Mams pension

zzzfaye78

Hi sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum if anybody can give me any advice on what I should do next will be greatly appreciated.

I'll try to make a long story short, my mother turned 60 in June she had 2 pensions one was worth £4000 and another was worth £34000. The pension provider of £4000 got in touch 1st and because the amount was small she could take the whole pension in one lump sum of £4000 which she did. Then a few weeks later she got another pension letter from the £34000 pension fund which she was unaware she had, again they said because it was a low amount they could possibly pay out the whole amount in full and this is what she decided to do, she filled in the paperwork and sent if off. After a few weeks, she received a letter back saying they where aware she had already received a pension settlement of £4000 and because this £34000 would take her over the allowed sum to be allowed for a full payout she would have to take the pension as a yearly pension which was something like £700 per year. About a week after receiving this letter my mam had to go to the doctors and was told she had terminal cancer and only had a few weeks left to live, the whole family was in total shock and trying to come to terms with the thought of losing my mam in weeks...............Ok to finish this we phoned up the £34000 pension people and explained my mams situation and they explained because of the circumstances they can pay the whole pension fund out in full they just need to write to my mams doctors.

They did write to my mams doctors but this was after a week and the doctors surgery then kept this letter for another 3 weeks and this was because the pension fund needed to pay for the medical records which took another week, and all this time my mam got steadily worse and worse and the day the pension people got the letter from the doctor was the day my mam passed away...........My mam had worked for this pension and when she needed it most it was not there for her. I need some advice as to what happens now to this pension? I have received a letter from them to fill in which mentions a death payment of £775, I`m working and my mam was not married there is only me and my 18-year-old brother who is in college.....Will this pension just go to the government... Thank for reading this and any help or advice or anything I have to do would be greatly appreciated as I still numb from losing my mam and not thinking straight Faye x

Kynthia

Can you give the details of the pension? Do you know if it was a defined benefit/final salary pension or a defined contribution/money purchase pot? Who is it with? What exactly have they said about the death payment and have they said anything else about a dependant pension?
I'm sorry for your loss.

zzzfaye78

I`m not sure but the pension fund was with the BBC

zzzfaye78

The form they sent was asking questions if there were any dependants and it did mention a death payment off £775, i know my mam never specified anybody as a dependant on for the pension on her death. All i can work out is its called a deferred pension from the BBC sorry if this is vague. I will look over some of her papers to see if they is any mention of what the pension was.

Silvertabby

Death before your deferred pension starts If you die and have a deferred pension, the following benefits are payable:
A dependant’s pension Your qualifying spouse or qualifying civil partner will receive a dependant’s pension calculated as follows:
• it will be half of the pension you would have received if you had taken it immediately before the date of your death (ignoring any reduction there would normally have been for early payment).
If you have no qualifying spouse or qualifying civil partner, your nominated dependant will receive a pension. A pension paid to a nominated dependant will be reduced by any GMP payable and will not be payable if there are two or more qualifying children.
Children’s pension Your qualifying children (up to a maximum of two) will each receive a pension equal to a quarter of the pension you would have received if you had taken it immediately before the date of your death (ignoring any reduction there would normally have been for early payment). If no qualifying spouse or qualifying civil partner’s pension is payable, the children’s pensions will be doubled (subject to a combined maximum of the pension you would have received less any GMP payable).
A lump sum If no pensions are payable, the Trustees will make a lump sum payment, which is currently free of inheritance tax. It will be equal to five times your deferred pension, with increases to the date of your death. The Trustees have discretion over who receives the cash and in what proportion. They take into account, but cannot be bound by, your wishes. You are therefore asked to let the Trustees know your choice of beneficiaries by keeping your expression of wish form up to date. If your circumstances change, a new form is available from our website, bbc.co.uk/mypension.

So sorry for your loss.

I wonder if it is because they will be paying your brother a 'childs' pension? This is usually paid up to the age of 23, as long as the 'child' remains in full time education. I would speak to whoever if was who told you about the lump sum to clarify.

The rest of your mum's benefits won't go to the Government - they'll be retained by the BBC pension scheme and used to offset the higher payments made to pensioners who live to 100. (Sorry, but that's the way final salary schemes have always operated).

zzzfaye78

Many many thanks for your information i will wait till they reply and see what they say, Everything right now is so confusing. Again thank you.

xylophone

It seems that your mother was able to take the first pension as a "small pot" (under £10,000) but was unable to trivially commute the second pension because it was in excess of £30,000.

https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/pensioners-and-tax/how-do-i-cash-my-small-pension-trivial-commutation

As it was in excess of £30,000 I am rather surprised that trivial commutation was offered in the first place - perhaps silvertabby (who was a pensions administrator) might be able to comment on this point.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/currentmembers/oldbenefits/third

Your brother's situation is unclear

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/pensioners/whenyoudie

Qualifying children

Your qualifying children will be entitled to a third share (two-thirds if there is no qualifying spouse) of your full pension.

Children cease to be eligible for a pension when they reach 18. At the trustees' discretion, they may continue to receive one until they finish full-time education - which is normally first degree or equivalent.


The Trustees' discretion will be the most important factor here.

If you need to discuss the situation, you may find that a telephone call to TPAS would help.

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

You have had a sudden and unexpected loss - condolences.

Silvertabby

As it was in excess of £30,000 I am rather surprised that trivial commutation was offered in the first place - perhaps silvertabby (who was a pensions administrator) might be able to comment on this point. Posted by xylophone

I'm surprised as well - I believe that the £30K limit applies to all DB pension schemes.

However, £34K seems very high in view of the alternative of a pension of just £700 per year. I suspect finger trouble with the original offer - especially as £14K trivial commutation would be more in keeping with the alternative annual pension.

xylophone

£14

£14,000?

But then TC would have been available (possibly, depending on the personal circumstances)?

All in all, the administrators don't seem to have covered themselves with glory?

I wonder whether this will weigh in the Trustees' deliberations - perhaps it should and it would be worth a discussion with TPAS?

Although I appreciate that this is just the wrong time for the OP to want to be involved in financial wrangles.

Silvertabby

“ £14

xylophone wrote: »

£14,000?

But then TC would have been available (possibly, depending on the personal circumstances)?

All in all, the administrators don't seem to have covered themselves with glory?

I wonder whether this will weigh in the Trustees' deliberations - perhaps it should and it would be worth a discussion with TPAS?

Although I appreciate that this is just the wrong time for the OP to want to be involved in financial wrangles.

Oops - yes, £14K. Still possible that whoever produced the letter saw £14K, went into TC mode and then mis-typed the amount in the letter.

I'm sure OP won't want the hassle - but worth mentioning when querying the lump sum offered to her.

Bimbly

You may already know that BBC pensions wesite is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/
You can call them and they are generally very helpful.