SSAS Pension mess to sort. Where to start?

OUNN

Thank you for getting this far.

So, my father-in-law previously ran his own business. Through this business he set up and registered a SSAS pension scheme with HMRC.
As is sometimes sadly the case, things went wrong with the business. The whole mess resulted in the winding up of the company and personal bankruptcy and separation for both of the in laws.

This was 10 years ago. With everything going on, my father-in-law just shut down. He buried his head in the sand - which brings us to today's predicament.

The MIL needs to retire, but there is nothing for her apart from a state pension :eek:
There is this old SSAS.

I know nothing about this type of scheme (which is why I'm here). A quick search reveals filings with HMRC are needed - and if not made, fines can be leveled at the trustees.

I am assuming no returns have been submitted to HMRC for at least the last 10 years - we need professional help. I just don't know where to go. My IFA doesn't think he can help, so does that rule out IFAs? Would it be an accountant we need?

The next question is the fines. MIL and FIL are the trustees of the scheme - does anyone have any idea of the sums involved with fines? Are there extenuating circumstances arguments? Is it pension size related?

Basically the wife and myself are in over our heads. But we want to sort this out - because we're the ones who can focus our attention on it, and hopefully there may be a small benefit to the in-laws. Which they both desperately need!

If anyone has some guidance on where to start, and experience or indications on any of the above, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thrugelmir

Was there not a professional scheme administrator at the outset?

Dox

Please come up for air - you (or more accurately your in-laws) are far from being alone in having a SSAS go wrong on them.

This is going to need some specialist legal input to sort out, but it would probably help if you first chatted things through with someone who is impartial and won't try to sell you anything - but will help you understand what needs doing. Enter TPAS: https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk. Give them a call, with whatever paperwork you have close at hand.

The SSAS will have been set up through an insurer or other pension provider (it'll be on the paperwork) - have you spoken to them?

It's impossible to guess what fines might be levied, so pointless to speculate - suffice to say that deliberate negligence and dishonesty are the real focus of regulatory attention and this seems to be a combination of incompetence, ignorance and despair. Play straight with HMRC and they should be able to spot the difference pretty quickly. They will also note that the two trustees were also the only two beneficiaries(?), so any failings they had as trustees will not penalise any other parties.

Hope this helps.

Brynsam

The starting point should be whoever set up the SSAS in the first place - their technical department will have seen this before. You probably will need specialist legal input, but begin there. There is a small possibility that the scheme was wound up when the business collapsed and nobody remembers that was what happened.

As for fines - this is hardly on a par with BHS's pension problems. HMRC will look at whether they are owed any tax and if so that will have to be paid, plus interest - but the reality is that if the scheme has just been festering quietly for the last decade or so, it's highly unlikely it will have done anything which would incur tax.

Yes, trustees can be fined for not doing things they should have done; or doing things they should not have done. The regulator would not just look at the 'offence' but also at the consequences. The only people who could (but may not) have suffered as a result of trustee incompetence were the two trustees, assuming your in-laws were the only members.

OUNN

Thank you for your replies.

We'll get on to TPAS today.
There was originally another trustee, who worked for the consultants that set up the scheme. However, the consultants closed shop a while ago (how long, we need to find out). But yes, the two trustees are the only members for f the scheme. I will try and find any info on a provider/insurer as well.

I doubt the pension scheme was wound up. It still appears to own land through the trustees - but at a guess, HMRC will be the ones able to confirm that?

So specialist legal advice would be firms like the consultants who set up the scheme? Or solicitors?

Again, thank you. We have someone to contact as a starting point, and we can hopefully start the ball rolling for them!