised to transferred out". Bad luck Mrs Downing, the site doesn't even claim to have got any compensation for her, just that she is now £70,000 worse off.

Malthusian

Bad luck Mrs Downing, the site doesn't even claim to have got any compensation for her, just that she is now £70,000 worse off.

Not true, she is £70,000 worse off plus whatever she paid to iwantmycompo.com to put in a complaint for her.

misuel1955

Because the NHS Pension scheme meant that employees were opted out of SERPS (I think) they would not qualify for the full state pension as the NI contributions were reduced. Is this what the company advertising in the Daily Mail are offering...compensation because the state pension is reduced

DaveMcG

misuel1955 wrote: »

Because the NHS Pension scheme meant that employees were opted out of SERPS (I think) they would not qualify for the full state pension as the NI contributions were reduced. Is this what the company advertising in the Daily Mail are offering...compensation because the state pension is reduced

You haven't lost anything. SERPS was originally designed for people without employers' pension schemes and these employers and their employees paid more national insurance to fund it.

You will get the state pension you are entitled to and expected, in addition to your NHS pension.

You and your lawyer would be laughed out of court.