SERPS - where did my money go?

YvonneAnne

When I was 17 in 1984 I worked for Local Government and was contracted out by them automatically apparently. I didn't get the memo. I moved jobs and houses a fair bit and had another three employers, BT, Newcastle University, and Newcastle Polytechnic which later became Northumbria University and then in 1990 apparently my Schedule D (??) Payments ceased according to Inland Revenue.
I have contacted three of the four company pension schemes and despite giving detailed info, they can't find me! They all suggested filling in tracer forms but I'm giving them the same info!
My pension forecast includes a COPE estimate of 16.25 a week.. How am I going to access this? Would an FOI request get more info? Any advice greatly appreciated, thankyou.

AnotherJoe

There is a trace your pension service run by the government try that.
https://www.findpensioncontacts.service.gov.uk/

xylophone

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1622167/what-is-schedule-d

and then in 1990 apparently my Schedule D (??) Payments ceased according to Inland Revenue.

What has this to do with SERPS?

See post 23 here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6009662/warning-double-check-state-pension-forecasts-after-govt-admits-significant-errors-mse-news&page=2

DWP holds a detailed record of the periods of contracted-out and contracted-in employment, indexed by NI number. The guy I spoke to at DWP gave me the complete breakdown of my record over the phone. No values or employers, just the dates of employment and whether contracted-out or in.

COPE estimate of 16.25 a week

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-fact-sheets/contracting-out-and-why-we-may-have-included-a-contracted-out-pension-equivalent-cope-amount-when-you-used-the-online-service

17 in 1984 I worked for Local Government and was contracted out by them automatically apparently. I didn't get the memo. I moved jobs and houses a fair bit and had another three employers, BT, Newcastle University, and Newcastle Polytechnic which later became Northumbria University

These would have had DB contracted out schemes.

How long did you work for each employer?

Silvertabby

In the case of the LGPS, if you left before 1988 with less than 5 years service then you won't have accrued any actual pension benefits. Moreover, if you were under 25 when you left then your only option would have been a refund of your own contributions. You wouldn't have had to request this - a cheque would have been sent to your home address.

YvonneAnne

I have already tried the Gov.UK tracing pension service, that was who I got the companies present day fund details contacts from

YvonneAnne

These are not my contributions.. They are reductions in NI payments that were made to add to the state additional pension scheme that I was opted out of using SERPS. Inland Revenue state I am entitled to at least 16.25 additional pension which would have been the S2P if I hadn't been contracted out. this is a SERPS/COPE issue, the companies receiving my payment have no record of me yet Inland Revenue have confirmed payments and Pension Tracing Service gave me their details

xylophone

Did you read post 23 linked in my post above?

You could try DWP to find out when you were contracted out which would indicate the employer you were with at the time in question?

The other possibility is that you contracted out into a personal pension after 1988- do you have any records of a pension policy with an insurance company?

See https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/state-pension/what-was-contracting-out-a581c3l1kqf4

nigelbb

Silvertabby wrote: »

In the case of the LGPS, if you left before 1988 with less than 5 years service then you won't have accrued any actual pension benefits. Moreover, if you were under 25 when you left then your only option would have been a refund of your own contributions. You wouldn't have had to request this - a cheque would have been sent to your home address.

I was in a similar position with the NHS pension scheme. I worked for less than five years & as I recall a year or so after I left the NHS I received a cheque for several hundred pounds. I was young & foolish & was rather pleased by the windfall but in retrospect now that I am a pensioner I would appreciate the small DB pension. Currently with the NHS pension scheme it's only if you have less than two years service that you are forced to accept a refund of contributions.

This has set me thinking as I assume that contracted out NI contributions would have been squared up & I would have been put back into the same position as if I had never been contracted out of SERPS but is there any way that I can confirm this?

grnglide

You could try DWP t

Is it not HMRC that is needed in this case?


Used to be class 1 caseworker in the past. It is HMRC that hold all the records and can tell you when you were contracted out and the scheme(s) you were in.

xylophone

Is it not HMRC that is needed in this case?

See post 23

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6009662/warning-double-check-state-pension-forecasts-after-govt-admits-significant-errors-mse-news&page=2

molerat

£16.25 COPE does not suggest a very long contracted out period(s) so there is the possibility that the majority of those listed employments may well have refunded and reversed the contracted out status leaving no trace of the employment / pension in their records. OP's NI record should show contacted out years and the employer for those years.