NHS Pension dispute. Recommend a Solicitor?

Jeff_Astle

My wife is involved in a rather long and protracted dispute with NHS Pensions.
The details are too long and tedious to get involved in on this forum, but we are in need of a decent solicitor (preferably in the London area) BUT more importantly that they have a good track record in dealing with pension disputes – even better if it could be in the health sector.
Obviously I can use Google, but I would rather go with personal recommendations.

Can anyone recommend a decent solicitor for this sort of case?

rnj

I can't recommend a solicitor but I'm also having an issue with NHS pensions, they simply are not responding to me. I am on the verge of going down complaint route but fear that may hold things up.

Jeff_Astle

rnj wrote: »

I can't recommend a solicitor but I'm also having an issue with NHS pensions, they simply are not responding to me. I am on the verge of going down complaint route but fear that may hold things up.

As a general rule NHS Pensions take 30 WORKING days to respond to any communications. However, you can add another couple of weeks to that time as, supposedly, any communications have to be vetted for quality control purposes.

If you phone them expect to be on hold for a VERY long time and the information you receive will, often, be inaccurate.

Flugelhorn

is your wife in a union? sometimes they have people who can "communicate" with the pensions agency ( at least the BMA can)

Jeff_Astle

Flugelhorn wrote: »

is your wife in a union? sometimes they have people who can "communicate" with the pensions agency ( at least the BMA can)

She is with the RCN.
At her request, they have referred the matter to their legal team. To be absolutely honest, the support has not been as good as she would have liked. It's not so much that they didn't tell her what she what wanted to hear, but they struggled to grasp all the complexities of her particular case.

molerat

What have TPAS said about the matter ?

Jeff_Astle

The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) have referred us to the Ombudsman service.

The issue, in a nutshell, is too complicated to go into on this Forum – as it is all about eligibility to be in which scheme, and is a complicated by a short period when my wife was employed by a GP who refused to enter into NHS Pension (prior to the 2013 legislation).
Obviously she is discussing with various people at the Ombudsman service, but she is edging towards someone who can be a little more proactive (ie: a solicitor) – she feels that she needs someone batting for her with a little more vigour.

To use a cricketing metaphor we need more Jos Buttler and less Joe Root (no offence Joe!)

rnj

Jeff_Astle wrote: »

As a general rule NHS Pensions take 30 WORKING days to respond to any communications. However, you can add another couple of weeks to that time as, supposedly, any communications have to be vetted for quality control purposes.

If you phone them expect to be on hold for a VERY long time and the information you receive will, often, be inaccurate.

30 day response would be a dream, I've been waiting for some communication (aside from me phoning them) for 3-4 months!

Jeff_Astle

rnj wrote: »

30 day response would be a dream, I've been waiting for some communication (aside from me phoning them) for 3-4 months!

30 WORKING days is what they state as being their standard response time. One letter took more than ten months.