Mercer sending pension to PPF

ste00

Have you got anything sorted with this , I was in the prosess of transfering out along with a few more small pensions , mercer sent me all the details and a value just under 30k all well and good , Had to have an adviser to do this due to scams so i was told with all the messing about perhaps on my side as well as i was working away when i got back was told hewdens had gone bust phoned mercer time after time only to be told there is nothing they can do as the hewden pension is going in a ppf , so they will not honor the transfure value they sent me ,, big big pension firm like mercer takes money off people for years soon as something happens sell you down the river , so lets get together and take this further , want to know what was in the pot when hewden went bust and how much they are sending over to the ppf account ??????? all I get is pensions are a indepth subject ,well lets make it simple my money i want it out in a drawdown with a decent firm , they can not even tell me who runs the ppf , I know someone is making a lot of money out of working people , look at honda and british steel to name two !!

AnotherJoe

ste00 wrote: »

, big big pension firm like mercer takes money off people for years soon as something happens sell you down the river ,

"soemthing happens" being the company going broke? Hardly incidental !

ste00 wrote: »

lets make it simple my money i want it out in a drawdown with a decent firm

Its not "your money"

The lump sum they may pay you is entirely up to them, there's no guaranteed formula. There isnt an actual amount you can identify as yours, and there isnt any requirement they have to pay you a lump sum instead of a pension, they could have declined and some companies will decline (or will offer you very poor values so you wouldnt take it unless you are a mug or desperate)

Malthusian

ste00 wrote: »

big big pension firm like mercer takes money off people for years soon as something happens sell you down the river

Mercer's job is to administer defined benefit pension schemes. If you had an admin job and your employer went bust, do you think you should be liable to pay all their aggrieved creditors out of your back pay?

, so lets get together and take this further , want to know what was in the pot when hewden went bust and how much they are sending over to the ppf account ???????

Why? How much is in the pot is virtually irrelevant to you. And a good thing too, because if how much is in the pot mattered to you, you'd now be looking at a massive loss of your pension.

Instead, you have no massive loss because the promise to pay you an annual pension will now be honoured by the PPF, with a 10% reduction.

all I get is pensions are a indepth subject ,well lets make it simple my money i want it out in a drawdown with a decent firm

The PPF is under no obligation to offer you that, and the chances are very high that you will be better off under the PPF than if you did that.

they can not even tell me who runs the ppf

It's trivial to find out. See http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/About-Us/Pages/About-Us.aspx

I understand why you are angry but sympathy doesn't transmit well over broadband. Focusing on an offer made to you by a dead man is pointless. The offer (to exchange your promised annual pension for a lump sum) died with him.

ex-pat_scot

ste00 wrote: »

Have you got anything sorted with this , I was in the prosess of transfering out along with a few more small pensions , mercer sent me all the details and a value just under 30k all well and good , Had to have an adviser to do this due to scams so i was told with all the messing about perhaps on my side as well as i was working away when i got back was told hewdens had gone bust phoned mercer time after time only to be told there is nothing they can do as the hewden pension is going in a ppf , so they will not honor the transfure value they sent me ,, big big pension firm like mercer takes money off people for years soon as something happens sell you down the river , so lets get together and take this further , want to know what was in the pot when hewden went bust and how much they are sending over to the ppf account ??????? all I get is pensions are a indepth subject ,well lets make it simple my money i want it out in a drawdown with a decent firm , they can not even tell me who runs the ppf , I know someone is making a lot of money out of working people , look at honda and british steel to name two !!

Sigh.

ste00 wrote: »

I was in the prosess of transfering out along with a few more small pensions , mercer sent me all the details and a value just under 30k all well and good , Had to have an adviser to do this due to scams

I presume this was before your (ex) employer became insolvent.
You didn't have to have an advisor, unless the transfer value was over £30,000.
It is not due to scams. It is due to the risk of making a material life decision without possibly being in full receipt of the facts and implications of your decision to transfer vs to stay.

ste00 wrote: »

so i was told with all the messing about perhaps on my side as well as i was working away when i got back was told hewdens had gone bust phoned mercer time after time only to be told there is nothing they can do as the hewden pension is going in a ppf , so they will not honor the transfure value they sent me

The transfer value quote is only usually valid for a short period (3 months). It can be a complex calculation, and there are a number of underlying assumptions that can change, meaning that a stale valuation is soon incorrect.
If the firm goes into administration, then it cannot meet its current or future liabilities. At that point, the pension fund, if it was in deficit and expecting the sponsoring company to make up the shortfall, will no longer be able to rely on that source of funding for the shortfall and therefore has to reassess what funds it has, and how to match that against its obligations to current pensioners, deferred members and employees.


The PPF exists as a lifeboat. In such circumstances, it will provide support to much of the shortfall, but does not provide a complete replacement, and as such the pension fund would be negligent if it had paid across your transfer value (ie to the net detriment of other members of the pension scheme).

ste00 wrote: »

big big pension firm like mercer takes money off people for years soon as something happens sell you down the river , so lets get together and take this further , want to know what was in the pot when hewden went bust and how much they are sending over to the ppf account ???????

Mercers are administrators, nothing more. Your employer took the money off you, and paid significantly more than you for years on top, in order to provide retirement income for you at your normal retirement date.


As for selling you down the river; I fear you completely misunderstand how the whole process works.


It would indeed be relatively simple to calculate the asset values (what was in the pot) at point of administration.
However calculating the liabilities is rather more complex, including how much of that liability is to you (as a future pensioner), whether there is a shortfall between assets and liabilities, and if so then how to treat the shortfall (PPF? each member taking a haircut?)


Once these calculations are made, then all the pension assets would be transferred over to the PPF. Mercers (or your employer) wouldn't magically be able to raid the funds themselves.

ste00 wrote: »

all I get is pensions are a indepth subject ,well lets make it simple my money i want it out in a drawdown with a decent firm ,

Defined Benefit pensions are incredibly complex and very much misunderstood.
They can be made simple. Generally this is through employers providing "defined contribution" schemes instead, which would be hugely less valuable to you.
Sadly if your scheme is in the PPF, then (If I recall correctly) you cannot exercise any right or option to transfer your future entitlement out as a lump sum, and get "a decent firm" to draw down instead. That's the PPF rules.

ste00 wrote: »

they can not even tell me who runs the ppf , I know someone is making a lot of money out of working people , look at honda and british steel to name two !

http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/DocumentLibrary/Documents/what_is_the_ppf.pdf
Who runs the ppf: http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/About-Us/TheBoard/Pages/TheBoard.aspx


I'm not sure how Honda and British Steel are making a lot of money out of working people, unless by selling them stuff?






Sorry if I come out as rather pessimistic, but your general message comes across as a rather general unstructured rant with lots of misconceptions. Until you take time to understand a little more about the reality of how these things work, I'm afraid you will get no further along.


Hope this helps a little.

ste00

very helpfull replys ,so my 30k transfer value has gone due to not acting quick enough along with hewden hire , be interesting to see what pension I get when I am 65 from the ppf , how much do you think pa should I be looking forward to please, just a rough idea please ,in a few years I will tell you who was nearest to the ££££ ,, I will start with 230 pounds pa ! any advance ?? hardly feels worth the worry , now the 30k I could have worked with along with the other pensions that have been moved , in fact i would have had 25 percent cash tax free in my account as we speek off the hewden one ,,sadley not to be,,

Brynsam

You've been given the link to the PPF website. Have a look and you can see for yourself.

AnotherJoe

As I understand you should get 90% of what the Hewdens pension would have paid. So if it would have paid you £100/month you'll get £90.

Browntoa

Split out from a long dead thread to create you a thread of your own

Dox

ste00 wrote: »

want to know what was in the pot when hewden went bust and how much they are sending over to the ppf account ???????

Irrelevant how much money is being 'sent over' to the PPF. If your scheme is admitted to the PPF, you are covered for 90% of the benefits you would have received had your former employer not gone bust.

Why might the scheme not be admitted? If it has sufficient cash to pay benefits at levels at least equal to those under the PPF.